BendDesk: the desk that is a touch screen

I always check PhysOrg's website when I wake up, saw this story this morning. I thought it was worth a post just because it looks kind of cool. In the way that I work, I could see a desk like this being useful for like they say, easily sliding documents around because there's no right angle where the top and bottom of the desk meet. It's a pretty good idea, definitely would be useful for someone doing fast paced graphics work and editing, etc.
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c1b553de6560.jpg[/atsimg]

(PhysOrg.com) -- A research project from the RWTH Aachen University Media Computing Group and Department of Work and Cognitive Psychology in Germany is developing a desk in which the entire curved surface is a multi-touch touch screen and display, removing the need for keyboard, mouse and separate display.

The creators say this of their desk,

They say the project is their “vision of a future workspace that allows continuous interaction between both areas.”

The result of their vision is BendDesk, which has horizontal and vertical surfaces made of a single 104 cm x 104 cm piece of bendable acrylic. The entire area serves as both display and multi-touch screen, which enables the user to interact with virtual objects anywhere on the surface. The system uses two projectors, three cameras for touch input, and strips of infrared light emitting diodes (IR-LEDs) set into the sides of the desk surface.

BendDesk Full Story
Link To Research Project

I also like it because it is safe to set your coffee/drink on the display.

Slap a "Apple" tag on that bad boy and it'll sell like hotcakes!!! I can see idiots now dragging the desk out of Circuit city or Best Buy or something with big grins on their faces. "I am soooo cool."

I prefer my ordinary desk for all my work. Thanks.

Nice idea but nothing moving these days... the principle behind it is quite simple and doesn't take a degree in informatics or engineering to do it yourself. All you need is a beamer, a webcam, and a software that can track multiple fingertips (which btw is for free). How you design the casing is up to you, there are really no boundaries when you got enough money to buy multiple beamers, for instance you could build a 360° interactive working space within a day.

reply to post by DevilJin


Well I get your point with the whole apple thing, but I don't have any apple products and still think this is pretty cool. It might not be practical in all situations, but for what I do it would definitely speed things up after getting used to using the different set up. Of course it would probably be too expensive for me to afford anyway. But I like the concept, I see many uses out of it for me alone, so I'm sure others would have their own reasons for wishing they had such a desk. The photo file sorting thing alone would make me very happy. Just saying, whether or not it's meant to be a flashy new toy everyone runs out to buy, it would most definitely have its uses.

reply to post by Clairaudience


You make it sound very simple. Wish I knew you in real life. I'm not very technologically adept so I thought it was interesting because I hadn't even thought of such a thing.

I don't know about 360 degrees, I'm not trying to run a command center or anything. I'm just a photographer and an editor and see the purpose this could serve me in speeding up my work. You should have seen me trying to make a barn door tracker for my camera, it was hilariously bad. I almost lost a finger. Someone else had to finish it for me.

reply to post by SpaceJ


"Command center", hehe, good one!

Well there is a method to do it for not more than 5 bucks, without a beamer but it should give you an idea on how simple it is to create a multitouch platform:



Now you could place a beamer in there, next to the webcam, or on your ceiling pointing downward, and project an image to the surface of the box, like this here:



Simple, effective and good fun.

Well, I did a project a few months ago with a Microsoft Surface table. It is an overpriced, underpowered unit (IMO) that takes the form of a small table. That being said, it was effective and useful and fun. Microsoft's labs are working on more interesting (and touchless!) varients for the future, though.. See this article for more information www.engadget.com...

reply to post by rogerstigers


That is really cool too. The thing about all these touch/touch-less surfaces, is that I think it would take me forever to get used to using it for what I do. But then I guess that's true of learning any new technology. I just wonder how much control I'd have not using a mouse, because I have a very unsteady hand and the mouse gives me something to lean on kind of. I use my touch pad when I'm working, but to edit I have to use a mouse or my Wacom tablet or I work too slowly. Eh.