Transparent Desktop Opens Doors

[craigdawg]

This is pretty cool...

Researchers have come up with a nifty virtual workspace/video conferencing system that functions with the Quartz graphics engine in Mac OS X...

Called Facetop, the system simultaneously transmits a video feed of users along with a shared, transparent image of the desktop. It allows two colleagues to work on the same document, Web page or graphic, while communicating face to face.

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,64129,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_4

 

[Laslo Panaflex]

Wow that is pretty cool, but why not just have a videochat window open on the desktop? You still get to see the person face to face, plus your desktop isn't transparent with a video of them in the background. I would get annoyed with this technology, but hey, maybe there is a market for it?

 

[decksnap]

Because...

With a full screen translucency of the other user, they can literally point to things on the screen and you'll know exactly what they're referencing. This looks way, way cool. Imagine if they could use this for tech support?

I could imagine collaborating on design layouts and such would be pretty cool with this feature also.

 

[sorryiwasdreami]

Exactly; it would be like washing windows. You are on the inside and your friend is on the outside. You can see the dirt and specks left on your side once your friend cleans the outside and vice-versa. So the whole project becomes more resourceful.

I think being able to simultaneously see the person you are working with will make the collaboration much more efficient; and, since the document would be transparent, it eliminates the clicking back and forth between applications.

Plus, you can make funny faces at them. HOT!

 

[kgarner]

I thought this part of the article was particularly interesting.

The system is implemented in Mac OS X and is made possible largely by the system's Quartz rendering engine, which can make any part of the interface transparent. Thanks to Quartz, a quick prototype was whipped up in about 45 minutes, Smith said.

A PC version will likely be delayed until the release of Longhorn, the next major version of Windows, due in 2006, which will include a similar graphics subsystem.

Looks like the Quartz engine is pretty powerful. It will be interesting to see what they can with the new Core Video (Graphics?) features in Tiger.

 

[sonyrules]

That is really cool.... I would definatly like that... Nothing like working on someone computer and looking at them at the same time

 

[pooky]

It's too bad that the university snatched up the patents on this. It's only going to give more money to the regents, not the professor or grad student who invented it. Really takes away your incentive to produce anything useful at uni, doesn't it?

 

[Mal]

Remember too that this technology allows the user to control the GUI with their hands. That alone, in a program which a mock up was created in "45 minutes", is amazing, and it signals a new era in computing. Remember the natural feel of the computer in Minority Report? It's coming...

JW

 

[medea]

Wow that is ingenious, good luck to those guys I hope they can make some money off this great idea. Yeah this could work with tech support but how many home owners actually have cameras? More likely this will be for people working on projects together from a distance.