Sony, The Future is Now

[honorarybrutha]

no story...the video says it all

http://www.csl.sony.co.jp/person/rekimoto/movies/tile2.mpg

[garrisonkw]

Since the video is over 30MB, could you at least give us a general idea of what's in it?

[honorarybrutha]

Words won't do it justice...it's beyond what you've seen in sci-fi movies

[RottenFoxBreath]

sony,the future is now.a future containing cheap sub par components,crap laser quality,DRE's,vastly over inflated prices,technical jargon that sounds impressive but means not a jot...etc..etc...ad infinitum.
that sony?

[honorarybrutha]

sony,the future is now.a future containing cheap sub par components,crap laser quality,DRE's,vastly over inflated prices,technical jargon that sounds impressive but means not a jot...etc..etc...ad infinitum.
that sony?

did you bother to look at the video?

[Richie V]

It's some weird type of computer using multiple 'tiles'. I can't see what the benefit of this is at all .

[garrisonkw]

I did look at the video. It's a neat idea, but not particularly impressive. I assume the transparent tiles have some sort of identifier tag that lets the screen underneath know what module to display. Given the idea, it seems like something that would be fairly easy to implement. Frankly, I don't think the idea of needing to sort through a deck of transparent cards to find your paint application that impressive. Sorry.

[honorarybrutha]

I did look at the video. It's a neat idea, but not particularly impressive. I assume the transparent tiles have some sort of identifier tag that lets the screen underneath know what module to display. Given the idea, it seems like something that would be fairly easy to implement. Frankly, I don't think the idea of needing to sort through a deck of transparent cards to find your paint application that impressive. Sorry.

this is a tough crowd!

[RottenFoxBreath]

so the 2 contacts at each side of the title bar are the points for it to recognise the tablet he scribes on.
not a particularly amazing idea yet,from his positioning of the tablets,why really are they necessary,they could easily be placed on a credit card or flash type card.
cant see many people with pockets of them handy
its not "beyond what you've seen in sci-fi movies."
im sure ive seen that on star trek etc when they change the thermo-reactive elemental reactor core reset code,or something..

[honorarybrutha]

Since the video is over 30MB, could you at least give us a general idea of what's in it?

found this description of it

The DataTiles system integrates the benefits of two major interaction paradigms: graphical and physical user interfaces. Tagged transparent tiles are used as modular construction units. These tiles are augmented by dynamic graphical information when they are placed on a sensor-enhanced flat panel display. They can be used independently or can be combined into more complex configurations, similar to the way language can express complex concepts through a sequence of simple words.

[jarvis1781]

I suppose the invention is pretty neat. However, the idea doesn't seem convenient or useful to me. Looks like a lot of expensive "tiles" will have to be purchased and it seems they only work when on the larger screen. Why have the ability to remove them? Looks like a grid of removable tablet pc screens that have no use when away from the main board. The display area is too small to make them worth using. Might as well go for a tablet pc if you are interested in this type of technology.

[MeDiCo_BrUjO]

I would like to see it working.

[Noahtuck]

sony,the future is now.a future containing cheap sub par components,crap laser quality,DRE's,vastly over inflated prices,technical jargon that sounds impressive but means not a jot...etc..etc...ad infinitum.
that sony?

[edDV]

this is a tough crowd!

Maybe you could tell us what you think is significant?

[adcvideo]

Very high on the cool factor, but...

I mean, why would anyone want to carry plastic trays about instead of running ALL the same functions via installed software on a wireless laptop? I am tempted to suggest that Sony believes The Past Is Now as this product has scaled up all the functions of a computer to the size of a dining room table, with objects that have to be carried about instead of just clicking a mouse.

On the positive side, it appears that applications install instantly, and may even function independent of a bloated OS. And it looks as if the touch screen technology is a bit more advanced.

If this a prototype due to be scaled down, say if the consumer could buy a clear-disc, drop it on a laptop screen or a pad plugged into a computer (USB or whatever), then have the function run without any install, this would be very useful.

Cheers

[guns1inger]

This would be cool on a node based compositor. Just pick up an effect or filter and place in sequence. Each tile could have both the settings, and a video showing the current state.

Of course, I would need a very large table for some of my composites, and saving the work is a bitch. But it would look cool.

[vitualis]

Anyone watch Minority Report?

Now THAT's how to make UI.

For example, "moving" a picture onto a "memory card". So intuitive.

Regards.

[MikieV]

The display area is too small to make them worth using.

I was thinking the same thing, but the last few seconds of video caught my eye, and I replayed it a couple of times.

The video-clip playing on the "Movie" tile is drug onto the "Portal" tile [while the Portal tile displays a picture of a large video-screen on a wall, next to a bookshelf]. The view then [apparently] shifts to the actual video-screen on a wall, next to a bookshelf - which starts showing the video-clip from the "Movie" tile.

So, it appears this system can output to a screen much larger than one of the tiles - via the Portal tile.

Of course, that doesn't make it any less impractical. [For example - they don't show text-entry]

Something that struck me as odd: This is supposed to be from Sony, in Japan, but the labels on the tiles are all in English: Movie, Portal, Container, etc.

I get the impression those clear tiles, with touch-sensitive areas, are placed on the surface of a large monitor - which then displays the information under each specific tile. [It doesn't seem possible that each clear-looking tile could be generating it's own output - unless it was OLED?]. If the tiles are placed on the face of a large monitor, then larger screens/tiles would be possible - but the controller-tiles couldn't get much smaller, and still be usable.

It seems like using one of those Cintiq tablets - with on-screen controls instead of tiles - would be more practical. http://www.wacom.com/lcdtablets/index_21UX.cfm

But, its' R&D - and they don't always have to be practical.

[satviewer2000]

What a complete waste of time, energy, and money. It makes no sense to me at all. Isn't this concept something we're trying to move AWAY from? I mean, having all these stupid little pieces, one is bound to lose them eventually, then what? well you'd have to buy more little pieces from Sony to replace the little pieces you've misplaced.

I thought we were trying to get everything centralized, like on a server. For example, I'd rather watch all my videos from my single hard drive server in the basement, and then have a "client" network device (eg. Avel IO Linkplayer) in each room in my house which can pull videos from the central server. Not the other way around.

I don't want to run around the house carrying DVD's from room to room to play them, not when I can access them from a server or over the internet.

[Wile_E]

Let me guess, it was made in Mexico, like all other Sony products imported to USA?

This thing will never be a consumer product. This is just like concept cars that you NEVER see made in large quantities for the public. A waste of money that could've been donated to starving people in the world. Besides, each tile is only "programmed" to do one thing. You can see the transparent circuits embedded in them. Who is going to carry 10 or more tiles with them?

BTW....We are talking about Sony who didn't have common sense to back OLED Technology for computer displays. I've known several people whose expensive LCD monitors backlight went out after only a year of constant use. (They went back to CRT, because they can't afford replacing monitors every year.)

[trhouse]

For those who enjoy this kind of work, you might find the Palm Springs Film Festival to your liking. The audience is non-technical and view items like this as art not technology. Several have finished near the top in their category and generally draw a good response from the audience.

[edDV]

Just watched it.
A design exercise with little practicality or innovation.

[vitualis]

OLED technology won't make it into PC displays or TVs unless there is some big improvements in the tech (primarily so that the display doesn't fade within 1-2 years or use).

Regards.