Surface The Boat!

Surface The Boat!

Have you seen Microsoft Surface (http://www.surface.com)?  It’s really cool, but probably not for the reasons you might think.ADHERER

The basis of Microsoft’s new Surface technology seems to be multitouch.  But that’s nothing new.  Not at all.  Heck, the Apple iPhone is supposed to have multitouch and that’s due out any day now.  As well, some other peeps (http://cs.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirtouch/) have been working on this technology for some time too.

So what is it?

Well, Microsoft, in a bold move outside of their usual realm (this is hardware and Microsoft is a software company), has seemingly developed a table-top interactive display.  There’s nothing really new here… touch screen, projected from behind, yadda yadda.  The “multi” in multitouch means that instead of the computer registering one single point of contact (such as a mouse click), it registers more than one.  In the demos, I’ve seen as many as 8-10 different points being tracked simultaneously.

This allows for a somewhat natural interaction with items on the screen/desktop (and desktop here takes on a very literal meaning).  For instance, you can move pictures around by dragging them with a single finger, just like it were an actual photo lying on the table.  But if you want to rotate the picture or zoom into it, you can use two fingers at the same time and just drag the corners of the photo where you want then.  Separate your fingers and the picture gets larger.  Bring them closer together and… well, you get the gist.

But that’s not the coolest part of Surface.  The interactivity system (IS?) also recognizes objects placed on the desktop.  For instance, place a digital camera on the table and the pictures stored on it seem to spill out onto the desktop to be manipulated.  As well, one of the demo videos showed two people both placing their Zunes on the table and then dragging songs to and from each of them.  Very slick!

Ostensibly, the recognition has to do with something that’s in the object itself.  For instance, Zunes have built-in wi-fi, so that’s probably how the interaction is happening.  There was also a demonstration where a virtual check arrove at a restaurant table and multiple parties placed their credit cards on the table.  Then they were able to drag the individual items in the check to their respective credit cards to split up the bill.  Very cool.  I assume these are “smart” cards, which allows Surface to determine the account number, etc.

But there was another demo of a drink being placed on the table and then Surface played funny games, like placing a ring around the base of the glass with words like “getting thirsty?” and little bubbles coming out that the people were able to pop or push around.  Very cool.  But I am dubious.  At tens of thousands of dollars for each Surface table top, and with glasses that probably have some sort of chip or tag embedded in them so that they can be identified, how much would that bar have to charge for a drink?  “Scotch and water?  That will be $9,000, sir.  Just place your watch, your left arm, and your first-born child on the Surface so that we can take them in payment.”  Perhaps Surface will automatically connect to a lending entity: “Congratulations, sir or madam, your application for a loan for your Bud Light has been approved.  Don’t drink it all in one place.  Drink responsibly and have a nice day.”

In any case, I really like the idea that items can be interacted with in such a manner.  That, to me, is far cooler than the touch screen or the coffee table-type interface.  Heck, I wouldn’t mind just having a pad that could sit next to my mousepad that I can just place my camera, phone, iPod, or Archos on that would place an icon on my desktop that I could then interact with the same as in the Surface demos.  That would be worth its weight in gold… no more cables!  That’s a future I can be happy about.

What do you think about this new technology?  Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.

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