HorsePerson and the ShoeMan

If you've ever worked in an open space environment, then you know how impossible it is to have peace, quiet, not to mention privacy in such an office. A new product by Applied Minds, Babble, should be able to help.

Babble, which is intended to function as a substitute for walls and acoustic tiling, is an example of a new class of product that uses computing technology to shape sound.

Applied Minds seems to have more to offer:

One of the prototypes closest to becoming a candidate for a spinoff is a novel tabletop digital map, about the size of a large flat-panel television. The system has a touch-sensitive screen, making it possible to handle high-resolution digital imagery as easily as sliding a paper map across a table.
The system is controlled by a series of hand gestures. For example, to zoom on a region, a user touches both hands to the screen and slides them apart.
Hillis recently demonstrated the system ... "People came up afterwards and said they were moved to tears by the demonstration," Hillis said.
When a recent visitor mentioned that the demonstration was like something from "Star Trek," Hillis was visibly enthusiastic.
"That's what I've always wanted to do," he said. "Be ahead of 'Star Trek."'

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