Washington: Taiwan`s nonprofit technology institute is reportedly working on a new i-Air Touch (iAT) technology that could possibly bring the holographic operating system in `Minority Report` closer to reality.
The Industrial Technology Research Institute has developed the iAT Technology, which is essentially an augmented-reality system that falls somewhere between the compact specs of Google Glass and the original, bulkier virtual-reality systems of the 1990s.
According to Cnet, the technology doesn`t rely on voice commands but projects a virtual touch-based interface in the user`s field of vision that appears to float in the air and can be operated with touch, and the `air touches` are then sent to host device like laptop pr smartphone that the headset is tethered to.
Deputy General Director of ITRI`s Electronics and Optoelectronics Research Laboratories, Golden Tiao said that the iAT is also suitable for medical applications such as endoscopic surgery and any industrial applications that benefit from hands-free input.
The report said that the camera in iAT only activates when it detects a user`s fingertip within a predetermined input distance range, which means that it only turns on when it detects that someone is trying to ` air touch` the virtual input.
ITRI said that the technology is available now for licensing by mobile companies and anyone else, the report added.