The Spatial Operating Environment

Oblong Industries is the developer of the g-speak spatial operating environment.

The SOE's combination of gestural i/o, recombinant networking, and real-world pixels offers the first major step in computer interface since 1984.

Oblong helps clients deploy SOE-based solutions to real-world problems, including:

• analysis of large data sets
• operation of three-dimensional interfaces
• construction of efficient multi-user collaborative applications
• integration of large screens and multiple computers into room- and building-scale work environments
• development of large-scale applications that run interactively across enterprise networks

Architecture of the g-speak SOE

Oblong offers g-speak as a software platform suitable for licensing and embedding. Turnkey systems built on top of g-speak are also available, as is custom development support, both from Oblong directly and from integration partners.

The g-speak platform provides three core functional components:

• Gestural I/O
  Hi-fi input for HD output

  The g-speak platform is built around free-hand, three-space gestural input. Applications are controlled by hand poses, movement and pointing. Finger and hand motion are tracked to 0.1mm at 100 hz; pointing is pixel-accurate. Two-handed and multi-user input are fully supported.

  Gestural I/O removes the imbalance between high-definition graphical output available from modern computers and the narrow input channel of the mouse and keyboard. Gestural input is measurably more efficient at performing complex navigation, sorting and selection tasks. A full library of components providing UI building blocks makes it easy for application programmers to take advantage of gestural benefits.

  The g-speak input framework provides for mouse and keyboard use, too. Applications built to take advantage of gestural I/O also make use of legacy input devices when appropriate.

• Recombinant Networking
  Structured coordination and data interchange

  SOE applications process large data sets and support multi-person work-flows. The g-speak networking framework provides a collection of core library components that allow applications to scale transparently and dynamically across clusters of machines.

  This transparent scalability offers three major benefits: effective use of cpu power in a LAN environment; built-in support for applications that enable collaborative work across the network; and the ability to add functionality to applications at run-time by adding new code, new machines, new screens and new people to a work context.

  The recombinant networking framework also provides a set of tools for integrating legacy applications into a g-speak environment. Existing code bases automatically benefit from network transparency and limited gestural input. A low-overhead legacy extension architecture makes it possible to build support for full gestural I/O and spatial semantics with very little new code.

• Real-world Pixels
  Spatial semantics at the platform level

  Every graphical and input object in a g-speak environment has real-world spatial identity and position. Anything on-screen can be manipulated directly. For a g-speak user, "pointing" is literal.

  The g-speak implementation of spatial semantics provides application programmers with a single, ready-made solution to the interlocking problems of supporting multiple screens and multiple users. It also makes control of real-world objects (vehicles, robotic devices) trivial and allows tangible interfaces and customized physical tools to be used for input.

  The g-speak platform is display agnostic. Wall-sized projection screens co-exist with desktop monitors, table-top screens and hand-held devices. Every display can be used simultaneously and data moves selectively to the displays that are most appropriate. Three-dimensional displays can be used, too, without modification to application code.

Next-generation Computing

The g-speak platform is in use today at Fortune 50 companies, government agencies and universities. Application areas include:

• 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

Oblong delivers room-sized and single-user g-speak environments as turnkey products.

A software development kit that runs on both Linux and Mac OS X is available. Applications are source-compatible across both operating systems and can run on ordinary desktop and laptop computers in addition to gesturally-equipped g-speak machines and clusters.

Oblong also works closely with partners to develop and deliver applications and integrated solutions.

If you are interested in g-speak products, applications or partnerships, please contact us.