January 26, 2011

What CES had to Offer for the New Computer Screen

Life was never meant to be viewed through a little window, and I believe neither was

technology. Look at TVs, computers, cell phones: all of these technologies have

increased their screen size so that we can see a bigger picture. I’m always thinking

ahead about what great technology is still to come. One of my interests is in having

giant computer screens and having technology get me out of my seat, literally.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is known for its innovation. At this year’s

CES, two products stood out to me concerning innovation in computer screen

technology:

Samsung and LG’s Flexible AMOLED Displays

AMOLED uses organic materials to transmit light. Flexible AMOLED displays have

popped up at CES before, but what made this year different is the material they are

using to make these flexible displays: plastic. In the past, these displays were made

of glass, which meant that the display was flexible only once and after that it would

break. Considering what is available at this year’s show, it isn’t too hard to imagine

that a computer screen will soon be on these displays.

Microsoft Surface 2

Any product that will eventually make the computer mouse obsolete is good in my

book. Microsoft Surface 2 is an improvement on the first Microsoft Surface, which

was a touch screen tabletop, connected to a bulky cabinet in order to hold cameras.

The cameras read your fingers, replacing the computer mouse with touch. Now

Microsoft Surface goes beyond a tabletop by reducing the thickness to just four

inches, so it can be mounted on a wall. I love how big it is at 40 inches. With

PixelSense technology, the Microsoft Surface not only reads your hands, but can also

read text written down on a piece of paper and then place it on the screen. This

interaction of actual paper with a computer screen could go beyond scanning, as

shown at CES where they had a flyer for the Royal Bank placed on the screen,

showing if a customer’s flyer was the winner or not in a drawing. PixelSense can

read any object placed on the screen.

My dream would be for these two technologies to be used together to create large

screens (my preference being 30ft by 10ft) that can be mounted anywhere with

flexible AMOLED technology and that I can touch with PixelSense so I don’t have to

sit down. Here’s the interesting thing about these two pieces of technology right

now: Samsung is involved in both. Hmm…

CEO Curt Finch founded Journyx in 1996 on the premise that we should all strive to

spend our time – and lives – on things that matter.