At the CHI 2011 conference, Microsoft Research demonstrated a new tablet that can work well in conjunction with multiple tablets. Acting like a multi display set up, users can drag content from one screen onto another, and even use both screens to browse the same book simultaneously. In this case, a text book that shows up as two pages at once, one on each tablet.
The idea is to have these sorts of tablets replacing books and text books in the future – with low-power screens, stylus input, and multiple tablet interaction it makes sense. Everybody wants to replace books to stop having to cut trees down in the future, and going digital is the solution. While it seems like a great idea, it sure feels very unlikely that a single person will own multiple tablets, much less bring more than one to school every day. It just seems pretty impractical as opposed to a laptop that can easily multi-task by itself instead of having to rely on another tablet. What do you think? Watch the video demonstration after the break: