It’s not every day you get to re-imagine what the desktop computer will look like, especially in an age where mobility is taking over. However, courtesy of some brilliant thinkers at the Media Computing Group at Aachen University in Germany, the desktop computer is looking brand-spanking new and totally awesome. It even has a curve to it. It’s called the BendDesk. By utilizing two projectors, three cameras, and a few IR-LEDs, the BendDesk can interpret touch and manipulation on a surface that is reminiscent of a touch-based screen on a desktop operating system. But this one appears to work very…

We all know the problem with touch screens. You can’t text under the table while you’re in a meeting. Or while you’re driving. Or while you’re doing anything other than watching the screen carefully to ensure that the letter you tapped is the one that appeared on the screen. Now a new technology could allow touchscreens to provide feedback that will help flat glass feel like any other kind of surface. Chris Harrison, a Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University is hoping to change that. Working with Disney Research, Harrison demonstrated the new technology, dubbed “Tesla Touch”, for the first…

Trees are our friends these days, but we still have to chop down a whole bunch of our good buddies so we can write notes to our significant others to remind them that they should pick up milk if they’re at the store, and don’t forget to pick up the kids. The paperless office was largely a bust, due to the fact that sometimes you just can’t beat a good note written in ink with a pen. Or can you? The Boogie Board hopes to change all that. It’s an LCD touch screen that allows you to use a stylus as a pen to write in a single color, and then erase the message with the push of a button. Like a blackboard, or a modern day etch-a-sketch,…

Apple has a host of patents to its name, and rifling through them can offer some fascinating insights into the potential future of technology and the possibilities that are open to the company as it executes its vision for the future convergence culture. We’ve taken a look at some of the most recently published Apple patents and chosen six of the most exciting to tell you all about. 1. iSpecs: an advanced head-mounted display system for the iPhone or iPod This system (above) may even host its own video camera or be able to communicate with the camera that’s already inside the iPod touch or iPhone….