Giant Touch Screens on TV

May 10, 2009 1:56 PM

Is there some kind of product placement push behind the ridiculous use of giant touch screens on TV lately? They have been popping up all over the place in shows that are not supposed to be science fiction. CSI Miami, NCIS for example.

Is there any evidence/reporting that it is product placement or is it just directors getting all Minority Report wannabee?

Or is the Fondle. Zoom. Enhance. future now and I missed the wide scale adoption of this technology?

posted by srboisvert to Media & Arts (18 answers total)

We use them for meetings at work, looks and works like a big tv screen but can also be used as a white board. I'm guess a lot of other board rooms are getting them too.
posted by furtive at 1:59 PM on May 10, 2009

I'd imagine it's a two-fold thing:

1. Apple bringing out the iPhone and iPod Touch has brought the concept from science fiction into the daily lives of a lot of people. It's popular at the moment as interfaces go.

2. It's a lot more visually interesting to have a person interact with a giant touch screen than someone sitting down while pretending to type away at a keyboard. It's hard(er) to draw the viewer into something that, in real life, looks quite passive.
posted by slimepuppy at 2:08 PM on May 10, 2009

I'd agree with slimepuppy. They're visually interesting, making them good for use on TV, and they're not just science fiction any more; witness JazzMutant's Lemur, Apple's iPhone, and many other consumer-level tactile interfaces.
posted by lekvar at 2:18 PM on May 10, 2009

The way you talk in your question it sounds like you think they are fake… ever watched CNN?
posted by OwlBoy at 2:25 PM on May 10, 2009

What would the point of such "product placement" when logos and corporate names aren't shown or mentioned?

You watch too much TV dude... watch out for the pink laser beam!
posted by wfrgms at 2:25 PM on May 10, 2009

Or is the Fondle. Zoom. Enhance. future now and I missed the wide scale adoption of this technology?

They're pretty expensive, but they are definitely for sale. Jeff Han has been doing research on this stuff for a while Here's a video of him talking about in 2006. The iPhone has multitouch but these large screen devices are getting more popular for doing presentations and whatnot.
posted by delmoi at 2:37 PM on May 10, 2009

In CSI, they once referred to it as "the surface". As such, I'm always of the impression it's product placement for Microsoft Surface.

It wouldn't be the first time they've plugged Microsoft products, although the one I remember the most was appallingly bad.
posted by mr_silver at 2:38 PM on May 10, 2009

My wife's workplace has networked whiteboard-type technology, and has for a few years. It really isn't that exotic.
posted by rodgerd at 3:12 PM on May 10, 2009

Widespread adoption of touchscreen technology hasn't yet happened, but it's rapidly on the rise. It's existed as tech demos for many years now, and there are plenty of DIY configurations you or I could build today to create a fully functional touch screen computer input stand. The iPod Touch and iPhone, as well as Apple's rumored larger iPod Touch computer like device to be released this year, will only make touchscreen technology more prevalent, thus more adopted and used.
posted by Meagan at 3:43 PM on May 10, 2009

The way you talk in your question it sounds like you think they are fake… ever watched CNN?

It's not that I think the technology is fake (though some aspects of them are) I just think the use of them seems too jarringly unreal for the shows that are using them and they seem to be featuring it a bit too prominently. It feels forced to me.
posted by srboisvert at 3:47 PM on May 10, 2009

Today they look jarringly unreal.

But on their third reruns they'll look as jarringly dated as a green screen flashing 'login failed' in some 1980's movie.

'cause the future ain't what it used to be.
posted by hexatron at 4:10 PM on May 10, 2009

This makes me think of the "CSI effect"--juries expecting a level of certainty in evidence that isn't generally possible in real life, based on what they see on TV (not to imply you have those expectations, it just seems relevant to your question). The technology may exist, but I doubt (m)any government-funded organizations have the budget for it. The reality is things like rape kits sitting in storage for years, but instant DNA matching via 3D touch screens makes for better TV.
posted by Meg_Murry at 5:17 PM on May 10, 2009

I know I caught a Microsoft Surface install in the re-made Day the Earth Stood Still -- complete with logo. I think between Surface, the Minority Report/Oblong thing, and the iTouch/iPhone devices it's PR pushing the concept into mainstream awareness.
posted by Alterscape at 5:26 PM on May 10, 2009

Aside from pop-culture inventions, indeed these screens proliferated after Microsoft Surface was launched.
posted by rhizome at 6:03 PM on May 10, 2009

Science Fiction?

Any place in the real world that had as much high-tech gear as CSI and NCIS that didn't have one would be seriously out of date.
posted by Ookseer at 7:30 PM on May 10, 2009

In 2004 I went to Japan and noticed touch screens were in widespread use. They were everywhere--check-out counters, customs areas at the airport, restaurants. At that time I wondered why we weren't using them. It seemed like work could be accomplished so much more easily than with just mousing and/or keyed entry only. Could it be that we're finally catching up?
posted by choochoo at 9:06 PM on May 10, 2009

Touchscreen interactive whiteboards are in use in all of the schools in Scotland in which friends of mine teach, if not across the whole country.

This kind of thing is increasingly common.
posted by Happy Dave at 2:55 AM on May 11, 2009

My nephew is hyper excited that this year, he gets to be in a classroom with a smartboard. His school district hopes to have them for all classrooms eventually.
posted by nomisxid at 11:46 AM on May 11, 2009