Video posts future of transparent displays

A viral video posted to YouTube by Australian mobile network provider, Telstra, has made various predictions about the future of portable technology, with a heavy emphasis on the availability of transparent gadgets, within the next decade.

A variety of companies, including big names like Samsung, have already revealed that they are working on making screens that are able to showcase content while still being transparent, although so far, these have largely been created with the intention of being used for digital signage.

However, the next generation of LED displays could also find their way into consumer products, enabling embedded screens to apparently be transparent, until eventually revealing the ability to operate just as competently as the opaque panels currently used in gadgets.

This is something that will not only allow for smartphones and tablets to become virtually transparent, but will also facilitate a range of eyewear devices, similar to Google Glass, which can use augmented reality (AR) to overlay a heads-up display on the real world for users of the future.

Of course, there have also been reports of researchers looking into the development of contact lens-size gadgets that have built in LED displays, allowing for the least obtrusive approach to AR.

It is interesting that LEDs remain a central technology for these emerging types of displays. It is the low level of power consumption that makes them particularly appropriate for use in portable gadgets, transparent or otherwise.

Telstra’s video may essentially be a marketing exercise wrapped around some relatively basic guesswork, but it does give a view of the future that aligns with that of other observers. Youngsters who are toddlers today may well grow up to exclusively interact through transparent LED displays and AR headgear, just as the current generation experiences the world through smartphones.