Innovator: Bruce Thomas's Projection Technology

When it comes to projection technology, computer scientists have let us down. You can give a PowerPoint slide deck some added pizazz by flinging it up on a wall. Or you can wow friends with a tricked-out home theater system and display on the ceiling. But where is the technology that can shoot holograms out of R2-D2's head?

It may just be in Bruce Thomas's projector-filled office at the University of South Australia in Adelaide. Thomas runs the Wearable Computer Lab and has been working with researchers at Intel (INTC) to create projection technology. They've developed a system that can project images onto objects instead of screens or walls. Armed with Thomas's software, projectors bend text, images, and videos around the contours of an object. A slogan can wrap around a Coke (KO) bottle; fins and designs can be projected onto a car in a showroom.