BendDesk vs LightSpace. 2 videos from tech research labs.
BendDesk. Surely the worst product name in history, second only to the name of the game shown in the video, Bend Invaders. Probably something lost in translation. BendDesk reminds me of the Nintendo Donkey Kong double screen gaming device, that was almost 30 years ago and i'm not sure there's anything remarkable about BendDesk, however the software which marries the images between projectors is pretty nifty – I'd pay for that. It is a very personal experience and it would be novel in the home.
But why restrict your content to hardware?
The team from Microsoft Research possibly had bigger budget when working on LightSpace, but I can see this becoming part of the future home or office. For information dissipation (can't believe I just put those words together) to a large group, LightSpace appears wonderful. Whilst the hardware in the year 2010 is verging on the ridiculous, it's a clear progression on the natural user interface and I can see it emerging into people's lives. Just wait for the technology to shrink. Ticket halls in train stations allowing a guide to provide clear direction to unfamiliar travelers, sales meetings or corporate presentations.
I'd love to use it for story telling, this would fantastic in a theatre.