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Wraparound plasma screen is one good turn

Fujitsu converts what looks like your standard building column into an interactive billboard by wrapping it with a plasma display equipped with a motion-sensing camera.

Erica Ogg Former Staff writer, CNET News
Erica Ogg is a CNET News reporter who covers Apple, HP, Dell, and other PC makers, as well as the consumer electronics industry. She's also one of the hosts of CNET News' Daily Podcast. In her non-work life, she's a history geek, a loyal Dodgers fan, and a mac-and-cheese connoisseur.
Erica Ogg

CHIBA, Japan--It turns out digital signs don't have to be flat.

Here at Ceatec, Fujitsu turned what looked like your standard building column into an interactive display by wrapping it with a plasma display and a motion-sensing camera.

The display itself is 1 centimeter thick and is available in much larger sizes--see the 200-inch one that's been installed at Japan's Kansai Airport.

The display uses cameras to sense a person's location and movements in reaction to elements on the screen. The camera on one side displays the person's interactions on both sides of the column, making it appear see-through.

Below is a quick demo of how it works. Here the display is showing a simple demo that allows people to pop some on-screen bubbles, but you can see how ads in a subway or on the street could incorporate far more interaction with an audience passing by.