At Oblong, I've had the pleasure of working closely with John Underkoffler, who's ideas and research defined the iconic interfaces in Minority Report and Iron Man and laid the groundwork for the transformational technologies we develop for our customers.
“The world … and its problems … demand more sophisticated thinking, tools, and patterns of work. We humans have always been capable of infinitely more than that primordial Mac UI lets us express."
John Underkoffler
Along the way, our integrated team of designers and engineers have defined and patented many groundbreaking modes of computation and collaboration. One of the notable inventions that I helped develop is US Patent 10,529,302: Spatially mediated augmentations of and interactions among distinct devices and applications via extended pixel manifold. This novel approach points to an exciting and capable future UI.
The prototype below demonstrates an interface where data and algorithms flow seamlessly from multiple personal devices into a shared, immersive system. At human-scale, conversation, proximity and gesture have a direct and meaningful relationship with the UI.
And here, a similar interface applied to the complex coordination required in a disaster response scenario. Imagine a malleable interface that expands to meet the needs of the moment.