My boss had some extra money left over after setting up our sister lab in Austin, TX. So he purchased a couple information displays to be placed at the watering holes. The displays would stream updates about what was happening in the labs and keep everyone informed.
The displays were really cheap and lack touch control. That's not a problem because Microsoft just released this awesome touchless controller called the Kinect. During the holiday break I slapped my Kinect onto the display and added the interactivity that I have come to expect.
The sleek black shell of the Kinect blends in nicely with our coffee table.
A little hacking and I gained control of the station and added my own display software
The upper left region of the display shows a live feed of the Kinect camera. The lower left region loops a video showing how to use the Kinect gesture controls. The large region on the right displays a powerpoint highlighting the strengths of the Display and Graphics Business Lab. Now anyone can change the slides by swiping theirs hands as though they were flipping pages in a book. Come to building 235 and check it out!
Here is the demonstration video that I play on the display.
Check out the University of South Carolina's Institute of Creative Technologies for more information on how to add the Kinect to your own projects.