A personal projected display

User interfaces using windows, keyboard and mouse have been in use for over 30 years, but only offer limited facilities to the user. Conventional displays are small, at least compared with a physical desk; conventional input devices restrict both manual expression and cognitive flexibility; remote collaboration is a poor shadow of sitting in the same room. We show how recent technological advances in large display devices and input devices can address these problems. The Escritoire is a desk-based interface using overlapping projectors to create a large display with a high resolution region in the centre for detailed work. Two pens provide bimanual input over the entire area, and an interface like physical paper addresses some of the affordances not provided by the conventional user interface. Multiple desks can be connected to allow remote collaboration. The system has been tested with single users and collaborating pairs.