Arthur C Clarke once proclaimed: “any technology sufficiently advanced enough is indistinguishable from magic.” Of course technical types understand it’s not magic, it’s advanced technology. However even the most sophisticated technocrat seeing for the first time A GM research project called WOO (Window Of Opportunity) in cooperation with the FUTURE LAB at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Israel are going WOO.
In the project GM’s R&D egg eggs asked the research group to convert a car window into in interactive display to foster a greater connection with the world outside the glass window of the backseat of an automobile.
The no holds barred research project team up some very interesting apps. To whit: Pond. Reminiscent of the A.M. Citizens Band radio days and interactive app allowing passengers two way music sharing and message sharing with other passengers in nearby vehicles. If you are in a more quiet and inquisitive mode…
Spindow is for you. Pull up a picture of the globe (on your passenger car window), drill down to another landmass and see the view of another WOO equipped passenger window stream by.
For the board kids in the back seat, a couple of interesting apps. One is Otto, where the animated character responds to scenery passing by in real time. That certainly sounds educational. And kids sometimes just want to play. For that there is Foofu. Perhaps when you were a kid in the back seat of the car you may have steamed the window with your breath and then doodled on the moisture. That’s exactly what you have with Foofu, Arthur C Clarke style.
Don’t count on asking how much the option is for this new interactive glass. There are no production plans at this moment. However it seems inevitable it is coming. Automobile manufacturers have been wooing us with Heads-Up Displays for drivers for some years now. GM specifically ran TV ads where the augmented windshield would reveal a deer invisible in only visible light.
Keep in mind that Heads-Up Displays were originally developed for the military fighter planes, costing millions of dollars. It’s only logical that the future is WOO.