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.

LightTouch from Light Blue Optics originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on January 7, 2010.

Looking back at all the announcements from yesterday’s press conferences makes one think of what seems to be the theme: 3D TV.

This is an interesting idea that will have to wait to see if the consumers adobt. Only time will tell. But, looking at the military and government sectors one can only imagine the possibilities.

the first use that comes to mind is on sea vessels and aircraft where space is often limited to small screens. Imagine the tactical officer flipping down his 3D display, throwing on his glasses as having a real life view of the battlefield or tactical maps.

Panasonic showed of there all in one 3D camera, so imagine in this case a soldier wearing the camera on the battlefield and beaming the signal back to the mothership. Yes, this may be a bit far fetched and the camera probably needs to be smaller to make this a reality.

Another view of the 3DTV is it’s actual intended use, for home entertainment. But take this idea and apply to the military. On sea vessels one can often wander the ship and see crowds around the TV. Weather their watching the home team game or news, anything from outside is a huge morale boost. So consider how much more of a boost they’ll get when there watching there home team in full 3D and feeling like they’re actually at the game again. Even that 10 second overview shot of the city would bring a huge boost as it would give them a greater sense of home.

So in closing, one can speculate forever, but only time will tell the direction this technology goes.

Applications for 3D TV in Military usage originally appeared on Shai Perednik.com on January 7, 2010.