Sony’s latest odd contraption is a projector with an interactive display — the Xperia Touch has been shown and demonstrated at previous trade shows, but the company is finally bringing it to market. And we finally have pricing and availability for the device.
The Xperia Touch looks like a large, external hard drive, but it’s essentially a device projecting an Android tablet interface onto a wall. The resolution it projects only goes up to 720p, but it ranges in size from 23 inches to 80 inches. Sony has announced that the Touch will be available for pre-order starting on June 16, and will be sold for $1,700, which sounds like a lot, but isn’t all that unexpected for a new, cutting-edge device like this.
To project it at 23 inches, the Touch needs to sit close to a wall — that’s when the magic happens. An infrared sensor detects movement across the projected screen, allowing the Touch to detect touch actions on the wall. This allows you to control the projected Android user interface with just your fingers, similar to using a mounted tablet except without a physical display
