Interphase has just announced Penveu — a handheld device capable of converting any flat surface into an interactive display. Set to debut at this week's DEMO 2012 event in Santa Clara, California, Penveu features a relatively simple design, consisting of just four buttons, a scroll bar, and toggle that allows users to alternate between mouse and pen modes. According to VentureBeat, Penveu combines Embedded Computer Vision with intertial sensors and sensor fusion technology to create interactive displays, and can operate at a distance of up to 40 feet from a given screen. It's also compatible with any platform, and won't require any software installments.

Interphase plans to sell the device for about 66 percent less than most interactive whiteboard displays available today, in the hopes of providing a simpler and more cost-effective alternative to educators and businessmen. Yoram Solomon, vice president and general manager of Penveu, says his teardrop-shaped invention could even inject new life into a market that, according to him, has been stagnant for far too long.

"We had no vested interest in the existing technology," Solomon said in a statement to VentureBeat, "but we had all the incentives in the world to bring new technology and disrupt this market with a much better product for a fraction of the cost of existing products in this market."