1. Data
2. Display
3. E-Books and Ink
4. Environments
5. Furniture/Appliances
6. Hardware
7. Voice and Language
8. Wireless Networking
While this list will always be changing, it shows a snapshot of where leading edge technology that chould be used in libraries is today. Some products are in the concept stage, others can be ordered today from any hardward supplier.
To understand the activities and technologies that facilitate information access in the future,and the potential impact they will have on library facilities, read on and use your imagination:
A directory of thousands of books that can be freely read right on the Internet.
Demonstrates how using commonly available GIS software, it is very easy to create a wide range of products from high resolution Spin-2 imagery.
Database tools that allow users to visualize information using concepts not typically associated with data organization. For example, The Galaxies uses the image of stars to represent a set of documents.
Producing systems-on-a-chip that incorporate both analog and digital circuits to integrate the physical world with the world of computation.
Of the millions of books, photographs, prints, drawings, manuscripts, rare books, maps, sound recordings, and moving pictures held by the Library, a fraction are in digital form.
Mapping software that plots a person’s location onto a digital map is now portable.
Rare manuscript collections on cd-rom. In many cases live text and complete translations, and bibliographic notation in digital files that are accessible, printable, and searchable.
Data storage that is attempting to digitally reproduce all written text.
A general-purpose software package for data visualization and analysis.
Voice recognition software that integrates with most Windows based programs.
An affordable, space-saving and energy-saving digital flat-panel computer monitor.
Technology where an image is formed directly on the retina of the user's eye.
Virtual viewing from any source with phono connections. Plug into a VCR, DVD Player, Video Walkman or Camcorder using standard phono connections.
Industry's largest and thinnest Plasma Display Panel.
A video display using hair-thin fluorescent tubes set on a substrate to produce large screens that are very thin.
Newly developed photolithography and sandblasting techniques have made it possible to fabricate 40-inch panels with high accuracy.
Light Emitting Plastic technology is the world's first plastic television screen
The goal of the electronicbook project is to construct a compelling version of the book updated for modern use.
An ink that, coated onto paper, turns the sheet into an electronically controlled display. Plugged into a computer, the paper can then produce images that remain stable even when power is removed. The sheets can later be erased and rewritten.
Electronic book with two screens
An ebook, the size of a paperback that holds 10 novels, so you are never far from what you need or have to read.
The notepad that captures your handwriting and drawing then uploads to your computer.
Pen that takes note of the twists and turns of your handwriting, translating it into text displayed on a screen. It is also a 3-D mouse; twist it in the air to scroll around the data on its screen.
SoftBook
An electronic reading device and Internet-based commerce site offering
thousands of professional titles and recreational reading for sale. And
this one still has a leather cover.
A wireless mobile device, no larger than a clipboard, that allows complete Internet access, web browsing, and email.
Technology that is investigating various approaches of incorporating handwriting as a means of interacting in immersive virtual environments.
Combine intelligent tutor and user assistant technologies to adapt systems to their users. The machine, not the person, changes its behavior.
Working to expand the usefulness of wearable computers by implementing their use simultaneously at multiple distant sites.
A product that lets you feel a virtual object and know it is in your hand without having to look.
Demonstration of the geodesic dome that expands smoothly in size while maintaining its shape and stability. It provides instant, portable shelter. When folded, it may be easily stored and transported.
Libraries and classrooms can be brought directly to the people who need them, along with your staff, in comfort and style.
A gesture recognition system that integrates with CyberGlove to recognize user-defined hand formations.
A drafting table format virtual prototyping device with a computer operated audio system. Using stereo glasses and magnetic head and hand tracking, this projection-based system offers a type of virtual reality that is semi-immersive.
Explores advanced human-computer interaction and collaboration technologies. The objective is to create an intelligent room capable of interpreting and augmenting activity occurring within it.
Large ultra-high resolution wall display with various types of wireless input devices (speech interaction, camera-tracked laser pointers, and flight sticks) shared among multiple users.
A retractable roof that expands and contracts like the iris of an eye.
Demonstrates how a tensile structure can be used to generate energy by using photovoltaic technology and newly-engineered materials as both surface and structure.
Expanding technology to allow two hand user interface with the computer.
Creating virtual classrooms to educate students that are physically unable to attend school due to treatment for chronic illnesses.
Technology with 360 degree projection and a 180 degree field of view. The observer perceives 3D objects beyond the surface of the screen. It is the group equivalent of a Virtual Reality (VR) headset but without personally inhibiting hardware.
Discussion about the direction of virtual reality technology
Sophsiticated, interactive, technology has become common place in our daily lives. This demonstrates the removal of separation between the individual and their technical world.
Combination of everything you need in your technology life in one appliance.
A chair/workspace concept to increase efficiency. It has a horizontal LCD touchscreen and an on-screen keyboard, so you can control everything at a touch of the display.
High-fidelity loudspeakers to be fabricated in virtually any size and shape, with a minimum thickness of just 1/64" (0.3mm).
Developing a robot that would be used in our daily routine, rather than purpose-built for special operations.
An example of how technology is being used to solve integrated production problems, addressing logistical and economical as well as environmental concerns.
Technology that allows LCD displays and chips to be manufactured in the same process making possible the development of paper-thin computers.
A touch can be the conduit for the transfer of detailed business, personal or even medical data. The technology uses a tiny electrical current to transmit a user's identification and other information from one person to another, or even to a objects such as cars, public telephones and ATMs.
The technology that will allow high-speed signals transmitted via wireless communications devices, while being less costly and power hungry than current technology.
Wearable in which focus of the worker’s attention is not the operating of the computer.
Instead of using a keyboard, this software that translate your voice directly into many windows software with a high degree of accuracy.
A window that allows translation of text or URLs to and from English and most major European languages
A search engine that utilizes one or all of 25 major languages
Advances in speech recognition allowing improved person-to-computer interaction. Overcoming the obstacles of noise and accuracy to eliminate the pause for recognition by computer.
Intel and Microsoft push for reliable speech recognition in processors, applications, and future operating systems. This would be a move toward making speech recognition part of all computing systems.
Voice recognition software that integrates with most all windows software.
A global standard for wireless Internet connectivity. The technology is an open specification for wireless communication of data and voice based on a low-cost short-range radio link.
Prototype ultra-wide-band (time domain) chips from IBM. This technology could eventually fuel portable devices communicating at "Gigabits per second."
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