Floating displays
Displaying images in thin air
The Microsoft Applied Sciences Group has been investigating making devices that disconnect the apparent location of a displayed image from the location of the hardware. Such devices can make images appear to “float”.
![Image of floating display device](/applied-sciences/images/projects/pages/floating-displays/floating-hardware.jpg?v=3VBR0I2gtsl0z7vs-zF_IAnAwCd9SzWM22xXpe1-UAw)
One use is for allowing touch interfaces that don’t require physical contact.
![Image of floating display device](/applied-sciences/images/projects/pages/floating-displays/floating-earth.jpg?v=n7-vCQI8-HQjUbtRFbdwXj6UQ-3j5dEXqYncITeesFI)
Another use is to allow visual affordances for interactions that aren’t on a surface upon which to display a normal affordance, such as for devices that sense hover, gestures, or pose.
![Image of a hand hovering over a Surface device](/applied-sciences/images/projects/pages/floating-displays/floating-gui.jpg?v=QQ2qAymrOdUv8OcbYvi7zbnn9NVH_8OKvGV5wwaMUaA)