Touché: the Future of Touch Tech, Brought to You by … Disney?

Disney’s research and development team in Pittsburgh has produced a smart touchscreen system called Touché, which goes further than Apple did in giving touch technology unbelievably wide, yet totally unobtrusive application.

Think smart tables that look like the ones you have at home, smart doors and furniture, phones that sense touch on all sides, smart “liquid” that can tell when your hand is submerged in water or that you put a fork in your cereal instead of a spoon.

But the application most telling to us is one that resembles the technology of Sixth Sense, only less complex: the ability to play music or makes commands on your phone by touching your own skin.

“It is not inconceivable that one day, mobile devices could have no screens or buttons, and rely exclusively on the body as the input surface.”

That day is closer than we think; it awaits the right kind of minds to prepare the market, in the same way Steve Jobs prepared us for tablet consumption en masse by taking us down the unassuming path of iPod, iPod touch, iPhone … and then iPad. Disney’s got the brawn; what does it plan to do with it?

Via.

Find innovation where it’s happening.

InnoCentive CEO Dwayne Spradlin on why companies should collaborate with outsiders to find breakthrough solutions to complex problems. Quotable:

“In this new world, these large organisations are saying from the top down, ‘A substantial portion of our innovation is going to come from the outside world’ … Actually, if we did it right, we’d say we should look for opportunities to do it on the outside and only do some of this innovation on the inside if we have to.”

This is about making the world your lab and becoming an enterprise focused on finding innovation wherever it’s happening, even if it’s not inside your walls (and most of it isn’t). This isn’t just useful for giant R&D departments; it’s a mindset can be especially powerful in advertising, media, publishing and music.