Microsoft has released video of a computer interface with holograms. That’s right, Star Trek comes to life as developers play in (almost) real-time with 3D objects that aren’t really there.

The set up does have some more unusual components like a beam splitter (half silvered mirror), but it’s major hardware can be bought at Amazon: a Web cam and a Kinect for Xbox 360.

Yes, this first generation device is large and awkward, and playing with holographic blocks would probably get old quickly. But if this technology continues to advance, this could mark the beginning of an entirely new way for people to interact with their computers.

Many have noted that the driving force behind technology now is not so much making a superior product, but making a platform that everyone can customize, program, and adapt to their own needs and experiences. Customizing the physical (or virtual) dimensions of a device itself could then be the next great frontier in technological innovation.

And as one YouTube commenter put it, “We’ve broken the speed of light*, we’ve made holographic desks, we have supercomputers in the palms of our hands.…We are now in the 60′s version of 2300…in 2011. Damn.…”

What do you think? Is HoloDesk a glimpse of the future, or just a distraction before the real Next Big Thing?

*[Writer's note: We probably didn't really break the speed of light, but it's pretty sweet that it was close enough to even consider.]

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