Microsoft Applied Sciences: The 3D Desktop of Your Dreams

Everything is turning 3D now, but there is one space where it did not yet: your PC desktops. This is about to change. Microsoft created a new computer interface in which users can interact with the computer behind the screen.

Called "view-dependant depth-correction gaze", Microsoft's Applied Sciences Group combined a transparent Samsung OLED display with an Xbox Kinect sensor and software to create a space where users can operate behind the screen at different depths. 

Microsoft has been working on the Holodeck concept for a while. The user can immediately reach out for a file with fingertips, in addition to resizing images, or repositioning desktop elements. From pulling, pushing, and pinching, all the conventional 2-D interactions on the iPad are translated into the 3-D environment. 

We also recommend watching: "Siggraph: Japanese Touchable Holograms" and "Microsoft's 'Kinect Accelerator': Turning Hacks into Startups".

Microsoft's Applied Sciences: The 3D Desktop of Your Dreams

The Applied Sciences Group (ASG) is an applied research and development team, working closely with Microsoft Research, dedicated to creating the next generation of computer interaction technologies or Mobile, Xbox, and Microsoft Surface. It focuses on the synergy between optics, electronics and software to create novel human computer interfaces.