4 ms·

Engadget summary with videos: http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/29/hp-reveals-sprout/ http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/29/hp-reveals-sprout/ "It's a unique machi

Engadget summary with videos: http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/29/hp-reveals-sprout/ http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/29/hp-reveals-sprout/ "It's a unique machine that combines an all-in-one Windows 8 PC with a set of 3D scanning cameras, a giant tactile touchpad and a downward-facing projector (for displaying graphics on said touchpad). The design is built around a concept HP is calling "blended reality" that blends the 3D physical world with our 2D digital one. The obvious target audience is creative types. You know: makers, tinkerers, designers, etc... Rather than the traditional method of control built around mice and keyboards, Sprout focuses on touch and pen input. The 23-inch LCD serves as the primary display, but it's the bottom display, the 20-inch capacitive pad positioned under the camera and projector that serves as the primary point of interaction."

rsync 12y ago
Oh, I thought the lower screen was an e ink display, sort of like simulating a sheet of paper there. I don't like the lower screen with a projector - then the image is obscured by the shadow your hands make...
- lost_name 12y ago
  Presumably, if you're reaching across the pad, you're looking at the monitor, and if you're touching something on the pad then you probably can't see through your arms/hands anyway. That being said, I think a second screen would be preferable all the same, but it would probably bump the cost significantly.
  - seanp2k2 12y ago
    Screens are [comparatively] cheap, esp. Vs a custom projector + touchpad + 3d camera set-up. I don't think they went this route to save on production costs.
- columbo 12y ago
  I think it's an interesting approach. There are some things you can do with a projector that you couldn't do with another screen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9JXtTj0mzE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9JXtTj0mzE) I could see some applications taking advantage of this when it comes to working with physical items
- waffl 12y ago
  I was also quite confused about why they would choose a projector over a second screen, actually it was the most nagging question until, watching the intro video, someone projects a graphic onto a physical sheet of paper, so I suppose the immediate interaction between projection and physical objects is the main reasoning behind it. In a two screen scenario, I suppose the user would have to image the paper, then composite it digitally. It's an interesting approach although I wonder how often it would be used.
- hiou 12y ago
  When you have a physical 3-dimensional object you can use the projector cast images on it. I wonder if it is used for calibrating and lining up objects for the 3D camera as well.
Schwolop 12y ago
The applications will make or break this. In my opinion, the killer app is digitisation of paper documents, tracking changes, and live multi-user editing. The 3d scanning stuff is a neat addition on top of that, but a much more niche use case. e.g. My colleague writes a document and emails it to me. I open it, print it out, and bring it to Sprout, placing it on the capacitive mat. As I'm reading it, I'm annotating it with pen on paper. Sprout tracks my annotations, digitizes them, and adds them as a digital layer to the original document. While I'm annotating, my colleague joins the "session" and wants to make more changes and incorporate some of my suggestions. I see that notification, chuck away my piece of paper, and have Sprout project the digital document onto the capacitive pad. While I watch, my colleague makes changes which are live-updated to my document. I see her copy my hand-written notes which have been digitised and OCR'd. She takes my notes, changes the font, and sticks them into one of the paragraphs. Likewise, I can use the stylus to make more annotations that my colleague sees in real-time, or, since the document is digital this time around, I can just edit the paragraphs directly too. Think Google Wave + Collusion for iPad + the ability to do fairly seamlessly with both digital and physical documents.
- zan2434 12y ago
  I don't see the point of printing it in the middle, otherwise that is indeed a great potential use case
  - Schwolop 12y ago
    Yes, you're right - that is unnecessary. I only really wrote it like that to make it clear that you could digitize documents that didn't start out as a digital file.
- aaron695 12y ago
  From what I can see, what you talk about here is more the wishy washy magic the PR companies use to fool the masses. How does Sprout do great OCR or facilitate joint collaborations? These are both problems that need solving but have nothing to do with Sprout. PR often has things like this ‘solved’ for their mockups which people then falsely associate with the product. See the mass delusion many people have with the Minority Report interface. Why not just edit the email/document using a keyboard, you can even do it in a google doc so the other person can live collaborate, but as we know live collaboration is fine in movies but in real life is very very hard to do. Humans are just not build for it. This isn’t about applications or Sprout, it’s about solving very hard problems.

rsync 12y ago

Oh, I thought the lower screen was an e ink display, sort of like simulating a sheet of paper there. I don't like the lower screen with a projector - then the image is obscured by the shadow your hands make...

lost_name 12y ago
Presumably, if you're reaching across the pad, you're looking at the monitor, and if you're touching something on the pad then you probably can't see through your arms/hands anyway. That being said, I think a second screen would be preferable all the same, but it would probably bump the cost significantly.
- seanp2k2 12y ago
  Screens are [comparatively] cheap, esp. Vs a custom projector + touchpad + 3d camera set-up. I don't think they went this route to save on production costs.
columbo 12y ago
I think it's an interesting approach. There are some things you can do with a projector that you couldn't do with another screen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9JXtTj0mzE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9JXtTj0mzE) I could see some applications taking advantage of this when it comes to working with physical items
waffl 12y ago
I was also quite confused about why they would choose a projector over a second screen, actually it was the most nagging question until, watching the intro video, someone projects a graphic onto a physical sheet of paper, so I suppose the immediate interaction between projection and physical objects is the main reasoning behind it. In a two screen scenario, I suppose the user would have to image the paper, then composite it digitally. It's an interesting approach although I wonder how often it would be used.
hiou 12y ago
When you have a physical 3-dimensional object you can use the projector cast images on it. I wonder if it is used for calibrating and lining up objects for the 3D camera as well.

Schwolop 12y ago

The applications will make or break this. In my opinion, the killer app is digitisation of paper documents, tracking changes, and live multi-user editing. The 3d scanning stuff is a neat addition on top of that, but a much more niche use case. e.g. My colleague writes a document and emails it to me. I open it, print it out, and bring it to Sprout, placing it on the capacitive mat. As I'm reading it, I'm annotating it with pen on paper. Sprout tracks my annotations, digitizes them, and adds them as a digital layer to the original document. While I'm annotating, my colleague joins the "session" and wants to make more changes and incorporate some of my suggestions. I see that notification, chuck away my piece of paper, and have Sprout project the digital document onto the capacitive pad. While I watch, my colleague makes changes which are live-updated to my document. I see her copy my hand-written notes which have been digitised and OCR'd. She takes my notes, changes the font, and sticks them into one of the paragraphs. Likewise, I can use the stylus to make more annotations that my colleague sees in real-time, or, since the document is digital this time around, I can just edit the paragraphs directly too. Think Google Wave + Collusion for iPad + the ability to do fairly seamlessly with both digital and physical documents.

zan2434 12y ago
I don't see the point of printing it in the middle, otherwise that is indeed a great potential use case
- Schwolop 12y ago
  Yes, you're right - that is unnecessary. I only really wrote it like that to make it clear that you could digitize documents that didn't start out as a digital file.
aaron695 12y ago
From what I can see, what you talk about here is more the wishy washy magic the PR companies use to fool the masses. How does Sprout do great OCR or facilitate joint collaborations? These are both problems that need solving but have nothing to do with Sprout. PR often has things like this ‘solved’ for their mockups which people then falsely associate with the product. See the mass delusion many people have with the Minority Report interface. Why not just edit the email/document using a keyboard, you can even do it in a google doc so the other person can live collaborate, but as we know live collaboration is fine in movies but in real life is very very hard to do. Humans are just not build for it. This isn’t about applications or Sprout, it’s about solving very hard problems.