For those who have longed for a Microsoft Surface in your own home should forget it, and embrace a CRISTAL era of remote control.

CRISTAL, or Control of Remotely Interfaced Systems using Touch-based Actions in Living spaces, is a concept device that allows the user to control all the devices in their living room from one place. As you can see in the picture, the CRISTAL can connect with an overhead camera, giving you a bird’s eye view of your living room.

From there, the user just touches the image of the device to take control of it. For example, lights can be dimmed or brightened with a sliding gesture. Roomba vacuum cleaners can be controlled by simply drawing a path on the floor. See more of what it can do with this video after the jump.

What really makes it cool is that it gives the opportunity for a user to pick a movie from a digital storage space, and then drag it to the TV to watch. This also works with photos, and they can be dragged and dropped to digital picture frames.

The CRISTAL is intended to replace TV remote controls, but the designers say it will probably take five to ten years before this technology will be in the home of the typical consumer. And when I say typical, I mean rich, as it would probably cost ten to fifteen thousand dollars.

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