iBar - Novelty or The Future?

Mindstorm of the United Kingdom has several multi-touch products designed explicitly for the hospitality industry. One product, iBar, has been particularly successful having installations throughout Europe and even in the United States.

While iBar may be visually interesting and a great novelty it also demonstrates that large horizontal multi-touch devices are useful, not just for games (e.g. Air Hockey), but for work and retail. Imagine going into any retail outlet and having the counter top in front of you provide more information about the product you are considering buying.

The potential for multi-touch in the horizontal form factor is impressive and I think we'll see a lot more of it in our local bars, hotels, retail outlets, offices, and even our homes within the next decade. Mindstorm is already working on object recognition and even credit card scanning.