University of Tokyo professors Masatoshi Ishikawa and Hiroyuki Shinoda have unveiled a system that projects a keyboard or smartphone display onto surfaces like a person’s moving palm or a sheet of paper, in what could be a step toward using computers without having to hold a physical device. The system is activated by passing one’s hand over its detector. It uses a special camera to constantly capture the position of the hand, paper or other projecting surface, on to which a projector creates the image of a keyboard or display.
The system also has around 2,000 ultrasonic wave emitters in its upper section that create a sensation on the hand that the keyboard keys are applying pressure. The researchers say that with the combined technologies, one could, for example, operate a computer from anywhere inside a company office or factory. They hope to complete the system within the next few years.