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A touch screen table would solve that problem. In a perfect world we would have desks whose entire surface is a multi-touch screen, not as a replacement but additionally to "regular" monitors to allow exactly these kinds of interfaces.

Not really--you'd still be using large-arm motions on a large surface, holding up your arms so you wouldn't generate false touches. Even palm detection won't help, as you'd still need the large-scope motions to tie things together.

The "false touch" problem is solvable:

"Swept Frequency Capacitive Sensing" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4tYpXVTjxA

Basically the idea is to make devices aware of the physical context of user interactions.

A possible solution: You need additional tablets. There are swipe gestures to transfer parts to your tablet for further interaction. When you are ready, you swipe the result back on the table/large monitor to compose the end result.

In my experience (multiple hours of touch screen use per day, sometimes >40hrs/week for weeks on end), "gorilla arm" is a total myth. Yes, if you switched to a touch screen without changing any other aspect of your workspace you might have issues with the screen being too far away or too high, but that would just be silly.

Leap motion