Next Big Thing – touchscreen books

next big thing touchscreen books

Ooh, holographic screens?
Not quite, but close. FoldMe is an MIT Fluid Interfaces project that makes paper-like touchscreen displays. Annoyingly, they need a room rigged up with overhead projectors and infrared sensors to work but the way the prototypes bend and flip is still impressive.

Will it smell nice and have dog-eared page corners?
It's only a matter of time with Smellovision round the corner. But FoldMe prototypes do put paper's finer qualities to good use – less chewing gum holder, more like being thin, light, double-sided and foldable.

Not as portable with all those projectors though?
True. But with spring-loaded reversible hinges and devices with up to three displays that fold any which way you want, all MIT has to do now is get rid of the projector set-up and IR tracking.