Microsoft Researchers Get Fancy With A Sphere Display

from TechCrunch by Erick Schonfeld

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Not content with a PC on every desktop, Microsoft wants to see every available surface become a computer screen. It has already developed a multi-touch Surface Computer (which is being used in AT&T stores), and turned that vertical in a multi-touch wall. Now, it’s latest project at Microsoft Research is a Sphere (see video above).

A prototype of the spherical display is expected to be unveiled today. On of the features is the ability to “send to dark side.” When you place your hand on an image and press, it sends the image to the other side of the sphere, where a collaborator might be standing. The video also shows a globe mapped onto the sphere, some video playing in a crystal-ball effect, and Pong-like game. (Todd Bishop at the Seattle PI has more details).