So, BETT is done for another year and I have finished trawling through the mounds of information generated. The technologies which stood out for me were the 'surface computing' technologies, which ranged from Microsoft Surface to SMART's Smart Table. Also in evidence were other IR camera based interactve floor-projected displays which were fun but possibly with limited educational potential. I suspect that, given an appropriate price point, the much more grown-up Surface from Microsoft will make its headway in secondary education, whereas SMART's technology will be confined mainly to primary, although SMART suggested plans to move into the secondary market in the not-too-distant future. Certainly as a budget option, SMART's table would be attractive to schools wanting to go down this route.
I expect we will see an explosion of webcam-based interaction technologies emerge in the coming year with MS playing a large part, but also the open source community getting in on the action. One thing is for sure - multitouch is coming and its going to be BIG.
If you are interested in getting on board with Microsoft Surface in the UK, their main research partner here is RM, and they have a page dedicated to the subject. I've put my name down 'on the list'!
