A 3D computer that allows users to interact with digital content ‘inside’ the screen has been unveiled at the TED conference in Los Angeles.
The SpaceTop system developed by TED Fellow, Jinha Lee, comprises a transparent screen from Samsung Electronics which users work behind, typing and scrolling as in a traditional desktop computer, but also using gestures to move around digital content.
SpaceTop integrates a pair of Microsoft Kinect depth cameras, one for touch and gesture recognition and one for face tracking. The top-down depth camera tracks the fingers to recognise pinching gestures or other touch gestures, while the front-facing depth camera tracks the user’s face to correct the perspective of the 3D display.
The computer has a number of interfaces allowing the user to interact with it, including a bimanual interaction, with each hand interacting with SpaceTop differently, and a 3D modelling mode.
