Augmented reality is coming to your car

Well at least the technology that will enabkle this. Now Google and TomTom have to do some nice stuff and navigation will be even more convinient

Mayuko Uno, Nikkei Electronics

The demonstration of a head-up display using the new LED display as a light source

Oki Digital Imaging Corp (ODI) exhibited a prototype of a head-up display that uses an LED display as a light source at Oki Premium Fair 2009, a trade show hosted by the company.

The LED display is 1.1 inches in size and made by using the company's "EFB (epi film bonding)" technology. The EFB technology is a technology to bond different materials by utilizing intermolecular forces. It eliminates the need for adhesive, wire bonding, etc, making elements smaller and lower in cost.

The power consumption of the new head-up display is about 1/10 those of head-up displays made by combining an LED backlight and an LCD panel. As a result, the LEDs of the new display generate less heat, enabling to use a simpler heat sink.

In addition, because the panel serves as a light source, the display has a simple structure. So, it is possible to reduce the number and thickness of components.

"Head-up displays using an LCD panel are available only to luxury cars," ODI said. "But, with our LED display, head-up displays will be inexpensive enough to be mounted on low-end cars."

The new display has an edge over existing displays in terms of resolution and brightness in addition to power consumption. Its LED element pitch is 65μm. The company has already developed an EFB technology to realize an LED element pitch of 20μm (equivalent to 1,200dpi) to 40μm (equivalent to 600dpi) for the print heads of LED printers. And, this time, the technology was applied to the head-up display.

The luminance of the new display is 32,000cd/m² at the maximum in the case of whole surface emission and about 100,000cd/m² in the case of partial emission, according to ODI. Also, it is possible to realize a contrast ratio of 9,000:1 or higher by lighting control. Compared with LCD displays, the new display can be easily viewed in brighter places and outdoors, the company said.

Because the display is monochrome and as small as 1.1 inches, ODI expects to use it for head-up displays. The company plans to ship samples by the end of fiscal 2010 and start volume production after that.

"We are aiming to apply the display to mobile devices and mobile phones, leveraging its high resolution and high luminance," ODI said.

The company intends to employ RGB-color LEDs to enable the new display to show colors and enlarge it for use in mobile devices in three to five years.

a new marriage after Cisco and Tandberg - Logitech and LifeSize

Its pretty clear that videoconferencing and telepressence are hot. After the bid of Cisco on Tandberg, Logitech is now going for Lifesize. Convergence between IT and AV in its most clear way. Also it is a pretty positive one. The IT supplier growing big with webcams now taking over a high end Telepresence player. This can mean better integration between pc based messasing and telepresence. Will your next monitor be a logitech telepresence unit?

A Letter from the CEOs

We're delighted to announce that LifeSize will soon be joining Logitech.

Our two companies share a vision for the role of video in business and professional communication, believing that anywhere there is voice there should be video. That means offering a life-like, HD-video communication experience that is as seamless and mainstream as a telephone call not just in the board room for a select few, but in any meeting room in the enterprise, as well as at one's office desk or while telecommuting from home.

LifeSize started this journey with many of you more than five years ago. And together we have changed the landscape of workplace collaboration and built relationships with more than 9000 customers around the world.

It's time to go farther. Logitech, the world leader in webcams and a pioneer in the development of PC-based video calling, is a natural fit for LifeSize from a business, innovation and cultural perspective.

With Logitech's backing, LifeSize will be able to scale more effectively to deliver technology solutions to more customers and partners around the world. And by closely collaborating on innovation, we believe that we can accelerate the realization of our vision.

Voice-only communication knows almost no boundaries. We believe Logitech and LifeSize in partnership with other leading technology companies can drive innovation, price/performance and open standards so that the experience of visual communication is just as common and natural.

Together with our partners, we will continue to deliver standards-based, high-quality, flexible video-communication solutions that are scalable, secure and accessible to anyone, anywhere.

We are in the early stages of an important communication revolution and we will continue to set the pace of innovation for our customers and our partners. We look forward to making this journey together with you.

Sincerely,

Craig Malloy,

Founder and CEO of

LifeSize Communications

Gerald P. Quindlen,

President and CEO

of Logitech

Natural user interface with a glass panel

Say what you like about Microsoft, but their Research arm certainly know how to put together an eye-catching demo. Chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundie has been doing a tour of US colleges showing off a prototype next-gen computer – among other things – that has a transparent glass display and can be controlled by pen, voice, touch-free gestures and eye-tracking.

The prototype machine docks with the transparent display – probably not something you’d want to throw into your laptop bag – and can be used to flick through large quantities of information such as text, photos or video timelines by tracking what your eyes are looking at. Some of the functionality seems to have been previewed by Microsoft’s “Look Ahead” vision of computing in 2019 which similarly impressed us earlier this year.

Mundie’s other talks centered on environmentally-friendly and carbon-neutral computing, and what user interfaces and design paradigms may be central in the years to come. There are videos of the transparent computer prototype in action on Microsoft’s College Tour virtual press room, or at istartedsomething