SBIR-STTR Award

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project addresses the challenge of seamless interoperability among computer systems and user interface components such as displays and keyboards. Today these components are tightly coupled with the computer, which restricts the utility of both-especially in mobile computing systems, where users invariably have to choose between usable displays and reasonable portability. A familiar manifestation of the opportunity is the "conference display swap" problem. The over-all goal of the project is to develop and specify robust, efficient and secure interfaces that enable computers to dynamically discover, connect to and use displays over moderate-bandwidth network connections. The Phase I investigation will focus on efficient encoding techniques for an interoperable virtual display interface that can be run over existing wireless network technologies. The interface will make it possible for multiple computers to share a projection display serially via software. In the longer term, it frees mobile computing systems to evolve independently of display technology, and leads to a model in which user interface devices are considered public infrastructure. This research has commercial application in a number of industries where seamless display sharing is routinely required but is not yet supported, such as conference management, higher education, and medicine

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project addresses the challenge of seamless interoperability among computer systems and user interface components such as displays and keyboards. Such components today are tightly coupled with the computer, which restricts the utility of both especially in mobile systems, where users invariably have to choose between usable displays and reasonable portability. The system being separates I/O devices from computing devices enabling a different mode of use of computers where a user can carry around much smaller computing devices and use shared larger I/O devices as available.. The design and implementation of these enhancements will be guided by feedback from users of prototypes deployed in the field. In the long run, the widespread adoption of this approach has the potential to revolutionize the way humans interact with computers, by allowing computing devices to shrink out of sight, while freeing interfaces from the constraints of portability. The technology has immediate commercial applications in health care and mobile computing as well, these markets will be explored through future strategic partnerships.