CES 2008

Chances are that anyone who has visited Best Buy, Circuit City or Media Markt in the past few months saw a variety of flat screen technology options, including 720p, 1080i, and 1080p. Here at CES, it's clear that 1080p is here to stay and growing in dominance as THE screen resolution.

My guess is that 720p and 1080i days are numbered and that retailers will be purging their inventories of the technology (this could mean some great deals in the months to come, but keep in mind that you'll be buying antiquated technology). The one exception may be the entry level HD displays where 720p may continue for a while.

(Credit: Phil Hester)

Back to 1080p, the sheer variety of devices that support this standard is stunning (cameras, DVD players, TVs, etc.). I also saw a wide array of "plumbing" options that support high-quality resolution, including HDMI and wireless. HDMI cables are cleaning up the jumble of component video and audio cables. At the same time, device manufactures are starting to introduce HD wireless interconnect technologies that promise to eliminate all the cables other than power.

While high definition devices are the buzz of the show, the format debates continue. Major technology and entertainment companies disclosed HD content plans and partnerships at the show. It seems to me that most consumers will wait to make the jump to high definition players and DVDs until the dispute is settled and a clear winner emerges at an affordable price. Meanwhile, prices on high definition DVDs are coming down and price points are similar to when DVDs first came to the mainstream market. High definition players are still a bit high for most consumers. However, game consoles and other media extenders that support on-demand HD media streams in the home are overcoming some consumer issues with how to distribute and view their HD content throughout the home.

(Credit: Phil Hester)

Putting the standards debate aside, high definition technology is renewing interest and excitement for gadgets and devices. HD is delivering on our expectations for realistic images and blurring the line between digital content and what our eyes perceive as the resolution of nature. And connection options for those HDTVs are empowering end-users to easily create sophisticated networks that center around the TV.

Phil Hester is senior vice president and chief technology officer (CTO) at AMD, responsible for setting the architectural and product strategies and plans for AMD's microprocessor business.

The natural human interface has been a huge theme at this year's CES.

Bill Gates talked up the Surface Computer and voice recognition in the car, Paul Otellini talked up the gesture-based interface of Nintendo Wii, and there were plenty of new ideas around interfaces exhibited on the trade show floor.

Attendees mill around Samsung displays to try out the Reactrix gesture-based interface.

(Credit: CES)

Natural human interfaces, ones that involve human movement, for example, tend to be incredibly engaging. It's rarely more noticeable than at CES--the crowds nearly always gather around those exhibits that provide some kind of interactivity. One of the most popular has been the WAVEscape advertising platform, developed by Reactrix and exhibited in partnership with Samsung.

WAVEscape is a stereo near-infrared vision system that sits above a television to enable interactions between viewer movement and content on the screen.

It uses a stereo 3D vision system to sense the distance of a person from the television. In the same way a person has two eyes to gauge proximity, the computer can get the full shape of everyone's body up to 15 feet away.

At CES, Reactrix demonstrated how users could stand in front of a Samsung LCD and interact with several games and information sites using the movement of their limbs.

Attendees play a game of volleyball on a Reactrix-powered Samsung TV.

(Credit: Brett Winterford)

The technology is being used as a means of engaging people in a public space for interactive display advertising. Reactrix's first big customer is Hilton Hotels, which will provide the technology in its lobbies and other public spaces to both entertain and provide information on hotel services.

WAVEscape was developed by Matt Bell, Reactrix's chief scientist and founder. It is inspired by an earlier product he invented called the Stepscape--a 2x3 meter interactive floor-projected display deployed in shopping malls and other public spaces that can sense a person's presence as they walk over it.

"We are using these technologies to reinvent out-of-home advertising," Bell said. "Most advertising outside of the home is billboards and digital signage. I describe this as glance media--you look at it for two seconds, if that, and then you move on. What we do is engage people, get them interacting. They have fun and therefore the advertiser loves it because the user remembers the message, and the venue is happy because the venue is more interesting."

Bell says users are 10 times as likely to recall the message of an interactive advertisement as a static one.

"It is a revolution in the way people relate to TVs," he said. "The TV is now able to sense you and respond to your wishes."

WAVEscape inventor Matt Bell shows off an interactive TV application

(Credit: Brett Winterford)

Beyond advertising, Bell sees applications in other verticals, such as education (pulling apart molecule diagrams on a classroom screen, for example) or as an attraction in a nightclub. "Ultimately this could be baked into any display to optimize the experience for whoever is using it," he said.

Eventually, he'd like to see it in the home.

"It will take a few years to make its way to consumer. Right now it's relatively bulky, but all of this will be shrinking as rapidly as we can so we can get it into the consumer market. In the home, you might be sitting on your couch and you gesture with your hand to change channel if you are sick of the program."

"Gestural interfaces are exciting because they are so natural," he concluded. "We communicate with body language. You get a display that's able to understand body language and that's very powerful."