The "No Touch Screen" ! No Longer A Fantasy

Verminophobics are afraid of germs. With a condition like that, commonplace surfaces like telephones, ATM's, and even the buttons of a good friends keyboard become menacing killing fields.
But thanks to a technology called HoloTouch, which is a touchscreen interface that has no surface whatsoever.

Here's how it works: A holographic image is projected in the air, but this just isn't any ordinary hologram, it's also an interface. An infrared sensor constantly monitors the projection, and detects the intrusion of a finger into any part of the image.Then, just like any other input device [ mouse, keyboard etc .. ] , it transmits the appropriate selection of software.
The only thing that really suck is that it's main purpose right now is only for medical or military applications. Just imagine the possibilities.... Cause I sure can think of a lot....
So what do you guys think of this new and upcoming technology ??

If you want to learn more about it visit their website:
http://www.holotouch.com

I'm excited!!! I wouldn't call myself a verminophobic, but I tell ya after a science experiment in Grade 8, I refuse to use public washrooms unless its truely an emergency! :P I am, however, careful about what I touch and especially working retail right now to pay for college, I come into contact with lots of germs. It was only a few years ago I was sitting at home watching some space-age tv show instead of doing my homework and imagining the possibilities of these holographic interfaces. Now its finally becoming a reality! No more touching the same debit machine a few hundred ppl who don't wash their hands after using the facilities touched just last week. I hope I'm not turning anyone into a verminophobic here! My point is, these could really help slow the transfer of germs. And no matter how greasy your fingers are, your fingers won't slip and miss the period while typing 'rm -rf ./*' as root in your fileserver anymore! Yay! I'm just a little excited!

Dave

Wouldn't it be cheaper just to pay for verminophile therapy? :D

More seriouly though, this is the first time I have heard of this technology. It is pretty cool how the StarWars dimension is becoming more and more a reality. *thinks a moment* Weren't the holograms in StarWars just viewable, not actually interactive other than sound?
The images look sweet. They almost look fake, as if made with PhotoShop, but I know it isn't true.

Your probably wondering how in the world is the media gonna be stored?

Holographic data-storage works by recording the differences between two beams of laser light. The first is a reference beam that contains no information. The second carries data that it has picked up by being passed through a liquid-crystal panel known as a spatial light modulator.
Where the two beams intersect, they interfere with one another, and this interference pattern can be captured by the photosensitive molecules of a storage medium located in the overlap region. The result is a hologram, which can be read by applying a beam equivalent to the original reference. This produces a replica of the original data.
The real beauty of holography is that a huge number of holographic files can be stored in an overlapping manner in the same volume of photosensitive material. All that is required for this to happen is that the reference beam for each hologram must arrive at a slightly different angle from all other beams, or must have a different wavelength from those beams. Theoretical calculations suggest that it will be possible to use holographic techniques to store a terabyte (1,000 gigabytes) of data on a CD-sized disk. Today's DVDs, by comparison, have a storage capacity of less than 20 gigabytes.
Moreover, holographic techniques permit the retrieval of data at speeds not possible with current storage methods. Transfer rates of a billion bits a second (at least 60 times faster than current DVDs) have already been demonstrated in the laboratory. Such fast access times are possible because the laser beams that are central to holographic technology can be moved rapidly, without inertia, unlike the components of a conventional disk drive. In short, no other storage technology in development can match holography's capacity and speed.

I copied and pasted some of this info from an article that I found after searching on the web for about 20 minutes.
[follow this link to read the entire article ... http://www.http://www.economist.com/...ory_id=1956881 ]

Pretty impressive dont you think ?? Hope that you guys enjoy reading it ..

My apologies I accidently added and extra "http" at the beginning of the link
New Link ::
http://www.economist.com/science/dis...ory_id=1956881

Looks interesting, cant wait to see it actually come out and be used.

i'll give it another 100yrs before it reaches RSA

Quote:

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The images look sweet. They almost look fake, as if made with PhotoShop, but I know it isn't true.

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the images were so def done in an image editing software like photoshop - am not saying it aint true what they can do they prolly just havn't developed any in field applications yet so have to make example pics to show people the posibilities

v_Ln