For years, the film Minority Report has been seen as the gold standard for a fictional human-machine interface that actually had a chance of one day becoming a reality (looking at you, Matrix). With its sleek, virtual keyboards and projected displays, it fits all of the classic hallmarks of cool future-magic.
Today, CNET is reporting that Taiwanese Industrial Technology Research Institute already has a working augmented reality system that projects a virtual GUI in front of the user. There's already a tech demo on YouTube; while the video is a little corny, it's still fairly impressive stuff. Hopefully, the company will be able to trim down the final product soon, because I need this thing in my life.
The good news is the institute is actively courting mobile carriers and anyone else who might be interested in this sort of project. According to the rumor mill though, that could be half of everyone in consumer tech manufacturing at this point, as they all dash to get wearable computing solutions to market.
