Courtesy of HP
When HP first introduced Sprout in October 2014, the world had never really seen anything quite like it.
Sprout allowed the barriers between the physical and digital worlds to be broken down by way of a fully-functional PC that included built-in cameras and projectors to enable 2D and 3D scanning and image manipulation—right from the desktop.
We even gave the concept a cool name—Immersive Computing.
Today, ahead of CES 2017, HP is continuing to deliver innovation and unveiling the next generation of Sprout Pro—a device with a new, ground-up redesign, higher resolution projection, more powerful processing, advanced 3D scanning and a precision Active Pen for drawing.
With the introduction of any new product category, there’s always a bit of a learning curve involved. Shortly after Sprout’s initial launch, users started to pick up on the concept and were enamored with Sprout’s potential and what sort of impact it might have on various marketplaces and industries. We paid attention to how Sprout was being implemented by our customers and have zeroed in on new vertical solutions, particularly within education, retail kiosks and manufacturing.
Early reviewers praised the platform for getting the world closer to enabling a “creator economy.” Some say it was a “3D modeling playground” and others chimed in by calling it a “chameleon.” By early 2016, following a couple of small updates to the product, our customers were starting to understand that Sprout was much more than just a PC and a scanner and the feedback came pouring in.
That leads us to our next-generation of Sprout and a number of updates to the product.
Second-gen advances
User feedback helped drive a new approach to the Sprout Pro G2’s Touch Mat, its software, 3D capture, and of course, its powerful computing specs.
Sprout Pro has a new sleek design with a 2.2mm-thick, 20-point capacitive Touch Mat display with a sharper, near-1080p projected resolution—which delivers three times more pixels than before—and we’ve modified it from a 4x3 to a 3x2 aspect ratio to allow more document scanning options. With HD resolution now on both screens, transitioning between them as you work has become even more seamless.
On the software side, we’ve made it easier to interact with Windows 10 Pro and developed streamlined software that gives easy access to Sprout’s key features, including faster 2D scanning and, for the first time, high-precision 3D scanning. Users can simply hold and rotate a physical object beneath the camera for a much more intuitive experience. We’ve also added more powerful graphics capabilities to drive visualization apps for interactive 3D, making creations come to life.