Evgeny Orkin designed this new concept computer: a laptop that rolls up to be carried.

2010 may go down in history as the year of the tablet, but that hasn’t stopped anyone from dreaming about the next form the portable computer may take. Evgeny Orkin‘s thesis project, called RollTop, is a concept video of a laptop that rolls into a tube to take with you on the go. Not only does the RollTop transform from tube to laptop, it can also change into a tablet, or a digital frame, all thanks to the use of a flexible OLED touchscreen. It’s a cool concept piece, even if no one’s working to actually make it, and it’s taken YouTube by storm with over 2 million views since September. RollTop is a good sign of things to come: the more people work with and innovate current models of computers, the better we’ll be able to design the human computer interfaces of tomorrow. You should definitely check it out below:

The crazy thing about the RollTop video is that we’re fairly close to actually being able to build it. Samsung has a flexible OLED screen in the works and incorporating touch capabilities wouldn’t be that much of a leap forward. Most of the other parts we see in the video are already available.

Question is, does the RollTop make sense as a product. Probably not. As cool as a roll up laptop may be, I don’t think it offers enough advantage over the traditional clam shell design to make it profitable. Still, I really like this innovation. Along with other concept pieces, like the 10/GUI, Orkin’s work shows how small variations from the norm could help invigorate an industry. Keyboards and mice will eventually have to be phased out. A touchscreen keyboard/tablet is a great alternative that also sticks to what works: hands rested on a surface, controls attached/near the device. It will be interesting to see how these relatively small steps forward in design help fuel the greater leap that human computer interfaces will need to take in the future. When our computers are shaped like children’s blocks, or when they plug directly into our brains, just remember that it all starts with simpler concepts like the RollTop.

[image and video credit: Orkin Design]
[Source: Orkin Design]

The 10/GUI concept calls for a screen-sized touch pad on the desktop. Seems like a step sideways, but it could be the next generation of human computer interface.

Teams of developers are racing to construct the next great human-computer interface, and most already have a product to peddle. Clayton Miller is still working on an idea. His 10/GUI is a group focused on conceptualizing the system that will replace the mouse and keyboard as the most common user interface. Their proposed interface is unlike a tablet computer, or a gesture controlled system. 10/GUI wants a display size touchpad on the tabletop so that all ten fingers can interface with the computer without overlapping the screen. Coupled with this new hardware comes a new software paradigm. 10/GUI avoids a two dimensional (or even three dimensional) windows-based digital space in favor of a single dimension of frames. Sort of like your entire screen becoming a task bar. 10 finger touchpad and linear arrangement of applications makes for a really cool approach to the standard problems of desktop computing. Take a look at the following video and judge for yourself whether this is genius or just madness.

The multi-touch display-size pad and the new digital environment (called Con10uum) are actually fairly close to what we have now. These are small changes from the mouse and the windows desktop. Which is why I find the 10/GUI idea rather captivating. As interesting as many advanced human-computer interfaces may be, there’s yet to be one that stands out as the obvious successor to the current model. 10/GUI and Con10uum are innovative enough to be an improvement but still simple enough to see rapid implementation without significantly retraining users or re-imagining applications (i.e. wordprocessors, web browsers, etc). That is, of course, assuming someone wants to take the time and provide the finances to bring 10/GUI to market.

I think that part of what makes our current mouse and keyboard setup so successful is that they allow a user to be fairly lazy. Interfaces that get your hands off the table such as a touchscreen, air mouse, or gesture controls, will fatigue your arms. 10/GUI gives you a tablet computer’s one to one touch to display ratio while still letting you be lazy. That’s a powerful idea. Not particularly thrilling in the long term, but for the next five to ten years, I could see it being very successful if it ever finds implementation. As with all human computer interfaces, 10/GUI will rise or fall on the interest of consumers. Like it or hate it, but be vocal about it. Companies everywhere are desperately trying to figure out how to create the control system of the future; they’re likely to listen to any idea if it gets enough support.

[screen capture and video credits: 10/GUI]

The Robot Pet Sitter could be remotely accessed via the internet so that you can play with your pets while away from home.

Okay, I rarely spend time looking at “concept machines” but this one just made me chuckle enough that I had to share it. In our hectic lives there is one group that constantly suffers from lack of attention: our pets. So what’s the solution – spending more time at home, or giving your pet a backyard, maybe even finding someone to help care for your pet? No, of course, not. That’s not technologically advanced enough. What your pet needs is a robotic sitter, one that you can control from anywhere in the world via WiFi. MintSelect, a technology concept community, has dreamed up their Robot Pet Sitter, a device that will let you speak to, watch, and even play fetch with your animal. Teach your pet to obey its robotic overlord just as it would obey you.

As far as I can tell, the Robot Pet Sitter would function almost exactly as a Rovio. Like that robot, the Pet Sitter would connect to your home WiFi network and allow you to access the device through a web browser. While I can’t speak to whether or not animals will enjoy interacting with robots, I do know that telepresence is a developing trend in technology. Remotely accessing your home, for security or pet soothing, is just the beginning. Once we are able to transmit sensation from a machine to a human (a capability known as haptics) people will feel what is happening to the robot they are operating. In essence, you will be able to interact with distant objects just as if you were there with them. That level of connectivity may make travel obsolete.

Unlike Rovio, the Robot Pet Sitter concept includes two eyestalks with cameras and microphones to provide stereo vision and hearing. While that functionality would be wasted if you were accessing the robot via a traditional desktop computer, a head mounted display could give you a 3D view of the robot’s surroundings, immersing you further into playtime with Rover. A speaker in the center of the bot lets you talk to your lonely pet while recessed wheels let you chase it as it runs away from the scary looking machine. Have a more aggressive housemate? The eyestalks automatically cover the cameras with plastic lids in the case of chewing or collisions.

Robot and ball are controlled via MintPad

Of course, the really innovative addition to the robot is a remote controlled ball. Launched from the bot, it contains a center of gravity style movement system that would allow you to give your pet something to chase or fetch. The robot, or the ball, can be accessed via point and click commands from a hand held writing device, the MintPad (see below).

You’ll notice the gratuitous use of ‘would’ and ‘could’. This robot, despite it’s very pretty graphics, is simply a concept. It’s never been built and may never be built. MintPass is a company that produces streamline, perhaps even gorgeous, communication devices – think Apple but Korean. Their MintPad is a hand held note taking web browsing video and audio player, and their Sapphire software allows you to seamlessly transfer media files from internet to storage. As part of their dreamy tech savvy, MintPass has created MintSelect, a webpage where they can post concepts of possible products and see how they work. The Robot Pet Sitter is just one of more than a hundred “what ifs” that litter MintSelect.

Maybe I find the concept of the Robot Pet Sitter so charming because of those MintSelect neighbors. Alongside a USB powered UV toothbrush sanitizer, or a life-like grenade with a speaker that plays funny sounds, the Pet Sitter seems pretty realistic.

If I’m being a little harsh on MintSelect it’s because I know that the technology they are referencing in the Pet Sitter is no laughing matter. Telepresence is already having a profound effect on business travel, as it becomes cheaper and better it is likely to affect how individuals stay in touch with loved ones or even take vacation. Who knows, maybe a telepresence robot really could comfort a pet while you were at work or traveling. No matter which applications become popular, the ability to remotely access a location via the internet is already here, and will improve in the years ahead. That’s one concept that MintSelect has definitely gotten right.

[photo credits: MintPass]