The US Patent & Trademark Office published a new patent this month, one related to Microsoft’s new 3D interactive display technology. The system involves both a new PC system and a sort of miniature multi Kinect camera.
Usually interaction with Windows is done with a 2D interface and clicking, touching and typing. Now the windows can be visualized and navigated within thanks to a multiple layers view, offered in 3D. The patent details ways of implementing a transparent display device, with a translucent screen to render images and create the impression of virtual objects in 3D.
The transparent display will include a hand tracker, so it will detect the user’s hands and generate 3D input. The idea of Kinect implemented on the desktop, laptop or mobile has been thrown around for a while now, so it may be coming to those segments soon. Desktops are getting crowded nowadays, so an extra 3D area in the background could be useful.
