Minds were blown at Tokyo Motor Show 2011 with Toyota’s unveiling of their concept car for the “not-too-distant future”, the Fun Vii (Vehicle, Interactive, Internet). This is a car whose entire surface; both interior and exterior is a full color display. The vehicle is able to change color, display images and video, and also interact with the driver as would any internet connected personal computing device.

Their really flashy video presentation showed the driver using an augmented reality display while driving, snapping a photo with his smartphone and the transferring …

RePro3D is a naked eye, multi-perspective 3D display that allows users to “touch” 3D characters. Using an infra-red sensor, the system recognizes the position of the user’s finger and the displayed 3D character responds to the virtual contact. The group is also working on a device worn on the finger that simulates for the user, the sensation of touching something when the character is poked.
What are the possible uses of this technology? According to Keitaro Shimizu of Keio University:
“There are many attractive characters in animations and games, but since those …

Many complain that e-readers could never compare to the satisfaction of flipping through a book. The “Real Notebook” laptop concept was created with these people in mind. This design provides all the features of a laptop but has dual monitors, one which is sturdy that is used as a touch screen keyboard and the other which is flexible that bends to simulate the flipping of pages.
Designer Kim Min Seok proposes using bendable AMOLED screens to pull this off. I myself am really looking forward to mainstream gadgets that use flexible …

Researchers at the University of Electro-Communications recently presented a touch screen system that provides tactile feedback in an interesting way.
The system uses transparent rubber applied to an LCD panel giving the user the ability to manipulate the layer of rubber while receiving real-time response. In one particular example the layer of rubber was in the shape of a human face and responded to different forms of input e.g. pokes, pulls and pinches. ….
The system has obvious applications in the entertainment market as users would be able to interact with in-game …