Movies have given us a lot of promises about the future. Sleeper promised sex booths, Back To The Future II promised hoverboards, and Logan’s Run promised a future rid of all those old people. The millennium turned, and yet we still have none of those things. But the future could officially be here by 2020, especially if Sony has anything to say about it.
Fellow Nerdists, this is a concept design for the Sony Nextep. The idea is to integrate a computer and holographic projector into a wristband with a flexible display. Pretty much all real-world applications of flexible displays are conceptual at this point, but this might be the coolest concept I’ve seen yet. And it’s definitely the coolest wrist computer I’ve seen. That’s right, I said it. Suck it, Dick Tracy.
While the Nextep by itself is pretty awesome, the possibilities when combined with other recent advancements are even more exciting. Take, for example, SkinPut. This bit of hardware projects the screen onto your arm, and uses body acoustics to detect where you are tapping through the vibrations IN YOUR OWN SKIN. It’s undoubtedly a pretty finicky device right now, but with work it could prove to be very effective, eliminating the need for the pull-out keyboards on the Nextep.
Another possible combo would be the Nextep with an interfacing device like this one, presented at a previous TED conference:
It’s a long video, so I’ll sum up: by combining a projector, camera, and other pieces of inexpensive hardware, an interfacing device can be made which allows you to receive feedback on the world around you. Hold up a book in front of you, and the device will recognize it and project a review right onto the pages. With colored rings on your fingers, you could frame a shot with your hands and the camera will recognize the gesture and snap a photo.
The common tie of all of these “futuristic†gadgets is they work to eliminate the screen as we know it and open our technology into the world around us…which seems to be the trend when you consider that we are already working to make our tech more and more mobile with tablets and smartphones.
I still say it’s not officially the future until we have hoverboards that work on water.
via Ubergizmo
Images: Yanko Design, Touchstone Pictures
Reminds me of Leela’s armband.
“Well, if we get bored, I’ve got Tetris on this thing.”
-Leela
I’ll take my Pip-Boy readout in blue, thankyouverymuch.
@Justin haha, yeah I forgot to mention that it’ll play holotapes.
Want a wrist computer. WANT!
shorten your name to Newshwa… its much to long at this particular juncture. think about it… Andy Newshwa
Not a bad idea, Brian…I could even notate it by typing “New” followed by an upside-down “e”. How many people do you know who use International Phonetic Alphabet symbols in their name? Not many.
is it just me is the the model wearing the nextep look super awkward.
Logan’s Run also promised orgy clubs filled with zombified sex addicts in slowmo.
While the inescapable conclusion of skin cancer from Nextep and SkinPut seems very promising, I’m holding out for a hoverboard.
That awesome
Andy posted this
Come on, Chris, everyone knows hoverboards don’t work on water… unless you have POWER.
#wowthatreferencefeltforced
i don’t share your taste in jewellery, apparently, but i do share your enthusiasm.