No-Contact Technology
From: Wall Street Journal - 08/31/2006 - P. B3
By: Roger Cheng

Microsoft researcher Andy Wilson has developed a technology that enables
users to manipulate computer images with their hands. The technology, which
Microsoft calls TouchLight, uses three cameras placed behind a large
semitransparent screen. The system compares the infrared left and right
cameras, which capture the depth and height of the user's hand movements,
with human eyes. The middle camera remains focused on anything facing the
screen. The person facing the screen can manipulate the images, which appear
to be floating in space, that are projected on it. The system can also
superimpose an image on both sides of the screen, and eventually multiple
people might be able to work on the same design. Eon Reality, a maker of
three-dimensional computer models, recently licensed the TouchLight system
from Microsoft and intends to market the technology as a new mode of
interactive advertising. "It's a way to interact with 2D and 3D data with
your bare hands," said Eon's Dan Lejerskar. "We're trying to find a new way
to define things." While Eon says the technology has drawn considerable
interest, the one taker so far has been the United Kingdom's Technium CAST, a
university affiliate that helps develop young technology ventures. CAST will
use the system as a training tool and a method for developing visualization
and communication programs. Auto mechanics could peruse virtual car diagrams
without touching them with their oil-stained hands, for instance, or surgeons
could flip through medical instructions in a sterile environment without
touching anything. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.wsj.com/

Links:
Andrew D. Wilson
http://research.microsoft.com/~awilson/

TouchLight - Siggraph 2005 Emerging Technologies
http://research.microsoft.com/~awilson/touchlight/

TouchLight: An Imaging Touch Screen and Display for Gesture-Based Interaction
http://www.siggraph.org/s2005/main.php?f=conference&p=etech&s=etech14&PHPSESSID=87c7eebd2fee03a1493536e97dc81e29

Microsoft's TouchLight makes 3D hands-on
http://news.com.com/1606-2_3-6096513.html
http://zdnet.com.com/1606-2_2-6096513.html

EON Reality Will Be First Company to Bring Next-Generation 3-D Technology to Market
http://www.eonreality.com/news/news_archive/press_releases07_18_06.htm

Videos:
http://www.eonreality.com/video/touchlight/touchlight.wmv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1br3fDZyUQ
http://www.eonreality.com/video/touchlight/

Microsoft’s TouchLight 3D Technology
http://www.slashgear.com/microsoft-touchlight-3d-technology-16944.php

Microsoft TouchLight: Touch Screen Technology with a Twist
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/microsoft/microsoft-touchlight-touch-screen-technology-with-a-twist-194560.php

Microsoft displays next-gen computing
http://ciol.com/content/news/2005/105030403.asp