AirBar, the gadget which gives your computer a touchscreen display

Swedish touch: Airbar, a swedish product, gives you touch functionality, enabling you to move a window, enlarge a photo, click on a link and even draw with a finger, stylus or brush.

Rather than abandoning your old laptop in a drawer when you get yourself a new hybrid computer, why not try a new gadget that will give your screen touch functionality?

That's precisely what's being offered by the Swedish company Neonode with its new AirBar device.

Once it's connected to your computer's USB port then attached by magnet to the bottom of the screen, the AirBar projects an invisible light field.

Your screen then has touch functionality, enabling you to move a window, enlarge a photo, click on a link and even draw with a finger, stylus or brush. AirBar does not distinguish between a finger, glove, or pencil – it works whatever material enters into contact with its light field.

You don't have to install any software. All you have to do is connect it to a USB port and attach it to the bottom of the screen for it to work.

The manufacturer says that this technology works with Windows (most of the world's computers) and the Chrome OS (installed on Chromebooks) and will soon have Mac OS compatibility. On the AirBar website you can preorder a first version which works with 15.6in screen computers, priced at US$49 (RM210). It is expected to become available in 2016.

The AirBar will be demonstrated at CES 2016 in Las Vegas, which opens its doors on Jan 6.

The AirBar official website is air.bar. You can watch the AirBar demonstration video. — AFP Relaxnews