The next big change in technology could just be right around the corner. The applications of the touchscreen have yet to be explored but scientists are already looking at the next step in touchscreen technology: a device that could make any surface into an interactive touchscreen.

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Interaction Institute working with counterparts from Microsoft have devised a new technology called the OmniTouch that can project touchscreens to any surface in the world. The researchers had responded to a user's need for a bigger screen not hindered by the physical limitations of their smartphones or tablets. Out of this need came their invention, the OmniTouch which allows users to have touchscreens that are only limited by the size of the physical space they want to project the touchscreen onto.

"We wanted to capitalize on the tremendous surface area the real world provides," Microsoft Redmond researcher Hrvoje Benko said. "The surface area of one hand alone exceeds that of typical smartphones. Tables are an order of magnitude larger than a tablet computer. If we could appropriate these ad hoc surfaces in an on-demand way, we could deliver all of the benefits of mobility while expanding the user's interactive capability."

The OmniTouch utilizes a shoulder mounted pico projector and a sensor used in Microsoft's Xbox Kinect to monitor depth of field. The OmniTouch can then create a multitouch surface that anyone can interact with. Want to wow your friends with your Facebook profile, project it on the wall for anyone to see. If you're delivering a presentation you can now have a screen as large as the conference room to present your facts. Users can even use parts of their body to project the touchsreen on.

The OmniTouch is still in the development stage. The shoulder mounted projector is too bulky for general use and researchers are still working out kinks in touchscreen interaction such as teaching the system how to identify clicks without buttons or sensors. But in a few years consumers may have touchscreens as large as they want. Someday we may even see smartphones or tablets or a hybrid of the two without screens but only small processors, the screen itself will be the whole world around us.