After five years of keeping the project shrouded in secrecy, Microsoft today revealed its plans for Microsoft Surface, the first product in a category the company calls “surface computing.”
The technology, formerly code-named Milan, lets Microsoft turn a seemingly ordinary surface, such as a tabletop or a wall, into a computer. Introduced today at the D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, California, Microsoft Surface is a “multi-touch” tabletop computer that interacts with users through touch on multiple points on the screen.
The concept is simple: Users interact with the computer completely by touch, on a surface other than a standard screen. “It will feel like Minority Report,” promises Pete Thompson, general manager of Microsoft’s surface computing group. “Very futuristic–but it will be here this year.” “We see it as the first of its kind in a new category of computing device. It’s very approachable for users; the learning curve should be very instinctual,” says Thompson.
Future Touch
“I think our approach of starting first in commercial space will allow consumers to change how they shop and how they’re entertained,” says Microsoft’s Bolger. “It will help them understand how surface will change their lives. Over time, we’ll go beyond the leisure and entertainment industries, and move into different environments, such as schools, businesses, homes.
“We’re balancing public perception of what’s the future and what’s now. Interacting with the wall is here today.”
Source: PCworld
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