HP Invent Logo
An HP Invent logo is pictured in front of Hewlett-Packard international offices in Meyrin near Geneva August 4, 2009. Reuters/Denis Balibouse

The new desktop computer went on sale online last Wednesday priced at US $1899. Breaking from the usual desktops, this latest from HP sports a futuristic personal computer.

HP's PC business is dwindling and barely making half of its revenue. The company hopes that the re-imagined look of the new personal computer will help boost its falling sales. Apparently, HP is not the only one suffering on sales. Several companies try to revive the market that came up with ultra thin laptops and other updates.

Sprout is Windows powered and can operate using a sensor-laden mat on the desktop appearing like a gigantic mousepad. HP assumes that users prefer touch controls at desk level rather than doing it onscreen. The biggest difference of the Sprout to your old PC is the display-mounted 3D scanner and projector that copies digital image of an object when placed on the mat. It also shows the scanned image on the desktop, which allows user to edit by simple touch, The Age reports.

In a product demo, HP executives demonstrated how various items from pens, figurines, to pictures can be scanned, tacked onto existing images or videos, edited then emailed or shared through social media.

The Sprout is a touchscreen Windows 8.1 all-in-one PC running on a fourth generation Intel Core i7 processor. But the biggest difference is the downward-facing 3D scanner above the monitor. The Sprout is equipped with Optical Character Recognition which allows objects to be scanned directly to apps like Microsoft Powerpoint or Word, Digital Trends reports.

According to Erik Monsef, HP head for the Sprout project, the initial production will be done in stride. They will increase production once demand goes up. Their aim is to lure developers for a new Sprout marketplace or apps store for specifically designed software that can take advantage of 3D capabilities.

Sprout comes with Dreamworks Animation apps, Skype and Evernote to name a few.

Monsef said that their aim is to excite consumers with the big change. The company hopes that Sprout will encourage developers to devise new ways to make use of the new technology. He also admitted that Sprout's launch just marked half of the work.

HP also revealed that it will begin to share the 3D printing technology that they are working on for years. The company boasts that this technology can print ten times faster yet cheaper compared to other products. The 3D printing technology will be partnered with chosen manufacturing and technology companies. They target 2016 to launch this innovation which they dubbed as "multi-jet fusion".

Project Chief Ramon Pastor said that they have been working hard for years with 10 year old patents. He claimed that they didn't want to introduce a product that isn't breakthrough.