The Wizard Behind CNN's Magic Wall

Ever heard of Perceptive Pixel?

This unassuming company operating on the 16th floor of a building somewhere in downtown Manhattan is actually the creator of one of the coolest tech devices today – the “Multi-Touch Collaboration Wall.” It's more popularly known as CNN's “Magic Wall,” which John King used to give viewers a better idea of what was going on during the election primaries earlier this year (Fig. 01). With a few pokes, strokes, and waves of his hands, John could zoom into any U.S. State and show exactly why John Edwards was about to come in third.

Fig. 01

Jeff Han is the 32-year old founder and chief scientist of Perspective Pixel, and came up with the idea of the Multi-Touch Collaboration Wall. He says that it was a serendipitous, non-technological moment when he came up with the great idea – he was drinking a glass of water and noticed how the light played with his fingertips. That “aha!” moment ultimately led to the John King's latest technological sidekick.

CNN first heard of the Multi-Touch Collaboration Wall when David Bohrman, CNN's chief political coverage producer, was walking through the aisles of a Texas trade show, looking for some government and military-intelligence contractors. The demonstration on The Wall stopped him in his tracks – and he realized soon after what a terrific aid it would be for the Situation Room.

CNN isn't the only proud entity owning a Multi-Touch Collaboration Wall – while Perceptive Pixel won't give any names, they admit that a lot of large businesses, military agencies, and other TV networks have bought a unit. Each unit, without the fancy software that CNN needs, costs around US$100,000.

The best part about the Multi-Touch Collaboration Wall is that the way CNN is using it in The Situation Room is only scratching the surface. Now I can't help but wonder what Apple will do after this, since The Wall does look like a big iPhone sometimes.

Barack Obama was just projected as the next U.S. President just a short while ago, but if you were watching CNN's coverage from 8 a.m. Hong Kong Standard Time like I was, you were probably blown away by the other nifty bits of technology that the anchors used in the Situation Room. Not least of these was the ultra-cool “hologram” feature, where Wolf Blitzer (Fig. 02) and Anderson Cooper talked to other anchors and guests beamed in from other parts of the country.

Fig. 02

The technology is here, and it's just about every bit as exciting as seeing the first African-American President walk into the White House.

Note: This will be the last time I refer to President-elect Barack Obama as an "African-American President". He is the change all of us brought about. He is a leader for all o us. So I think enough with the race/ethnicity politics already.