Engadget summary with videos:
<a href="http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/29/hp-reveals-sprout/" rel="nofollow">http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/29/hp-reveals-sprout/</a><p>"It's a unique machine that combines an all-in-one Windows 8 PC with a set of 3D scanning cameras, a giant tactile touchpad and a downward-facing projector (for displaying graphics on said touchpad). The design is built around a concept HP is calling "blended reality" that blends the 3D physical world with our 2D digital one. The obvious target audience is creative types. You know: makers, tinkerers, designers, etc... Rather than the traditional method of control built around mice and keyboards, Sprout focuses on touch and pen input. The 23-inch LCD serves as the primary display, but it's the bottom display, the 20-inch capacitive pad positioned under the camera and projector that serves as the primary point of interaction."
The video works for me, but I have to agree with the other comments - I needed to work very hard to figure out what exactly this actually was.<p>The first 40! seconds of the video didn't show the product in action, the first image of it was from such an odd angle that I didn't even know it <i>was</i> an image of it at first, and the later images don't actually show the camera that seems to be an important part of it.<p>Part of me thinks this is a solution in want of a problem, designed by the kind of person who uses a spoon for soup and a fork for their main course and thinks "If only I had a combination fork-spoon, my life would be so much simpler".
The <i>Aha</i> moment for me was watching the beans spill on the touchpad and getting immediately digitized and put into a presentation.<p>They also should have taken a real necklace, placed it on the touchpad and had it instantly digitized, then manually manipulated around the woman's neck.<p>Very cool product. I <i>love</i> seeing highly imaginative products, especially coming from well established companies.<p>Suggestion: Maybe whoever was in charge of this development project could push thru that super-cool HP logo and branding that HP was too scared to implement: <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/14/please-save-hp/" rel="nofollow">http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/14/please-save-hp/</a>
So, it's a combined 23" touch screen and projection surface with touch and camera-based tracking, at a 90 degree angle to each other. With a built-in Core-i7-based computer, of course.<p>Pretty nifty, but also extremely specialized. Daring move!
I gave this a cursory scroll but by the time I got to the bottom I didn't know what the product was. I was also annoyed by the overcooked design so I gave up. Sorry.
I wonder to what degree public perception of a company's brand (think HP, Microsoft, Ebay vs Google, Apple) helps or hinders their ability to get a product off the ground. It reminds me of the old Shakespearean "What's in a name?" question.<p>One would like to believe that the product, if good enough, will always win out, but that's probably not the case, especially if it relies on an ecosystem to develop around it to be fully viable.<p>If brand quality matters severely, then an interesting question is whether or not startups have an advantage against large corps with bad reputations. Is it better to be StartuppyMcstartup nobody's ever heard of or Microsoft?
After watching the video on their landing page, I can't help but be reminded of the Generic Brand Video on Vimeo[1].<p>[1] <a href="http://vimeo.com/89527215" rel="nofollow">http://vimeo.com/89527215</a>
At the time I'm writing this all posts are complaining about the presentation of the site... yes it sucks, but the product looks really cool. It appears to be a combination of a camera and projection tool allowing the user to add real objects, such as a coffee mug, to the projected image and have it added to that image. Then user can use their hands to digitally move things around and otherwise manipulate the image.<p>That is really cool, but I can't help but think how limited its uses are. The real-world objects need to be relatively small (like a coffee cup, not a car) and you are limited by taking pictures from the top-down angle. However, that kind of interaction is really natural and would be easier to learn than say Photoshop.
Really neat concept and (it appears) fine execution!<p>Right now, it's a really niche product, but I'm looking forwards to see if this is improved and adopted more widely.<p>Also, the main video doesn't show much. This is much better:<p><a href="http://bcove.me/0mvq74jn" rel="nofollow">http://bcove.me/0mvq74jn</a>
As a pre-school lab coach with 300 children weekly in my lab I would LOVE to get two and see what kids could do with some help with teachers.<p>I really like the idea of kids putting a physical 3d object into something 2d and build a simple blue print. STEM tool for children seems perfect to me.<p>HP contact me :)
This is the coolest thing out of HP in a long time. I hope they don't screw it up in the typical HP way through tone-deaf responses to the market. They are going to have to work pretty hard winning over consumers because their PC and device brand has been damaged almost irreparably through decades of selling characterless beige boxes with poor performance, durability, and customer support.
Google terms to search for<p>"augmented desk" "InteractiveDESK"<p>This idea is introduced roughly every 4 years at least since the first time I saw it in the early 90s.<p>There has been some limited commercial success.<p>The local mall had a 100 sq ft model for kids to play with in one of the walkways. Balls bounce around and react when people walk into them.<p>Its more or less a kinect with substantial changes in scale and optical path.
This reminds me so much about osmo
<a href="https://www.playosmo.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.playosmo.com/</a>
Disclaimer: Not affiliated with the company
Neat machine. Desktop computers need things like this. After all, what can you do with today's desktop computers that you can't conveniently do with a tablet?<p>I can't predict a mass market destiny to this but it warms my heart to see a huge company release some kind of engineering chimera<p>3d cam is what is a perfect addition to 3d printers. Well, 3d printers prove pretty useless without 3d cams. It also enables 3d movement detection.<p>Something bugs me though, how is it possible for the 3d cam to see beneath the object (bird origami) to come out with such a perfectly scanned shape?
I see some interesting potential to make a three-dimensional experience using camera tracking and perspective effects on the surface.<p>Although at first I was a bit skeptical of the replacement of a touchscreen with a projector, there are some capabilities of a projector that you just don't get with a touchscreen – mainly, projecting images on real objects placed on the pad. This, combined with a 3D printer, could allow designers to create 3D shapes and project surfaces onto these objects.
Reminds me of the augmented reality sandbox [1] I've played with at a museum [2] and which was really cool.<p>[1] <a href="http://idav.ucdavis.edu/~okreylos/ResDev/SARndbox/" rel="nofollow">http://idav.ucdavis.edu/~okreylos/ResDev/SARndbox/</a><p>[2] <a href="https://naturalhistory.novascotia.ca/" rel="nofollow">https://naturalhistory.novascotia.ca/</a>
Interesting that it's being sold as an all-in-one, where it could easily be a peripheral that works with any computer. It's packaged as signature bold product but they got there incrementally, using (as others have pointed out) an idea that's come around at times before (but in even more niche areas like museums).
I was big into experimental interfaces in around 2006. There was a similar peripheral for the Mac whose name escapes me. (I only ever saw marketing material for it.)<p>It had a sensor to detect the depth and positions of your hands above your desk. Its software would then cast a hand-shaped shadow on your screen, so you could see what you were about to interact with. The UI was like a touchscreen, but you'd abstract the touching away from the displaying for ergonomics.<p>It was a cool concept. Bummed it never went anywhere. Sprout could be interesting, but it would be a lot more interesting if it came from a brand that moved platforms (like Apple). I don't know if HP has the developer mindshare (or sales volume) to have a "revolutionary" product that people get excited about. There are too many other Windows machines (both inside and outside HP) for this to get the attention it deserves.
The first image on the website [0] made me believe it is some kind of tablet with a big special case, as the picture is taken from an unexpected angle. But hey, first impressions...<p>That being said, this looks like some real innovation and makes for an interesting creative workspace setup.<p>Soon we'll have flexible flexible displays to close the gap between the screen and the projected area (see the moment in the video where she flicks an item from the screen on to the projected area? Quite literally, a gap in interaction).<p>I can imagine this being used in some of the user interface research labs which have been working with similar hand-made setups before.<p>Good move, HP.<p>[0]: <a href="http://store.hp.com/wcsstore/hpusstore/Treatment/sprout_meetSprout_1900x603.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://store.hp.com/wcsstore/hpusstore/Treatment/sprout_meet...</a>
About time some serious attempt at blurring the lines between creating in digital and physical worlds. This along side paper and a 3D printer is going to be a fantastic tool in the creator toolbox.<p>Let's see how the dev community reacts to non-Apple/Google new platform.
For history buffs, Pierre Wellner built a similar system at EuroPARC in 1991 called the Digital Desk: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8lCetZ_57g" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8lCetZ_57g</a>
In case other people are having trouble telling what it is, it appears to be a projector over a touch sensitive white board it can project on to placed in front of the computer where the keyboard normally is. Then it can track your hands for touch input.<p>I scrolled through the entire landing page, tried to watch the video which got stuck at 24 seconds before revealing something, then finally managed to get some frames from later on. Really terrible marketing since they are hiding what it is, but whatever. Seems inferior to a Wacom Cintiq in every way so far (an LCD with pressure sensitive pen with buttons that graphics artists use).
I'm always looking for the next note-taking device, and I got the idea it would be cool to combine a pico projector and a document camera, so I could project an image over my notepad and then just take a picture of it. This way I could, say, annotate web pages/pdfs with a real pen and scan quickly w/o having to rip the page.<p>That's how I found this guy's work I posted a couple days ago [1].<p>Anyway, turns out HP has done the hard work for me. Now I just need to waste some $2k USD to verify my silly idea... :p<p>1: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8502303" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8502303</a>
Are any of the hp Sprout folks from the MS Research 'illumishare' team from a couple years ago? the video reminds me of this demo of kids playing games over skype with a similar system: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODx5t53j66M" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODx5t53j66M</a><p>also, an even older demo: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnL34XwTgag" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnL34XwTgag</a><p>I'm actually a bit surprised they didn't stress the collaboration features more, guess there's an initial fear of how many people will own the same device.
I like the concept in general, but I have two main problems with it:<p>1. A vertical touch screen! my arms hurt just from watching the video showing that lady stretching her arm and dragging objects across some presentation slides. You simply can't do that for more than a few seconds.<p>2. I'm fearing a chicken and egg situation with the software aspects. I mean the photo editor they show looks nice and original but pretty limited. Without wide adoption from software makers you won't have more professional grade apps, and without professional grade apps, you'll still have the limited set of toy apps and no adoption.
My immediate reaction is that it looks pretty useless apart from being a foray into bringing digital and physical closer together, which may lead to other interesting things. We need springboards like this to find out what works and what doesn't and make something better, but in and of itself it doesn't seem too interesting.<p>Just the first reaction to some of the videos that are mostly bleh marketing. Might have to revise my opinion once I see some more.<p>Looking forward to seeing someone do a hands-on video, or just create something for 30 minutes with a camera looking over his/her shoulder.
Really impressed with this. I'm glad HP is trying something innovative in the desktop market. As a father of a young girl, I'm really interested in something like this. Could be especially great for her.
If your target audience is 'makers' then why is this being marketed as a toy? The underlying idea is great, and I'm very much looking forward to someone implementing this correctly — but I'm not interested in buying a giant toy for creating more 'moments' for my 'followers'.<p>I want something for doing actual creative work, and that's the only metric that matters for a product like this anyway. Maybe Bret should give it a try (<a href="http://vimeo.com/97903574" rel="nofollow">http://vimeo.com/97903574</a>).
Kudos to them for trying something new! This looks great. I can't help but think they would have a little more credibility if the industrial design wasn't a wanna-be iMac. Oy.
Really neat. Reminded me of the D&D downward projecting map setups:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPGPV4-e3JI" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPGPV4-e3JI</a>
Really cool idea, too bad it comes with an operating system.<p>1) This should be a sold as a peripheral, not with its own CPU<p>2) Turn the bottom into a matte finish Cintiq monitor that can be quickly shut off
You're looking at low end parts for the price, particularly the inclusion of a "Hybrid HDD". Hybrid HDDs do almost nothing for for Windows, but putting an SSD into a Windows machine makes it dramatically more responsive. If you want people to experience a new thing in computing that is tactile you can't make people wait for a disc to spin up, ever.
I knew I had seen that first image somewhere... <a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bb/Fatboy_Slim_-_Halfway_Between_the_Gutter_and_the_Stars.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bb/Fatboy_Slim_-...</a>
Neat idea, but I don't necessarily want a whole new computer, just the projector + 3D camera.<p>Someone should hack together an open source version. The hardware should be pretty straightforward: a commodity projector, a couple webcams, and perhaps an Xbox Kinect or similar.
First thing that popped to mind was projecting on top of a goban so I could get stomped by GnuGo while playing with my nice board and stones. There's something lost in playing Go w/o the tactile nature of a physical board and stones.
I love the fact that when created the advert for sprout they user doesn't actually type the words Ice cream party but it comes up.<p>The user never actually hits the letter P but somehow it magically appears!
Looking at the "apps" section's picture, I can't help but feel like they've created a giant Nintendo DS. I also can't tell if I feel like that's a bad thing.
Loved it! Feels nice to see the pioneering spirit at HP is still alive.<p>A cursory look at the SDK shows that it's mainly WPF and C++ (QT?) which might make it easier to develop apps. Looks interesting.
This product must have sounded like a good idea to some clueless but slightly rich tech charlatans.
Looking at the product page, a mediocre genius like me can tell:<p>The intro video tells zilch about the product. Tries to sell some grandiose vision about hands. As if they have evolutioned hands for snakes. That's a sore sign that there's not much to the product.<p>"A creativity station. A fully functioning PC. Whatever you want to call it, Sprout can do it. " I want to call it the spaceship voyager on a mission to the planet of the MBAs.<p>"Blending the physical and digital worlds that you live in, Sprout unleashes your creativity like never before." if by that you mean it makes you want to rant creatively, sure.
Looks nice, but the 1-year warranty is a huge dealbreaker. If I'm going to be spending $1900 on a PC, it had better be guaranteed to last longer than that.
Huh. This is novel. I don't know what to call it (initially I thought it was another tablet thing).<p>I'm kinda intrigued by where it'll go.
I almost thought "Wow, someone finally starts building Apple-level PCs". But the machine still only runs Windows. To a certain crowd of IT profrssionals, Apple has raised the standard to "I need both quality gear and the unix experience (including the command line but not only)".<p>So much that it would make sense that HP starts supporting Ubuntu by default.
Two screens at a 90degrees angle? Just imagining it make my neck hurts, they could have at least tilted the bottom one. There is a reason I learned to touch type...
As w/ everything. Great software makes great hardware. Only 8 apps at launch (not that it is actually bad per se) and I find it hard to believe that it will gain traction among current developers. I can't think of any reason to start developing for sprout, a platform with zero users right now. Users won't buy because no apps, developers won't code because no users; it will be interesting to see how HP will manage to solve this.<p>Still, it's good to see a big consumer-oriented company like HP trying (at least) to innovate in some new way.
It's kind of cool from the video, but honestly I lost interest half way through. I'm not sure if it solves an existing problem or would appeal to the mass market though.<p>I guess when you have cash that needs to be spent, you do stuff like this? I can't imagine this is the best innovation HP can come up with.