Spatial Operating Environment: Oblong’s ‘g-speak’
Remember that really cool operating system that Tom Cruise used in Minority Report? Well, a company based in Spain called Oblong has made it a reality. Judging from the demo videos, it is extremely versatile and responsive. My main concern is that Oblong wants to provide a complete solution for spatial interaction whereby we use their wall, their table, etc. The reality of ubiquitous systems is that devices and services must integrate with each other in order to satisfy daily business activities. For example: Let’s say a Logistician is using the g-speak wall for delegating shipping routes. The spatial interaction for such an activity meets several critical needs for logistics like rapid decision-making, simulation, and collaboration. However, what if she wants to pass the data to some legacy system? Dragging the artifact from the the g-speak wall to the g-speak table would fall short of integrating with existing technologies in that the business may not be ready to deprecate them due to outlying factors; factors not associated with the interactions afforded through spatial computing.
- Minority Report
- Oblong’s ‘g-speak’ Spatial Operating Environment
Current applications of g-speak at Fortune 50 companies, government agencies, and universities:
- Financial services
- Telepresence
- Network operations centers
- Logistics and supply chain management
- Military and intelligence
- Automotive
- Natural resource exploration
- Data mining and analytics
- Medical imaging
- High-touch retail
- Trade shows and theatrical presentations
- Consumer electronics interfaces
It will be interesting to see the evolution of Oblong’s solution and if they can integrate with other operating environments.


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