Touch projector

Here's a nice video showing Microvision's new PicoMagic interactive (touch) laser pico projector platform:

And here's a photo showing the actual device (opened):

Update: we've got a nice photo and video of the PicoMagic

Back in June 2011 Microvision mentioned that they are working on a reversible pico projector, and today they have officially announced PicoMagic - a demonstration platform that enables focus-free interactive (touch) and 3D displays. The PicoMagic is powered by Microvision's new PicoP Gen 2 HD engine.

Microvision will offer PicoMagic "applications" (interactive images and 3D displays) to OEMs - aimed towards business users, educators and gamers.

Researchers from Microsoft developed a new pico-projector touch based system called Omnitouch - that can convert any surface into a touch display. We've seen this kind of technology before, but Microsoft is using a Kinect-style camera which may prove more powerful than other solutions as it can handle depth better. The projector is laser-based (seems to be Microvision's ShowWX) and is always in focus.

Omnitouch can recognize finger tapping and object interaction (for example drag-and-drop). It's currently a bulky camera/pico-projector device that has to be mounted on your shoulder, but the researchers believe you can make it smaller and easier to carry around.

Light Blue Optics' Light Touch- the holographic laser projection (HLP) projector - passed through the FCC - which probably means it's coming to the US, hopefully soon. Originally LBO said that they will only offer it through OEMs and will not make it themselves - but perhaps plans have changed now. The light touch is a small touch-projector that can project images up to 10", and includes an infra-red sensor for the touch ability.

The Light Touch runs Adobe Flash Lite 3.1 for applications, has 2GB of internal memory and a micro-SD slot. It also includes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, so applications that connect to the internet are possible. LBO think that the Light Touch is not just as a consumer device - it also can be used in retail spaces, the workplace and the home.

Alps Electric developed an ultra-small aspherical glass lens compatible with wide-angle laser diodes for optical communications. The lens is called FLGS3 and it has an optical coupling efficiency (indicator of light transmission efficiency) of 73%. Its dimensions are 1.0 x 1.0 x 0.8mm, which Alps claims are the smallest in the industry. The FLGS3 is already in volume production.

These kind of lenses are mainly used in optical communication equipment -for undersea cables and base stations. But Alps says that such lenses could be employed in pico projectors. Or shall we say Nano-projectors perhaps?

Microvision hosted their annual shareholder meeting last week, and now they posted a presentation from that event. The company says that they are optimistic going forward - direct green lasers will improve performance and cut price, the mobile device ecosystem is booming (new tablets, WP7, Android, etc.), their IP portfolio is getting stronger (especially with the new Motorola patents).

One interesting bit of news is that the PicoP engine is 'reversible' - it can be used to display information and capture information - basically it can become a touch projector (like LBO's solution). This is the first time I see this mentioned and hopefully we'll hear more soon on how they propose to achieve that.

Someone from TI gives a short presentation about DLP pico-projectors - with the main point being that interactive pico-projectors will be a 'significant' evolution: