So 3M corporation is one of those odd companies that has over the years produced some amazing technology, but has somehow had lots of problems marketing these inventions. My all time favorite is the Volition duplex fiber optic system (we used this for years on the Interop show) that is amazingly inexpensive, durable (we found a knot in the fiber pulled tight and it still worked), but most importantly fast and easy to terminate. Simple enough that I’ve taught PTA mom’s how to terminate the fiber on a school project, and with 75% of the connector being reusable, the training is cheap too. However, that’s not what I’m going to talk about in this article, in this case I’m going to let the cat out of the bag on those super cool touch sensitive glass computer displays you’re started to see at museums and such. Apparently this is also a 3M product line that no one has heard about.

Vikuiti is the product line that contains the magic and this is what 3M has to say about the name: The brand name is a portmanteau of the words visual and acuity, and is pronounced (vie CUE ah tee).

This product line is currently being integrated into several netbooks, desktop and laptop computers since one of their films has a prismatic layer that helps focus the light to make the displays brighter and clearer. The portion of this product line that really makes my eyes pop is their back projection film and their touch films. Combine the two and we have the makings of a display that just has to remind you of Minority Report when Tom Cruise was sweeping his fingers over the big glass display.(I did a video report on this type of display tech last January)

So let’s start building this display:

These are some pics that I grabbed off the 3M website that show how you can cut this film into different shapes to give you some startling new ways of catching the eye with your displays. I should point out that the material is also available in a laminated plastic material that can be shaped using standard wood working tools. (just keep the bit cool so that it won’t melt) You could even combine them with the 3M Vikuiti short throw projection system. Shown below that’s the projector mounted above the display area on a short arm. This way your shadow doesn’t interfere with the display.

The next step is to make this display interactive and to do that you add in a film on the outside that makes the glass touch sensitive.

So now what you have is now a touch screen display on a chunk of glass…but it will all be for naught if you can’t get things to work with the system and that’s what development kits are for.

3M has a multitouch capable development system that gives you access to the technology combined into a 19″ LCD display and from there you can start developing your application.

All I ask is that you put in an easter egg like the McAfee folks did…if you hit a magic combination of spots on the screen, it would bring up missile command on their glass display. Now that’s super cool.

Brian Chee is the founder and manager of the Advanced Network Computing Laboratory (ANCL) at the University of Hawai’i School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST). He is also a Senior Contributing Editor with InfoWorld Magazine.

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