Technabob » overlay

Go From 2D to 3D With Global Wave’s Pic3D Lenticular Lens Film

Hazel Chua — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 13:51:56 +0000

I think the era of 3D was officially ushered in with the release of the Nintendo 3DS. Although the concept and technology has already been around for some time with 3D movies and 3D television, it was only then (in my opinion, at least) that 3D sort of made its way into mainstream technology since 3D was being offered, glasses-free, on the handheld video game console.

But what if you don’t want to buy a 3D mobile phone or tablet since your old 2D one is still working fine? If you’ve been wanting to get some 3D action, then you won’t be left out in the cold anymore. Not with Global Wave’s Pic3D lenticular lens film.

Most glasses-free 3D devices nowadays makes use of parallax barriers to render 3D images. The Pic3D, however, employs a lenticular lens system and integrates it into the film to improve the three-dimensional field of view to 120° while improving the light transmission level to 90%.

To view 3D content, the media will need to be streamed via Pic3D’s application which is compatible with both Windows and iOS.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Films for 12.1-inch, 21.5-inch and 23-inch monitor are going to be made available and will be sold in early August. The prices will range from 2,000 yen (~$25 USD) for the iPhone-sized films to 23,000 yen (~$284) for the 23-inch version.

[DigInfo TV via Dvice]

Dreamtouch: Multitouch Display Counts All 32 of Your Fingers

Technabob — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:41:36 +0000

As I sit here in front of my HP Touchsmart PC, I can interact with many applications using my fingertips, but due to the size of the computer’s 25.5″ display, HP had to go with an optical sensor-based multitouch screen, which is limited to detecting only 2 fingers at a time. Now, a display company has figured out a way to build large multitouch screens that can detect all of your digits at once using a grid of infrared sensors.

Developed by Germany’s Elektrosil and Citron, dreaMTouch can actually detect up to 32 simultaneous touch points on displays as large as 82″ diagonal. The dreaMTouch can even handle all of those tracking points without any worry about such things as your fingers crossing paths – which can be a problem with technologies like the NextWindow touchscreen tech that HP uses in their Touchsmart desktops.

The system is designed to layer on top of existing display technologies, adding a 4mm thick piece of laminated safety glass in front of the screen. Data is then sent to any computer using a standard USB interface.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The dreaMTouch can even detect the size and location of objects placed in the touch area – which means it could be used to build tangible interaction apps like the ones you find on Microsoft’s Surface. Sweet! Plus it interfaces directly with TUIO, a popular open source standard for interacting with multitouch applications.

No word on how and when you’ll be able to get your hands on one of these, so for now, we’ll just have to sit back and wait and live with our primitive old 2 finger multitouch computers. Waaah.

[via Multitouch.nl]

4ithumbs Adds Tactile Keyboard to iPhone

Technabob — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:13:53 +0000

If you’re an avid iPhone user, but long for the tactile feel of a real keyboard, this might just make your day. 4iThumbs new overlay screen gives your touchscreen keys you can actually feel when you press them.

The ingenious design adds tiny little pushable “buttons” that line up perfectly with the keyboard on the screen of the iPhone. They’ve even designed the 4iThumbs to be easily removable when you don’t need to type that much. The video below shows exactly how it’s installed and used.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The 4iThumbs tactile overlay is available here in both landscape ($16.95 USD) and portait ($14.95) versions, depending on your typing preference. They’re also selling a bundle with both versions for $19.95.

iPhone touch typing, here we come!

[via IntoMobile]

My Touch Keys Adds Tactile Feedback to iPhone, Sorta.

Technabob — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:58:57 +0000

Do you love the iPhone, but struggle with the smooth on-screen keyboard? Personally, I’ve found it pretty easy to use, but the touchscreen definitely doesn’t offer the touch-typing feedback that you get with physical keys. This new, low cost screen overlay for the iPhone claims to provide tactile cues to your fingertips to help them find their way.

My Touch Keys is a overlay that sits on your iPhone’s screen and has cutouts which line up with the location of the on-screen keyboard (portrait mode only). The static-cling sheets use their subtle divots to give you feedback on the location of the keys, even if you’re not looking at the screen.

I’d be concerned that the ridges on the film might get in the way of other, non-keyboarding activities, but the makers claim that you can still use the screen without interference. At just $7.99 a pair (including shipping), it’s not too much of a gamble, so if you have any desire to improve your iPhone typing accuracy and speed, you can grab one here.

[via Phonemag via Ubergizmo]