PQ Labs showed off its G3 touchscreen technology at this year’s CeBIT by installing it into a coffee table called the iTable – the world’s thinnest Multi-Touch coffee table that will change the way you think, work and play. Being only 1/2 inch thicker than a laptop, iTable is truly a magical device raising the bar of future Multi-Touch solutions.
PQ Labs G3 Touchscreen Technology - iTable
The iTable certainly won’t get any blessings from Apple with regards to its name, but aside from that, it’s really a cool computer that can recognize up to 32 fingers on its 42-inch full HD LED screen, allowing multiple folks to interact with it at the same time. Another important feature of the iTable is that it can recognize almost any object that’s interacting with it, be it a stylus, pen, glove, bottle, or cups, and this certainly opens up more possibilities for it.
The USB-powered Multi-Touch G3 touchscreen interface comes in sizes ranging from 32in right up to 65in and beyond. For the iTable, Silicon Valley’s PQ Labs installed a 42in version of the technology into a coffee table structure and connected it to an undisclosed computer system running the company’s PQ Window software, which is compatible with both Windows and Mac OS X.
PQ Labs G3 Touchscreen Technology - iTable
Sharing content from a mobile device is as simple as placing an iPhone, Windows Mobile or Android phone on the table and it instantly synchronizes with the iTable. The technology can register shapes (such as a closed fist or open palm) and it’s not just hands and fingers that are recognized by the interface, objects placed on the iTable at CeBIT also registered.
There’s no word on the cost of the 1.5in thick iTable but as it is initially being made available to corporate clients only it’s not likely to be within the price range of most consumer budgets. However, PQ Labs has stated that a cheaper consumer version is in the works for the near future.
