Microsoft’s Surface
Well, in all the hubbub over the Foleo, I didn’t say anything about Microsoft’s Surface - their multitouch tabletop computer. Although, tabletop is misleading in that they eventually will be thin enough to mount on walls or put pretty much anywhere. I don’t have much to add to the discussion - if you want to see what the interwebs thinks, check out Scott’s excellent roundup.
What I want to be excited about, however, is that Surface seems to be an extension of this technology I blogged about a bit ago. It isn’t actually a touch screen, it’s cameras that can figure out what you’re doing. This is much more exciting than touch screens because theoretically this can be extended to untether you from the screen. That is, my problem with touch screens is that you have to be right in front of the screen which doesn’t work for some applications where you’d like to be sitting and not with your face right up to the screen for hours on end. If they’ve got cameras that can see how your hands are moving, they could use that to view your hands away from the screen - obviously the interaction would be different than with your hands right up to it, but with the detail that they apparently can grab, they’ll be able to come up with some other cool interface - maybe even 3d. My desire for that scene in Johnny Mnemonic (wait 30 seconds…) to come true approaches and you won’t even have to wear the gloves, although you can if you want…
Microsoft may just be waking up. First xbox live, then silverlight, now this. They’re baby steps, for sure, but you have to (re-)start somewhere.
