
AirBar: Brings touch to PCs – works with gloves/paintbrush - joshio
http://air.bar
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Ecco
I'm sure I'd forget about it them slam shut my laptop…

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earlz
I've had exactly this idea before, but never pursued it because I couldn't get
past the problem of shadows. It looks like this doesn't either. ie, if you are
making a vertical pinch gesture and you happen to get it precise enough, it's
possible that the top finger will be left in the dark and thus undetectable.
Maybe because depth can be sensed, software can compensate.. I still imagine
this will be a problem though, as well as resolution

Also, how well will this thing work in daylight and direct sun?

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fit2rule
As an app developer who has had to deal with these kinds of state issues for,
now, over a decade (pre-iOS touch was also happening, kids), I can only say
this: so what?

Code for the case, and move on. WIMP is a baseline from the 70's that we
_need_ to move on, from. So, even if tis but a single-click, with de-bounce,
'tis a step up from the option. Shadows are an option; but if you know that
you're going to be coding for Air.bar anyway, its just something you need to
inform the GUI design team about, and move on.

Me, personally: I _love_ this. I think its exactly what we need. I've had a
Leap Motion on my desktop with much whimsy; that I can now take a touch-
upgrade with me on my MBPro means I might actually be able to attain my
desired goal of having a consistent, common, grounded touch interface in _all_
of my apps. On all supported platforms.

I'm gonna get one.

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lurkinggrue
> WIMP is a baseline from the 70's that we need to move on.

Yeah! Screw accuracy and fine control.

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Zikes
What sort of resolution does it offer?

How well does it handle multi-touch, especially when some touches are
obstructed by others?

Does it offer any pseudo-pressure sensitivity options?

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joshio
Based on a technology called zForce AIR:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaoIWFcj6pc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaoIWFcj6pc)

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stephengoodwin
Side comment: Excellent use of the .bar domain extension.

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monk_e_boy
Would work well in clean rooms and hospitals. It's hard to find tech that you
can install somewhere sterile and keep it sterile. Keyboards - nope, mouse?
Hm, they are ok.

We wipe everything down with alcohol wipes, so this bar looks like the
business. Especially if you can fit a glass case around it / over it. We could
fit them into laminar air flow workstations. Cut some metal, fit some glass
parts instant computer aided control. Neat.

Ooooh, here is a photo of a screen inside one of the work stations:
[http://www.parallabs.com/products/ivf-workstations/ivf-
works...](http://www.parallabs.com/products/ivf-workstations/ivf-
workstations-200-series/)

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keithpeter
Will keep an eye on this when it is an actual product. Might be fun to see
what you can do with one of these when projecting the computer screen. Cheapo
interactive whiteboard style.

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pfisch
It seems like most windows laptops have touch built in now though. I had to
disable it on the laptop I'm using right now.

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fit2rule
This really needs to work, and be successful, and be a thing. In the audio-
apps world, touch-based interfaces are encroaching deeply on the WIMP
manifesto, and we laptop users suffer from having accessory envy whenever the
latest popstar brings their iPad into the booth.

If there is a fast, convenient way to out-do the Magic Leap experience (and
that's what this looks to be) then I think someone in AirBar Inc., needs to
have an "Audio/Music-Industry Specialist" contact person doing the necessary
work to get 100% buy-in from the synth/plugin guys.

Because, this is a unique opportunity, actually.

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tantalor
Reminds me of the digital/interactive whiteboard technology from last decade.

Example [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZnJ-
mNzLYI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZnJ-mNzLYI)

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nkozyra
Is it just me, or does the top video stop when the bar is applied to the
screen? That's burying the lede :)

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adriancooney
I think it's intentional.

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phaed
It leaves me wanting. I don't only want to see how its applied. More
importantly, I want to see how it is used. It's responsiveness, touch gestures
happening and what not. I get it, installation is easy, but that's not what
I'm here for.

Also the shadow of the person just freezes instead of leaving entirely from
the frame, I believe this is the reason why it looks so unnatural and abrupt.

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CaptSpify
I couldn't get the video to play, not sure why, but I think this is the same:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGffKBu9aNs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGffKBu9aNs)

Looks interesting, but I'd like to try it/read reviews before purchasing

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Dirlewanger
This is really sick, but it seems much more like a precursor technology that
would eventually be subsumed into every laptop out there. Even then, is this
really worth getting for the few times this would be drastically better over
using a keyboard/mouse?

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Zikes
I would be interested in seeing how it compares to built-in touch screen
technology. It seems like this product's focus is on retrofitting, whereas
current laptop/screen manufacturers may get better performance or resolution
or reduced overall costs using existing technologies.

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DEinspanjer
I'd be willing to pre-order, but not without some indication of when it was
expected to ship, and not without Mac support as well. :/

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lurkinggrue
All those fingerprints on my monitor that will never wash off... Priceless.

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annadavid
So cool!

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ramanamit1234
Very cool

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orliesaurus
only 15.6 inch..ugh

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s73v3r
Nifty idea, but I imagine it's going to get back to the same problem of
putting a touchscreen on Windows to start with: Namely that most of the
applications people want to run on Windows (Metro apps excluded) are not
optimized for touch. The widgets one would want to use are too small to
accurately be clicked on with a finger.

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Zikes
Sounds like a chicken and egg problem to me.

