next generation PC

or rather: personal assistant.

the next generation device (mobile, providing you with network connection and many assistant functions) will consist of three main components (like today): a display, a central complex and an interaction (input) peripheral.

The display will be integrated in your glasses (sunglasses) as semitransparent foils, one for each eye to achieve full 3D experience. Semitransparency allows for usability during other activities like walking, driving or traveling.

the central complex contains the main electronics plus the battery and a charger that can make use of several forms of energy: friction, kinetic, solar and the like.

the interaction (input) peripheral maps the movement of your hands (like the Kinect) to various functions. you can tap keys on a virtual reality keyboard, pull handles, turn knobs to interact with the application. The handles, knobs, panels are projected on your tiny glasses-display and you see these virtual devices in front of you in 3D virtual reality overlayed the real environment around you, and have the feeling as if you could touch a floating keyboard or a floating lever. This allows for every application to have its own preferred control, since the peripheral itself is purely virtual and can be mapped to various natural human movements. (A painting brogram can use an airbrush or a pencil, a game can use a hammer, a saw, a sword or a pin, each with its different special gestures.)

(At a technical level it is beneficial if the coordinate system of your interaction peripheral originates from your display glasses, so turning your head relative to your hands repositions the perspective)

Now we are in 2011.
Technologies like Kinect, 3D displays and miniaturization together have great promises that a device similar to the above will emerge in the near future.

A final thought: the freedom to reconfigure interaction peripherals can help people with disabilities to use applications. e.g. where the system defines levers or handles as original control, you can redefine it to accept pedal controls or feet gestures. This is due to having no physically wired peripherals different than your own body, and you can progam several types of mappings to control your applications.