Imagine reaching for a record or glancing at a map and seeing a display bloom from a small box, offering interactive guidance—and then vanishing moments later.
A new device, inspired by science fiction and designed by computer scientists at the University of Chicago, lets digital displays bloom from everyday objects and surfaces. The creators hope it’s a step towards creating touch interfaces only when they're needed, and helping technology fade seamlessly into daily life.
The device, named BloomBeacon, consists of a small box with a pair of arms atop it. One arm has LEDs that light up as a display, and the other arm is touch-sensitive; when the device whirs to life, the two arms spin and create an interactive screen where none previously existed. The arms are soft and can be touched while spinning.
The breakthrough comes from UChicago graduate student Willa Yang, supervised by Asst. Prof. Ken Nakagaki in the AxLab—a group known for blending technology seamlessly into everyday life and designing technology that adapts to users, not the other way around.
“Screens are a powerful medium for displaying digital information and supporting interaction, but we either need to carry them, as with phones and tablets, or dedicate space for them in the environment, which creates visual clutter and limits where interaction can happen,” Yang explained. “BloomBeacon blooms into a larger surface only when needed. This keeps our environments responsive without permanent screens or clutter.”
In a world crowded with digital screens, the scientists said they hope this flexible approach could reshape how we access information in homes, workplaces, and public spaces.
Blooming on demand
Inspired by flexible interfaces in science fiction, Yang and Nakagaki asked: what if screens could appear only when needed?
BloomBeacon delivers on this concept, blooming from a slim line atop a small device into a touch-responsive display.
In schools, libraries, and design offices, the scientists imagine BloomBeacon could turn materials like paper maps into dynamic surfaces, offering overlays such as weather or heat maps when context demands. It could also augment a speaker with album art and touch controls, or provide safety alerts at the edge of a shelf; the group demonstrated a use in which BloomBeacon detects when someone reaches for a bottle of chemicals without using safety gloves and displays an alert.
“This can allow everyday environments to become interactive without being permanently filled with screens,” Yang said. “The concept broadens the possibility of where interactive content can be placed and tangibly interacted with.”
‘People should be able to shape their environments’
As technology evolves, the group envisions that faster sensors and smarter algorithms could allow even more dynamic forms. Yang sees future versions collapsing a display down to a dot, ready to bloom when context demands.
“People should be able to shape their environments instead of adapting themselves to fixed technologies,” Yang said.
“When designing interactive devices, the part that excites me most is not only what a device itself can do, but how it should exist in our space, and how to make it effortless for people to deploy. Through that lens, even traditional devices can be reimagined. I hope to design devices that empower people to make their environments work for them on their own terms.”
—Adapted from an article first published by the Department of Computer Science.
