We’ve seen Ewan McGregor draw a boat on a Microsoft Surface like table in The Island, and now it’s time to witness Tom Cruise breaking down as he watches a holographic image of his dead son. Yeah, the comparisons so far this year are numerous to future tech in movies. If the technology companies keep bringing this stuff out I have no intention of stopping the analogies. Dead horses were put on Earth to be beaten.Swiss company Atracsys has put a demo video on their site showcasing their own interactive “touch” system, which they call “beMerlin.” Unlike MS’ Surface there is no screen to actually touch. Using just your hands – sadly no super cool gloves are needed – you can interact with holographic like images. Watching the interface in action it responds in a similar way to the many touchscreen technologies out there. Except there’s no physical interaction involved.

On film this looks cool, and it’d be an interesting thing to demo. But how tiring would an eight-hour workday be where you’re holding your arms in the air? Maybe in ten years the office pool will be full of massively shouldered ogres. The other problem is that people still prefer a physical interface. They like the keyboard to have weight and click at each press. Even touchscreen has problems because of the diminished tactical feedback. Removing it completely will take a complete reworking of our basic understanding of technology interaction. Still, this stuff just looks awesome. In the end looking cool is the most important thing in anyone’s life.

You can check out the video, and get more info, at the Atracsys website here.

Via: CB