Sony Xperia Projector A Preview Of A ‘Minority Report’ Style Future

This video, via The Verge, demos Sony’s Xperia Projector – a prototype of a new Android tablet that essentially replaces the tablet’s touchscreen with a projector and multi-touch sensing system. 

This is a preview of what’s coming, but it’s already easy to imagine this as the hub of a portable virtual studio. Combined an app like Korg Gadget (currently iOS-only), you could have a virtual studio, with a large workspace, that was also very portable.

The ‘Minority Report’ style studio faces many challenges, though. The Android platform has a long history of multiple types of latency issues, which – along with platform fragmentation – has led to iOS being the de facto platform for mobile music making.

Other challenges:

  • The resolution of the prototype, 720p, is also a fraction of what’s available on current tablets
  • Dim projection means its only suitable for dark work areas
  • The Xperia’s wireless multi-touch sensing is likely to add to Android’s latency issues
  • Only makes sense if you happen to have a large, uncluttered workspace with a white tabletop
  • Unless this technology would move beyond being a niche solution, music app developers are unlikely to tailor their applications to work with this.

Do you think there’s a future for ‘Minority Report’ style virtual music studios? Leave a comment and let us know what you think!

via CDM

14 thoughts on “Sony Xperia Projector A Preview Of A ‘Minority Report’ Style Future

  1. I can understand why it needs to be big– battery, cooling, etc. Projecting takes a pretty powerful bulb.

    But the above concerns are critical, Android is already very latency-prone. Imagine how ridiculous it would be to play that piano. For some kids, that’ll be a fun toy. But Apple will be right around the corner with one, too, I imagine. Or perhaps it will be a kind of eyeglasses product.

    1. Have you seen Minority Report, or do you just write off films that haven’t done well commercially? It’s one of the greatest sci-fi flicks of all time. I recommend it.

      1. Glad you liked it, I did some of the graphic design on the film. That said, we in the art dept were rolling our eyes (not in sight of Señor Speilbergo, natch) at the idea of the “future” working all day with a GUI that forced you to hold up your arms to get anything done.

        Even Tom “Where’s the Money” Cruise was complaining of sore shoulders after doing day-long re-shoots of those scenes. We’re not designed to work that way for extended periods of time.

          1. Erm, no. Way to put words in my mouth.

            FFS, I was responding to a comment about a movie! The product shown in the vid is nowhere near what was in a… wait for it… a sci fi film set in the far future.

            I use a standing desk, and also own an Oculus… but I also know* that making a UI that DEPENDS on a user making wide, sweeping gestures with hands held high to get any simple thing done is not going to be comfortable for long term use!

            Say what you will about buttons & mice… they were created as being a quick and precise way to get a task completed.

            * I painted houses as a lad during the summers for money. My shoulders and neck would be sore as hell after a day of rolling a brush up and down.

      2. no, it just seams tom cruise is much better in action films than sci-fi
        same for kevin costner
        it is a shame because the plots look to be good, but somehow the follow through
        or do you think Ben Affleck makes great roles?

    2. It ended up with about $132 million domestically in 2002. That was 15 yeas ago.
      Adjusting for inflation, that’s roughly $177 million today.
      Also taking into account the $360 million worldwide take, that’s $482 million today.
      So… close to a half a billion dollars seems like a pretty decent haul.
      And yes, it’s a fantastic film.
      Not at all sure why a series was greenlit, though…

  2. A lame novelty AFAICT. With the exception of the ability to project keys or pads onto a table, I don’t see any musical utility or advantage to a projector.

  3. Embedded discretely underneath a set of kitchen presses would be interesting… maybe. I think I’d prefer a cookbook though.

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