My Dream Tablet
Ok, step into lala land with me for a minute. Here is what I envision to be my dream tablet.
1. It starts with a revolutionary new screen that is as dense in pixels as a modern camera sensor. Think ten megapixels per square inch. The screen runs to the very edge of the tablet on all sides.
2. Like an oled display, every other pixel can either emit light or passively display color like a spot of ink. The pixel next to it captures light with a microscopic lens attached to each one. The result is that the display also doubles as a camera. Like looking in a mirror when the proper app is open.
3. Both sides of the tablet feature this ultra high resolution camera/display. The result is like looking through a sheet of glass. This helps the unit work wonderfully with augmented reality apps.
4. The tablet is thin (10mm) and completely flat. Even its sides are flat. It's made of something very strong, like carbon nanotubes.
5. You can place multiple tablets next to each other and lock them together. In doing so you make them work as one machine sharing processing power, memory and surface area. They become one big screen the more you add.
6. Each tablet can be used independently or when locked together they can be used to resurface a desk. Making a true desktop computer in both virtual and literal terms. Think Microsoft Surface.
7. They could be linked together and mounted on a wall acting as a large screen TV or a new interactive bathroom mirror. Imagine brushing your teeth while the mirror in front of you displays news, daily reminders and so on. Imagine liking the way you look in the mirror and pushing virtual self timer button on that mirror and having it take a picture with the same resolution and fidelity that you see yourself in the mirror.
8. The operating system would contain an entire database of elements and their properties. No longer would you just build graphic elements with pixels, but those pixels would represent actual material elements and their chemical and physical properties. For instance some graphic element that looked like steal wouldn't just look like steel, it would contain the elemental properties of steel and act just like it. So for instance if you made it virtually rain on your GUI, over time that steel element would begin to rust.
9. Per #8 the OS would feature a universal physics and environmental engine built into it that applications would be able to take advantage of in conjunction with the elemental database. this adds a new level of texture and physical feel to the OS. It also helps with the graphics processing and matching to real world elements in play with augmented reality applications.
10. Because the tablets screen also doubles as a pixel accurate camera, it is capable of identifying physical objects that come close to it. So for instance a finger that presses down on the screen will be related to softer or harder touch. The pixels will be able to see if the tip of the finger is expanding as it presses down harder and covers up more pixels. This allows the screen to be pressure sensitive without it needing to have any "give" to the surface of the screen itself.
11. Imagine a set of stylus accessories with felt tips to them. An entire art kit designed for touch screens. Fine points, wedge tips, chisel points, thick marker marker tips and so on. They don't need to be electronic themselves because the screen itself can see and identify them based on how many pixels they cover up when touched to the screen itself. Even paintbrushes could be used with their unique patterns made on the screen surface based on the way the hairs spread apart.
12. Because the screen also collects light, it is capable of using real world light as the basis for lighting virtual elements including virtual artwork. So for instance casting shadows on virtual elements based on our room lighting. The OS will even record the lighting situation for when a painting was painted and how it changed over the course of painting. So when you view a painting you'll be able to playback the lighting scene to see it exactly the way the artist saw it when painting it. Imagine if this had existed when someone like Leonardo Da Vinci had painted the Mona Lisa. To be able to see it with the same lighting that he saw it or choose to see it with the lighting of our current viewing environment.
I know we aren't going to see anything like this in the new Apple Tablet. But just think about the possibilities for the future.
1. It starts with a revolutionary new screen that is as dense in pixels as a modern camera sensor. Think ten megapixels per square inch. The screen runs to the very edge of the tablet on all sides.
2. Like an oled display, every other pixel can either emit light or passively display color like a spot of ink. The pixel next to it captures light with a microscopic lens attached to each one. The result is that the display also doubles as a camera. Like looking in a mirror when the proper app is open.
3. Both sides of the tablet feature this ultra high resolution camera/display. The result is like looking through a sheet of glass. This helps the unit work wonderfully with augmented reality apps.
4. The tablet is thin (10mm) and completely flat. Even its sides are flat. It's made of something very strong, like carbon nanotubes.
5. You can place multiple tablets next to each other and lock them together. In doing so you make them work as one machine sharing processing power, memory and surface area. They become one big screen the more you add.
6. Each tablet can be used independently or when locked together they can be used to resurface a desk. Making a true desktop computer in both virtual and literal terms. Think Microsoft Surface.
7. They could be linked together and mounted on a wall acting as a large screen TV or a new interactive bathroom mirror. Imagine brushing your teeth while the mirror in front of you displays news, daily reminders and so on. Imagine liking the way you look in the mirror and pushing virtual self timer button on that mirror and having it take a picture with the same resolution and fidelity that you see yourself in the mirror.
8. The operating system would contain an entire database of elements and their properties. No longer would you just build graphic elements with pixels, but those pixels would represent actual material elements and their chemical and physical properties. For instance some graphic element that looked like steal wouldn't just look like steel, it would contain the elemental properties of steel and act just like it. So for instance if you made it virtually rain on your GUI, over time that steel element would begin to rust.
9. Per #8 the OS would feature a universal physics and environmental engine built into it that applications would be able to take advantage of in conjunction with the elemental database. this adds a new level of texture and physical feel to the OS. It also helps with the graphics processing and matching to real world elements in play with augmented reality applications.
10. Because the tablets screen also doubles as a pixel accurate camera, it is capable of identifying physical objects that come close to it. So for instance a finger that presses down on the screen will be related to softer or harder touch. The pixels will be able to see if the tip of the finger is expanding as it presses down harder and covers up more pixels. This allows the screen to be pressure sensitive without it needing to have any "give" to the surface of the screen itself.
11. Imagine a set of stylus accessories with felt tips to them. An entire art kit designed for touch screens. Fine points, wedge tips, chisel points, thick marker marker tips and so on. They don't need to be electronic themselves because the screen itself can see and identify them based on how many pixels they cover up when touched to the screen itself. Even paintbrushes could be used with their unique patterns made on the screen surface based on the way the hairs spread apart.
12. Because the screen also collects light, it is capable of using real world light as the basis for lighting virtual elements including virtual artwork. So for instance casting shadows on virtual elements based on our room lighting. The OS will even record the lighting situation for when a painting was painted and how it changed over the course of painting. So when you view a painting you'll be able to playback the lighting scene to see it exactly the way the artist saw it when painting it. Imagine if this had existed when someone like Leonardo Da Vinci had painted the Mona Lisa. To be able to see it with the same lighting that he saw it or choose to see it with the lighting of our current viewing environment.
I know we aren't going to see anything like this in the new Apple Tablet. But just think about the possibilities for the future.
Comments
Your future is a scary place.
Why do you say that?