G-speak spatial operating environment

Oblong Industries, an MIT Media Lab spin-off, is currently previewing a new computing platform, labeled 'g-speak,' that serves as the basis for a spatial operating environment (SOE). The company has been working on the technology for several years; its chief scientist, John Underkoffler, served as an advisor for the film Minority Report, which featured a gesture-driven computing environment that closely matches the real-world project that g-speak has become.

Although g-speak has been under development for years, Oblong is finally ready to launch a product based on the platform. The company labels the product Mezzanine, which CEO Kindla Hultman Kramer calls its "first shrink-wrapped turn-key system," according to quotes in a TechCrunch report.

Mezzanine is designed for collaborative areas, such as meeting rooms, where multiple users can work in the spatial operating environment. Wands serve as the primary controls, enabling users to manipulate interface elements across several screens. The system can also be connected to notebook computers, smartphones, tablets, or other devices connected to the network.

The wands are built with three sides, each providing a unique set of controls for several different functions. Users can also use the wands as a gesture device to move content between screens or zoom in and out, with a variety of additional functions depending on the task at hand.

“This is the next Macintosh-level of disruption,” Kramer argues, though he admits that the hand-driven technology is still prohibitively expensive. “Our goal here is to change how people work together.”

Mezzanine is already being utilized at several companies, such as Boeing, however the official launch is scheduled for the fall. The company suggests the technology will not be ready for consumer-level electronics devices for approximately three years, with cost being the primary issue.

By Electronista Staff