Mirroring content isn’t new thanks to Apple, but Google is working on something that brings it up a notch. It’s still in the concept stage, but Google Research as been working on this for the past year. It’s called Open Project (as in projection), and it’s an end-to-end framework that has the ability to project mobile apps onto another screen using the camera on the smartphone.
Okay, this is nothing new because it can be done now through Apple’s Airplay and Miracast. What’s different about this concept is the fact that users can interact with the applications on the big screen just like it was the smartphone. This can make collaboration for companies or games at home quite interesting.
In its current state, users only need to scan a QR code that Open Project displays on the second screen. Presumably this would be through the Chrome Browser. Once the QR code is scanned, the app on the smartphone will appear on the second screen. Users can resize it or even move it around the second screen, and interaction can be on the phone or on the second screen. Developers only need to add a few lines of code to their existing apps to make them work with Open Project.
We have no idea if or when Open Project will move from concept to reality, but I am hoping very soon. Check out the video below and be prepared to be blown away.
Click here to view the embedded video.
sources: Google Research, Whitepaper
via: TechCrunch
The Open Project (PDF), as Google's researchers call it, is an end-to-end framework that can project native mobile apps onto a screen. That sounds a bit like Apple's AirPlay, but it's actually a bit cooler than that, especially when it's coupled with the giant touch screen Google uses in its demo.
In its current form, Open Project displays a QR code on the display and all you need to do is point your app at it, scan the code and the app is displayed on the screen. From there, you can move it around on the screen and even interact with it just like on the phone.
A number of companies are currently looking at how they can use large touch screens to make collaboration easier. Adobe's Project Context, for example, uses a table with a built-in touch screen and a wall of large screens in the room to allow its users to create magazine layouts. Microsoft, too, is working on similar setups based on Windows 8 and acquired Perceptive Pixel last year to experiment with large touch displays.
As always, it remains to be seen if this project ever becomes a reality. It's definitely an easy way to share content from your phone (assuming you have a giant wall of touch-enabled screens in your house) and with a bit of added intelligence, you could even use it to just share text or images you want to collaborate on, too, with the text editor or layout engine running on the machine that powers the display.
You can find the full research paper that explains the system in more detail here.
Come comment on this article: Google’s Open Project mirrors smartphone apps on big screens, but takes it one step further
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