Gosh, I always wanted one of these true surface desk-tops computing interfaces, since the day I saw the movie Tron back in 1982. While the desk-top surface user interface at Tron wasn't touch-screen (that I can remember) or as advanced as the
Microsoft Surface,
I always liked this type of human-computer interaction, where the workplace, the desk-top itself “is” the computer…
The surface computer (interface) extends perfectly into the “digital home”, which combined with the entertainment center, and the handheld, and connectivity between them (for example using IMS), adds a new level of interactivity and distributed computing at home,
that goes beyond pure human interaction, but also is about interaction with other devices…
The multi-touch interactions are pretty awesome, and reminds me of (are related to?) Jeff Han's Multi-Touch Interaction Research, now spun as Perceptive Pixel.
From the Microsoft Surface press page:
Surface computing has four key attributes:
- Direct interaction. Users can actually grab digital information with their hands and interact with content by touch and gesture, without the use of a mouse or keyboard.
- Multi-touch contact. Surface computing recognizes many points of contact simultaneously, not just from one finger, as with a typical touch screen, but up to dozens and dozens of items at once.
- Multi-user experience. The horizontal form factor makes it easy for several people to gather around surface computers together, providing a collaborative, face-to-face computing experience.
- Object recognition. Users can place physical objects on the surface to trigger different types of digital responses, including the transfer of digital content.
Love the concept; at the right time, I'll buy one for the house…
ceo