The Microsoft Sphere Up Close
You may have read about the Microsoft Sphere. The sphere uses a projector, camera, and software to turn the sphere into a multi-touch display. Recently Microsoft released a more detailed video and picture about how the sphere works. The system uses an IR camera to photograph where a user is placing their hands. It then correlates the hand positions to a distorted image on the computer. That distorted image, when projected on the sphere, looks like the images are just curving with the shape of the sphere. The sphere offers several functions including a photo browser, viewing a globe of the world, and connecting with a 360 degree video camera. The multi-touch system can also have data given to it through the sphere in the form of a paint program and a spherical pong game. The Microsoft sphere also has an interactive menu that you turn the globe in order to use it. The photo browser also has several interactive tools including “pinch” resizing, flicking, rotation, and a “Send to the Darkside” gesture that sends pictures to the other side of the globe for another user.
[via Engadget]
