COMMUNICATIONS-ENABLED DISPLAY CONSOLE

1 . A communications-enabled, interactive display console, comprising:

a substrate having a viewing surface and a hidden surface opposite the viewing surface, and including a touch-sensitive display zone and a border zone bordering the touch-sensitive display zone;

a transceiver module coupled to the hidden surface of the substrate in the border zone, and configured to wirelessly send and receive data; and

a hardware interface operatively coupled to the transceiver module, and configured to register a user input from, and to provide an image to, the touch-sensitive display zone.

2 . The interactive display console of claim 1 , further comprising a projector operatively coupled to the hardware interface and configured to project the image onto the hidden surface of substrate and through the touch-sensitive display zone.

3 . The interactive display console of claim 1 , wherein the substrate further includes an optically diffusing layer at or adjacent the viewing surface and configured to conceal the transceiver module.

4 . The interactive display console of claim 1 , wherein some or all of the hardware interface is enclosed in an electromagnetic-radiation attenuating shield, and the transceiver module is located outside of the shield.

5 . The interactive display console of claim 4 , wherein the transceiver module sends and receives data over a wavelength band, and the shield is separated from the transceiver module by more than a median wavelength in the wavelength band.

6 . The interactive display console of claim 1 further configured for solderless replacement of the transceiver module.

7 . The interactive display console of claim 1 , wherein the substrate includes a transparent, substantially transparent, or translucent polymer material.

8 . The interactive display console of claim 1 , further configured to permit a wireless communication to or from a user device placed on the viewing surface and in the display zone.

9 . A communications-enabled display console, comprising:

a substrate having a viewing surface and a hidden surface opposite the viewing surface, and including a display zone and a border zone bordering the display zone, the hidden surface defining, in the border zone, a pocket;

a transceiver module mounted in the pocket and configured to wirelessly send and receive data; and

a hardware interface operatively coupled to the transceiver module, and configured to provide an image to the display zone.

10 . The display console of claim 9 , further comprising a bracket configured to retain the transceiver module within the pocket.

11 . The display console of claim 10 , wherein the bracket is a snap bracket formed from a resilient material.

12 . The display console of claim 9 , further comprising a cable configured to carry data between the transceiver module and the hardware interface.

13 . The display console of claim 12 , the hidden surface of the substrate further including a groove configured to marshal the cable en route from the transceiver module to the hardware interface.

14 . The display console of claim 12 , wherein the cable carries carrier-wave demodulated data.

15 . The display console of claim 12 , wherein the cable is a universal serial bus cable.

16 . A communications-enabled, interactive display console, comprising:

a substrate having a viewing surface and a hidden surface opposite the viewing surface, and including a touch-sensitive display zone and a border zone bordering the touch-sensitive display zone;

first and second transceiver modules coupled to the hidden surface of the substrate in the border zone, located on different sides of the touch-sensitive display zone, and configured to wirelessly send and receive data; and

a hardware interface operatively coupled to the first and second transceiver modules, and configured to register a user input from, and to provide an image to, the touch-sensitive display zone.

17 . The interactive display console of claim 16 , wherein the first transceiver sends and receives data over a first wavelength band, and the second transceiver sends and receives data over a second wavelength band overlapping the first wavelength band.

18 . The interactive display console of claim 17 , wherein the first and second transceiver modules are separated by more than one wavelength in the first or second wavelength band.

19 . The interactive display console of claim 16 , wherein the first transceiver module is an IEEE 802.11x compliant module.

20 . The interactive display console of claim 16 , wherein the second transceiver module is an IEEE 802.15.1 compliant module.