Still looks like a prototype, but I hope we get to this as a common form factor. I take my laptop from office to couch and being able to have the screen size wherever would be great. I especially liked the ability to move the displays closer and farther away from you and pin windows. We’ll see if keyboards and trackpads get replaced by other inputs. The processing will likely move to your “phone”.
Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
21–30 of 173 posts
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#22It's a cyberdeck!
Just needs a Bigscreen Beyond VR headset
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#23I don’t really understand why my iPhone can’t just be a desktop. It should just hook up to a dock and turn into a desktop pc. It’s got the power to do everything I do I just need a monitor and keyboard hookup
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#24It makes sense, kinda. Basically Nreal-style glasses with a headless computer. But why stop there? If you further separate the keyboard/mouse from the computer, then you not only allow people to choose their own HCI (trackball? tapwithus keyboard?) but they can bring their own input, too. Imagine all the benefits of the modularity of a desktop, with equal (if not better) portability of a laptop.
The problem with going wearable is the input. Nothing is as good as a full keyboard. The smallest reasonable solution I have found is a bluetooth keyboard for nontrivial use. Chorded keyboards and whatnot just aren't as good and believe me I've tried.
I split keyboard is better than a full keyboard. Easier and faster to type, less strain. Can't work easily as a single piece though, and this severely limits its usability in travel / transport settings.
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#25I was tooling around with VR development when I tried developing directly from within the headset. Shockingly, the Quest 2 was streets ahead of the Index when it came to usability. It wasn't bad; it just wasn't something I would want to replace my current setup.
I'm sure once the headsets hit a certain resolution, this will become much more common.
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#26This is exactly the kind of concept I personally expect from Apple if the AR rumors materialize at the upcoming WWDC... maybe with a less clunky design.
Now that I think about it, the existing Mission Control/Full screen App interface could make total sense for this UI. You could quite easily translate theses concepts to an AR deck bridging the gap between all existing Apps and this new interface.
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#27I don’t really understand why my iPhone can’t just be a desktop. It should just hook up to a dock and turn into a desktop pc. It’s got the power to do everything I do I just need a monitor and keyboard hookup
Samsung DEX works reasonably well for light office work and browsing. Haven't tried it on anything heavier.
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#28how well does it work when you live in a shipping container? asking for a friend.
username checks out
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#29I don’t get how you’re supposed to use the webcam? Maybe it applies your eyes on to your face?
brought to you by the chief executive behind the Microsoft Kinect.
It's a Kinect. It's a head tracker.
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#30It makes sense, kinda. Basically Nreal-style glasses with a headless computer. But why stop there? If you further separate the keyboard/mouse from the computer, then you not only allow people to choose their own HCI (trackball? tapwithus keyboard?) but they can bring their own input, too. Imagine all the benefits of the modularity of a desktop, with equal (if not better) portability of a laptop.
The problem with going wearable is the input. Nothing is as good as a full keyboard. The smallest reasonable solution I have found is a bluetooth keyboard for nontrivial use. Chorded keyboards and whatnot just aren't as good and believe me I've tried.
> Nothing is as good as a full keyboard.
I don't know what the solution is, but I remember most decrying that a keyboard on a mobile device would not work and that they wanted their Blackberry keyboards, but Apple nailed it. Here's to seeing that the next input/interface will be.