THE CONCEPT
The BendDesk is an interactive desk that combines a vertical and horizontal surface via a curve.The surface is integrated with a seamless multitouch input that can detect up to 100 simultaneous points of interaction.I had the initial idea of building a bend multitouch desk,inspired by the Sun Starfire video of 1993,which predicted how a future desk environment could look like in 2004, said Malte Weiss,project leader for BendDesk.The Starfire system envisioned on the video featured a large,interactive area,different input modalities such as gestures and direct manipulation,and applications,such as remote collaboration.A video link of the Sun Starfire system is available at the bottom.
THE PROTOTYPE
The researchers took one year and 7,500 Euros (Rs 4,49,272) to build the BendDesk prototype.The system uses two projectors running at a resolution of 1024x768 each to display the interface on a curved acrylic sheet built in to the prototype.The user interface is custom made using OpenGL running on an Apple Mac system.However,the researchers are quick to point out that the same can also be adapted for Windows and Linux systems.A paper on BendDesk appeared on the ACM International Conference on Interactive Tabletops and Surfaces.The paper contains detailed description of how the prototype was constructed can be downloaded via the link at the end of this article.The prototype was made using an acrylic surface and off-the-shelf components making it easy for anyone to replicate the project.
Other researchers who worked with Malte Weiss to realise his dream were Simon Voelker and Christine Sutter.
SHORTCOMINGS AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROJECT
In the beginning,we assumed that BendDesk would be exhausting,especially when interacting with the vertical screen (also known as the gorilla arm effect).However,preliminary user tests indicate that this effect is not that strong,probably because the user is sitting, said Malte.
There are still some shortcomings not yet addressed.For example,the current projector output resolution makes it hard to implement productivity tasks and the researchers plan to address that by installing new projectors with higher resolutions.They also plan to improve the input resolution,add pen input and look at some ergonomic implications.
WHEN CAN WE GET ONE
The system has the potential to replace your boring old office desk someday making it more interactive.
Unfortunately,the researchers are not planning to commercialise BendDesk as a product.They,however,say that a cooperation with a company that brings the system from the prototype state to a final product could still happen in the future.
IMPORTANT LINKS
You can watch the Starfire video here:
http:// tinyurl.com/mmbenddesk1
Watch a video of the BendDesk in action here:
http:// tinyurl.com/mmbenddesk2
Read their paper :
http:// tinyurl.com/mmbenddesk3