We’ve seen this concept before in the form of a red laser projected image of a keyboard. What makes the LightTouch different is the full color image thats projected.

Light Blue Optics demoed various usage cases, but when questioned they have not even considered military usage.

So lets dare to imagine and think of a possible use case for the LightTouch on the battlefield.

First we’ll explore a possible current scenario. A squadron leaders calls a halt to his unit calling for a map or recon from the unmanned drone he’s sent in. A soldier will run up with either a paper map or an LCD. We can assume the LCD is heavy and very bulky and presume that the map is made of a paper or plastic that’s seen its share of abuse. So what’s the alternative?

Let’s explore the same scenario assuming the squadron leader was equipt with a LightTouch device. He no longer needs to call for anyone, he simply kneels down, clears the ground of small debris and turns on his LightTouch. He now has the ability to quiqly pull up his map or recon video, make his decisions and move on.

With a multi-touch LightTouch the squadron leader can interact with the map, pinch to zoom, pan the image. Now imagine the recon video where he can halt the drone at a safe location zoom in and pan beyond the optic capabilities built into the drone. He can even reposition and control the drone from the same screen.

This idea is not that far fetched as the reference design already has a 2hr battery, is compact, and can handle uneven surfaces.

Tags: battlefield, CES, military, Photo, video