Not sure why you would want to see your hand behind a laptop..but you can. And it's awesome.

Samsung fulfilled its promises to reveal more of its transparent OLED screens during CES this year. Not only did they debut the Ice Touch, a PMP with a small transparent screen, they demonstrated a really awesome project still in R&D. An unnamed 14 inch screen was attached to a laptop, showcasing a 100,000 to 1 contrast ration, 40% transparency, and a passable 960 x 540 resolution. Some have already dubbed it the ‘Avatar display’ due to its resemblance to the technology from the movie. Any way you look at it, the new 14 inch transparent screen is a remarkable device and represents a cool looking step towards integrating displays seamlessly into our environments. Check out a brief video of the Samsung transparent OLED screen at CES 2010 from Engadget after the break.

Of course, a 960 x 540 resolution is a little archaic for a laptop in 2010, but I’m not really disappointed. The 40% transparency when the screen is off is cool enough to override other considerations. Clearly, with the device unnamed we’re not going to be seeing this thing hit the markets any time soon. Samsung wasn’t even clear if the screen would always be integrated with a laptop. Still, if the Ice Touch PMP is any indication, Samsung is willing to explore the full range of sizes and markets for their OLED technology. Hopefully they’ll find the right niche for really cool transparent screens. Augmented reality tablet computers? Something will work out. And when it does, it’s going to look incredible.

[video credit: Engadget]
[photo credit: Gizmodo]

Shinoda Lab uses ultrasound so you can feel holograms.

Called the Airborne Ultrasound Tactile Display, the specially calibrated ultrasound emitter gives you the impression of physical pressure at the location of a holographic object. Because you aren’t actually touching the hologram, there’s no decrease in the quality of the image. Unlike a traditional speaker, the ultrasound can be focused at a particular location, so you only feel pressure at a certain point. This precision allows AUTD to let you feel individual drops of virtual rain, a bouncing ball, or even a tiny animal running across your palm.

I think it is hilarious and awesome that a key component of  the Shinoda Lab setup is a remote control from the Nintendo Wii. Two wiimotes serve as IR sensors that track the movement of your hand in the hologram space. In order to see your hand, you have to have a tiny marker place on your finger that is very reflective to IR light. As far as hand-tracking goes, it’s a remarkably simple setup. There are some obvious limitations you can see from the video. The size of the hand isn’t well preserved in the virtual space (probably because only one part of the hand is tracked in IR). Still, I’m sure Nintendo is overjoyed with the inventiveness of the Shinoda Lab. Especially since Shinoda just exhibited AUTD at the SIGGRAPH conference in New Orleans.

The guys at Tokyo University are really knocking it out of the park these days. First they made super fast robot hands play baseball, now they could let us play catch with a virtual team. I applaud their innovation and am excited by how many different ways it can be applied. I mean, the AUTD seems custom fit to be integrated into Augmented Reality technology, haptics, and human-computer interfaces. How versatile can you get?

Interacting with visual object is going to be a big development in the fields of computing, gaming, and art. Just looking at the AUTD from the video you can see how they could be easily adapted into a multi-directional 3D setup. When that happens, the AUTD will go from a novelty to a tool that brings about full immersion virtual reality. In the meantime, I look forward to seeing more demonstrations of Tokyo University’s current setup, including its limitations and what it sounds like. Damn, this stuff is cool. I’m going to go get some wiimotes, lasers, and a subwoofer and see if I can’t  battle some Klingons.