What will a digital workplace look like? It is well worth looking at a promotional video released by Corning Glass. We take glass for granted but wearing my ex-chemist hat I can tell you that the formulation and production technology of glass is very complex and the big glass manufacturers go to very considerable lengths to protect their know-how. Corning must have spent a fortune on this video but glass is going to play a very important role in the digital workplace and they want to be the manufacturer of choice.
One of the things to note is the way in which content and applications moves seamlessly between smart-phones, tablets, tables and walls. Not a pc or a conventional keyboard in sight! We need to be very careful not to see the mobile devices we currently use as the way things will be in even a couple of years’ time. It might all look rather like magic, but the glass technologies on display already exist. The glass manufacturers are now waiting for the IT industry to catch up with applications that will catch the imagination of users. My immediate concern is how users with disabilities will be able to use the technologies on show. I find using the virtual keyboard on my iPad quite a challenge, especially if I’m holding it as I type.
The ‘digital office’ section starts about 3 minutes in, but the entire video is only about 5 minutes in duration.
Martin White