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HP Sprout A Big Move Towards Designers

Defying the past 35 years of personal-computer design, HP has built a machine that invites users to input their ideas on a wide mat that rests in front of the video monitor. Anything sketched or written is captured by sensors in the mat. Anything placed atop the mat is photographed or scanned by an overhead camera — and then transformed into digital content that can be displayed and further manipulated on the monitor. This video clip shows HP’s system in action.

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: advertisers, makers, tinkerers, graphic 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 result: a desktop computer that’s optimized for artists, designers and workbench-style creators, rather than the traditional office workers who type emails. Manufacturers such as Wacom, Huion and Tercom have already created standalone graphics tablets that can be connected to existing desktop computers — in hopes of serving artists’ needs. But HP’s system is a much more ambitious attempt to “blend physical and digital reality,” in the words of Eric Monsef, the Palo Alto, Calif., company’s head of immersive systems.

Defying the past 35 years of personal-computer design, HP has built a machine that invites users to input their ideas on a wide mat that rests in front of the video monitor. Anything sketched or written is captured by sensors in the mat. Anything placed atop the mat is photographed or scanned by an overhead camera — and then transformed into digital content that can be displayed and further manipulated on the monitor. This video clip (different from the one shown) shows HP’s system in action.

The result: a desktop computer that’s optimized for artists, designers and workbench-style creators, rather than the traditional office workers who type emails. Manufacturers such as Wacom, Huion and Tercom have already created standalone graphics tablets that can be connected to existing desktop computers — in hopes of serving artists’ needs. But HP’s system is a much more ambitious attempt to “blend physical and digital reality,” in the words of Eric Monsef, the Palo Alto, Calif., company’s head of immersive systems.

As Monsef concedes, “the product is a chameleon.” Even the touch-sensitive mat can be shunted aside if users want, in favor of a traditional keyboard and mouse. Early testers seldom do that, but HP wanted to provide them with the option of changing Sprout back into a traditional machine for email, Web surfing and Microsoft Office tasks, as needed.

HP is opting for a low-key launch of the new machine, initially offering it only in 50 Best Buy stores and 30 Microsoft stores, as well as at HP’s own website. Monsef explains that HP wants to make sure each store is staffed with specialists who know Sprout well and can explain its unusual features in ways that will make sense to shoppers according to Forbes.

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