After landing deals with IBM Corp., NASA and other large organizations, Oblong Industries Inc. is tweaking its futuristic collaboration system for companies with more modest needs.

The startup today introduced a new iteration of the platform called Mezzanine Teamwork that is geared toward small conference rooms and so-called huddle spaces equipped for viewing media. To address the space limitations, the system comes in a dual-screen configuration that is described as easier to set up than the standard version of Mezzanine. At the same time, Oblong claims that the system comes with all the key features that won over current clients.

The platform employs a combination of sensors and a gesture recognition technology called g-speak to let workers easily interact with complex digital content. A manager looking to explain a project to colleagues, for instance, could pull up the blueprints using an air gesture and then zoom on the first focus point of their presentation as part of the same motion. Mezzanine also provides the ability to move content between screens as well as a variety of other conveniences designed to take the hassle out of the process.

The user experience is inspired by a scene in the science fiction film “Minority Report” that shows Tom Cruise’s character interacting with a set of wall-mounted displays to explore a room virtually. Oblong Chief Executive John Underkoffler served as the science adviser to the production.

The launch of Mezzanine Teamwork comes amid a boom in so-called smart whiteboards that may not provide the same futuristic feature set as Oblong, but could still lure firms away with their relative affordability. Cisco Systems Inc. recently launched a system called the Spark Board with a starting price of $4,990, while Google Inc. debuted a competing display not long thereafter that costs about the same. Oblong’s new offering may help even the playing field in the low end of the market while enabling it to support large companies that wish to support conference room of varying sizes.

Photo: Oblong