Lampix Is a Tabletop Augmented Reality Projection Device Built into a Lamp

How we interact with our computers is a massive component of computing in general. Keyboards and mice have been popular for so long because they’re efficient—you can do a lot with very little movement. Touchscreens work well because they let you directly touch what you’re working with it. But, they both still have drawbacks: keyboards and mice are bulky, and touchscreens require, well, a screen.

Lampix wants to introduce a new method: projection-based augmented reality interactions. The Lampix device itself resembles a lamp—and can function as one too. However, packed inside is a high-definition projector and a camera tracking system. This gives it the ability to project graphic elements onto your desktop, and then respond to how you interact with them.

It does that using a combination of computer vision, machine learning, and a blockchain system for recognizing unique objects. The hope is that developers and users will use the blockchain, called PIX, to catalog new objects that can then be recognized by Lampix devices everywhere. Additionally, developers can create apps for specific tasks. For example, an app could be created that projects new tweets around a token that has been placed on your desktop.

The team behind Lampix is really just selling the hardware along with an API that lets developers take advantage of it. Like a mouse or keyboard, the use cases are open-ended, and will depend on what people choose to do with it. If that’s something you want to get in on, you can get a Lampix on the Kickstarter page until April 15th. Orders are expected to ship in November.