More Artful Displays

The NY Times reports on Roku, another company providing digital artwork intended for large plasma displays. Roku sells a device, HD1000 (US$300), that can collect digital images from a memory card or your home network (through what is described as a tedious connection process). Roku also sells collections of artwork (e.g., nature, space, classic works) on memory cards called Roku Art Packs for US$40 to US$70. “The HD1000 can detect when there’s no signal or a motionless image on the screen – when you’ve paused a DVD, for example. It can automatically begin a slide show or aquarium loop after a specified period of time, making it the world’s most expensive screen saver.” One can imagine extending this capability via a wireless link that allows visiting friends to commandeer the TV when the DVD is paused to show some of their latest photos from their cameraphones.