[Philip Lelyveld comment: true 3D interactivity. Watch the video below.]

[Wired UK]

Researchers at Microsoft’s Applied Sciences Group have used a transparent OLED screen, a Kinect and “some software magic” to build a prototype 3D desktop you can manipulate with your hands.

The demonstration shows a pop-up monitor arm, which holds a see-through Samsung display. The user puts their hands behind the screen, and a Kinect — Microsoft’s body-tracking camera for Xbox 360 — detects finger movements and gestures.

This allows you to rifle through a digital filing cabinet of windows and documents, and use a pinch gesture to make a window fill the screen. …

The prototype also uses Kinect for head-tracking, so as you look around the screen the 3D perspective changes. This lets you size-up a stack of documents just by tilting your head and seeing how far the digital pile goes into the distance. …

See the full story here: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-02/28/microsoft-see-through-3d-desktop