Light Touch projector can beam touch screen onto surfaces

A UK-based firm has unveiled a revolutionary projector-based technology that can transform any flat surface into a touch screen users can interact with.

Cambridge-based Light Blue Optics (LBO) has debuted its mobile interactive Light Touch projector, which uses proprietary holographic laser projection to create a virtual 10in WVGA touch screen on almost any surface.

The integrated infrared touch sensing system allows you to interact with the virtual screen just as with any other handheld touch-based device.

"People expect to engage, interact and share content and our first product enables them to do that in new and exciting ways," LBO chief executive Chris Harris told attendees at an invite-only event at the CES technology show in Las Vegas.

The Light Touch's headline capabilities are accompanied by Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, enabling device-to-device communication and direct access to online services over a network.

It has 2GB of flash memory built in, which can be expanded via microSD card by up to 32GB. The Light Touch has a battery life of two hours, but can be powered directly from the mains too. It runs Adobe's low-profile Flash Lite 3.1 software.

At present, there are no plans to release the Light Touch commercially, with its developers saying it's a reference product only and will be made available solely to LBO's strategic partners and OEM customers.

"The opportunities for Light Touch extend beyond consumer electronics into retail spaces, the workplace and the home profoundly changing the way people interact with multimedia content and the built environment," Harris said.

"By enabling such diverse and compelling use cases, LBO aims to become the world's leading supplier of miniature projection systems."