See-through Laptop Display

You'd have to ask the manufacturers to answer your first question. But the reason that this change in display technology has made so much excitement is two fold. First, as mentioned in the article in the movie Avatar, characters used this type of technology. So what seemed futuristic in the movie has to some extent been done today in this prototype. But the more significant reason for the buzz is that this is a new approach to displaying information. So where and how this new technology can be usefully applied is not well known and understood.

Seeing my last reason typed out, I realize that I maybe caught in the hype of this product. Isn't this display just a large version of the basis of projector displays, but instead of focusing the image onto a screen the viewer just looks directly at it. Then again, it is a creative reapplication. I guess the manufacturer knows that this is a cool product. But is searching for a way to use it.

Neat tech but why would I want to loss the contrast and clarity of a monitor just to see whats behind it?

So far I have never came across a personal experience where I just thought that seeing the wall behind my monitor was worth something to me or that being able to see anything behind my laptop was of any value.

My focal point is what I am looking at. If its behind the monitor what is on the screen is just a distraction. If it is the screen whatever motion or light that comes through from behind it is going to be a distraction. That is the whole point of the anti glare coatings on monitors. Just so you don't see the odd images, movements, or light being reflected off of them that causes visual distractions.

Just posing some thoughts about this technology's applications. Why would you want to see what's on the screen and whats behind it at the same time? I can see a few applications which typically only involve real time display, however I have compiled a short list below of some items that could be improved by this tech.

1)Car Mirrors, e.g. replacing the rear view with a display in its place that you can both see what is behind you and in front of you at the same time.

2)Projecting images into real world environments, e.g. virtual tours, imagine taking a walk through a virtual art gallery, personally tailored to your own interests

3)Military aircraft tracking, i.e. when you can't take your eyes off the enemy and want to see whether you have a lock, whether someone is tailing you etc.

Mostly i see this tech being used in helmet designs, for when you always need to look directly in front of you and also want to know other details, such as what's behind me, how long do i have and your low on fuel.

Perhaps i'm biased in that i really like the film Avatar, but i feel that this tech when fully researched could change the way we think about visual media in general.

Taking the adaptability scale of the human brain in consideration of this tech I'm very interested in possible applications. Use in a laptop I see as a stepping stone though...towards other advanced visual tech

I don't really see the usefulness of such a device for typical applications (i.e. desktop computing), but there may be a use in the automotive, aviation industries as well as the military.

The military has been using HUDs (head up display) for years where information is displayed and can be seen through.

I also had a car that with a HUD (unfortunately it had not missiles for removing slow or annoying drivers from my path). The HUD in the car was limited to only displaying the speed. The HUD projected the image of the numbers representing speed to what appeared to be just outside the lower left corner of the windshield. It's not a feature that I was interested in when I purchased the car (1989 Nissan 240 SX), but it came with the car I was interested in. I quite liked the feature. The purpose is that you can monitor your speed without taking your eyes off the road. The only real complaint is that the image was still close up, so you had to change your focus to see the speed, but it was much better than having to look down at your dash (where the speedometer is usually blocked by my steering wheel anyway at least for my height/leg length/seat adjustment). Perhaps additional information could be show in an effort to keep people eyes up. It's still not as good as keeping they eyes on the road, but better than having to look down to see the radio station or what CD channel is selected, or engine temperature, or what's playing on TV...or who's calling on the cell phone. Okay, maybe some of that is going a little too far. Is it possible to have a reasonable amount of more essential information?

An application of AMOLED I'd find very useful is one where the driver sees, in addition to what can be seen with the naked eye, an enhanced view of the world outside the vehicle in far infrared light for example, in which people and animal hazards are easily seen in what might otherwise be total darkness ahead. The location of the driver's eyes with respect to the display surfaces would need to be tracked in real time, naturally, and the images adjusted properly so that the driver has a seamlessly integrated POV. A sort of 'total immersion' HUD if you will.

I neglected to say that the vehicle's windows and 'display surfaces' are one and the same.

First question - I expect the display would appear transparent to an observer aswell, unless some type of polarization was employed to offer the user privacy.

Second Question - Imagine vehicle "dashboard" info or a GPS display infront of you in your line of sight in a busy street with many turns enhancing your information intake of the environment, well suited for racing. A pair of sunglasses displaying your heart rate etc or even watching a movie while you out on the track training. Hand held test equipment that enables the technician to view the results of the test reading and allow him to see where his fingers are placing the test probes. Imagine an underwater scuba diver with pressure readings and remaining air details visible inside his dive mask. Imagine a surgeon operating with a microscope camera's output in view. A bus driver monitoring the kids on the back seats. Any low light application where info needs to be displayed, Military uses are unlimted. A store manager working on his computer with the security camera feed being fed to his display. Advertising footage on a store window. I expect there must be many more applications

This would seem to work well for some of the augmented reality applications that have been making a buzz on the iPhone recently

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality

Cool, a bit like the clear glass bottom in the bottom of a beer mug, lets you see if anyone is sneaking up on you...

been there! done that!

These ideas have been percolating in my brain since reading this thread. I do not see much of a use for a transparent laptop display, but what about a store window. Information about the actual product being viewed through the display could be added to the display. What about mirroring the other side of the display and projecting onto the screen whatever cosmetic work from clothing to surgery could be done on the viewer's image. Oh better yet, place a normal opaque back onto the transparent screen but put behind the screen a camera. This way when you telecommute and look directly at a person's avatar on the screen, your avatar looks directly at the person.

Gee, I love programming when I don't have to do the coding.