I’ll jump right into the good stuff. By now, many of you may have heard about the Microsoft Surface technology – an interactive multi-touch table designed for retail and hospitality applications. We were able to demo the technology that inspired Microsoft – the GestureTek Multi-touch Illuminate Table. This engaging touch table allows for multiple points of simultaneous interaction with iPhone-like gesturing such as finger pinch to zoom and swiping to organize content elements on the screen. The GestureTek representative we spoke to acknowledged that they are still trying to determine the best applications for this intriguing device. Imagine your BrightShow presentation software running on this!

Another very high-touch display option was discovered at the Stewart Filmscreens booth. There, we witnessed a large scale StarGlas touch wall that provided a huge wow factor. Imagine interacting with media on a screen as large as a traditional video wall! Based on IR (infrared) beam technology, I found it to have better precision than many other displays based on the same touch technology. In the past, Deven and I have developed concepts for experiential spaces that included a large touch wall component, but the AV technology wasn’t mature enough to match the vision. Based on the overwhelming number of suppliers addressing large scale touch displays, I’d say the technology is no longer a limitation.

Within the touch technology realm, another trend of note is how suppliers are responding to the way people want to interact. The Steven Spielberg film “Minority Report” provided a vision of how we might one day interact with and control digital media. That vision is being carried forward by both user interface designers and AV suppliers. At the Kortek booth, we were able to intuitively interact with a large touch display to navigate a cityscape in real time, zoom into a building and watch live webcams from inside the structure. As BrightDoor develops Z-axis support required for multi-tenant and commercial clients, technology such as Kortek’s Interactive Digital Board will provide an impressive way to display our solution.

Finally, I couldn’t resist including our very own David Johnston providing scale to the world’s largest plasma display – Panasonic’s 103″ TH-103PF9UK. At $69,990 per unit, I’d say the list of potential buyers for this beast is fairly limited. In all, our journey through the technology wonderland that was Infocomm 08 has been meaningful on multiple levels – providing both inspiration for new BrightDoor product features and helping us gain a deeper knowledge of new AV products that could give our clients a competitive advantage.

One of the ongoing challenges we have here at BrightDoor is what type of cabinetry most effectively and attractively houses the screens on which our clients display BrightShow.

Back when we began doing deployments in the late summer of 2005, simply the concept alone of a “touch-enabled topo table that you could dynamically update” was enough to draw oohs and ahhs. The first one, while impressive at over 96″ wide with a granite surround, was pretty basic. Wood, screen, speakers.

It wasn’t long before we started tinkering, based on feedback, with the basic premise. Over the years we’ve addressed almost everything you could vary about the tables:

• Size (did I mention the 96″?)
• Angle of view (we quickly discovered that “flat” wasn’t where it’s “at”)
• Height (countertop isn’t always the optimal)
• Cooling (ever seen a homemade cooling unit made from sheet metal and a bathroom fan? I have.)
• Venting (when all else fails, a high-powered drill and a 4″ diameter boring bit will go through hardwoods)
• Audio location (sometimes you gotta let the audio dictate the table, not the other way around)
• Wiring (think the floor underneath your desk can get tangled?)
• Access (new rule: If, once you put the screen in the cabinet, you have no openings anywhere? It’s not a display cabinet, it’s a box.)

We’ve hit on a formula that’s pretty standard now, and even if a client opts to do their own millwork (about 30% of the time), we’ll send them images and drawings from previous ones we’ve done. You’d be amazed how far it will go to prevent arriving for an install and finding a small, flat, short, hot, hot some more, silent, messy box.