Jacob Ward Of PopSci: Multiple Screens And Opportunity For Innovation

During the DigitalFlash PopSci Live showcase at the end of September, PopSci Deputy Editor Jacob Ward spent time highlighting a handful of the latest electronic technologies, ranging from 3D screens and printing to projectors and gesture-controlled devices.

We were able to speak with Jacob to capture a bit of insight on the development of mobile and tablet devices being used as complimentary screens for interacting with entertainment, as content creators and developers use multiple devices that work with each other in innovative ways. Jacob shares his thoughts below on the future of multiple screens:

“I think you’re going to see people taking baby steps. The problem is getting device manufacturers to play well with one another. But within the ecosystem of Apple, for instance, you are already seeing the ability to have the iPad and your iPhone communicate with each other. There’s a Scrabble game from EA where the iPhone acts as your tile rack and the iPad is the game board, and you can flip the tiles from your iPhone onto the tablet as you’re playing Scrabble. There’s also a Japanese programmer who came up with a great little app called ‘Camera A Camera B‘ that’s really just sort of a thought experiment. But it’s a beautiful thing – basically the iPhone becomes the camera, and the iPad becomes the monitor, so you are seeing whatever the iPhone is filming through this iPad.

The idea is linking that stuff together. I think it’s going to start out as these little game gimmicks and art pieces, but eventually you’ll have a thing where you’ll be watching three characters on three TVs, or choosing a character to follow based on which tablet you bring with, or whatever it is. So, yeah, I think there’s a tremendous content possibility there.”

DigitalFlash NYC

PopSci Live