Small screens is a compromise you will have to make with smartphones in the foreseeable time – and even if you are able to use an external screen in some applications, you are likely to lose some key features such as touch on a secondary display. However, a recent patent filing by Microsoft gives some idea how these limitations could be overcome.

Entitled “3D Interaction for Mobile Device” the May 2010 filing describes a projector capability for mobile devices, including mobile phones, which would enable “natural interaction experiences, such as interaction with real 3D objects and display of 3D images.”

The mobile phone is used to project an image to an external screen and provide it with touch capability via infrared cameras that enable interaction “a virtual 3D model of a real 3D object”. According to the patent the creation of a 3D object would take place via analysis of raster lines to detect and simulate the 3D shape of an object in real time. For example, a possible application of the idea would be “a map of the location of a building, and additionally display internal structure of the building as the user moves a retro-reflector card above the projected image.”

This would be a fantastic idea if it was holographic, but we are not quite there yet. This invention still requires a “flat surface” as a projection area. However, it seems that the path is already laid out. Projectors in cell phones could be the next major step in mobile devices evolution.

SOURCE via USPTO