Projector turns flat surfaces into touch screens

UK company Light Blue Optics (LBO) has launched an interactive projector that turns any flat surface into a 10 inch touch screen.

The company says its proprietary holographic laser projection technology (HLP), creates bright, high-quality WVGA resolution video images that are always in focus. It enables extremely wide throw angles, resulting in large images being created at close proximity to the projector’s aperture.

HLP can also correct for distortion and optical aberrations in software, enabling table-top projection. A unique optical architecture delivers a Class 1 laser safety classification making HLP and devices that incorporate it eye safe.

Light Touch includes an infra-red touch sensing system that transforms the projected image into a virtual 10 inch touch screen. The user can control the projector and interact with multimedia content and applications simply by touching the projected image.

Light Touch runs Adobe Flash Lite 3.1, and incorporates WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. It has 2GB of onboard Flash memory and a Micro SD card slot that supports up to 32GB. Light Touch can be wall powered or battery operated, with a run-time of two hours.

“The opportunities for Light Touch extend beyond consumer electronics into retail spaces, the workplace and the home – profoundly changing the way people interact with multimedia content and the built environment,” said CEO, Chris Harris. “By enabling such diverse and compelling use cases, LBO aims to become the world’s leading supplier of miniature projection systems.”

The company plans to license the technology to OEMs.