At this week’s Professional Developers Conference, Microsoft is set to make a slew of announcements about its product lines, and hopefully show a glimpse of some exciting new ones. One of the first gems to surface is that the company is about to give a broad group of developers the ability to create applications for its Surface tabletop computer for the first time.
Everyone who attends the Surface session (scheduled on the first day) will apparently be able to get an exclusive email invitation for joining the Surface developer community website where the Surface SDK & Surface Simulator tool can be downloaded. → Read More
No, Microsoft is not getting into the car-wash business. But it is releasing “Touchless,” multitouch software from Microsoft Office Labs that uses a regular Web camera and everyday objects as input. You can think of this as a low-end version of its Touchwall technology, which uses more precise lasers to detect movement and objects. The software developer kit is available now under an open-source Microsoft Public License. The SDK only works on Windows (what did you expect?).
Like Microsoft Surface and Touchwall, the Touchless software makes it possible to create applications that turn hand gestures and physical objects into an input device like a mouse. Touchless detects both the size and location of “color markers” (which can be fingers, toys, pens, M&Ms) as they move through space. Microsoft engineer Mike Wasserman s Ian Sands and Chris Pratley have created four demos to showcase the technology: → Read More
Excellent. Microsoft will be doing the unveiling at the Professional Developer Conference at the end of the month, so it should get some good exposure. I got to watch a developer put together an app at Surface HQ a few months ago, and he convinced me that the library and SDK are such that fun and interesting apps can be made relatively easily, and taking advantage of the Surface’s unique interface is facilitated very well. Although it may be mighty difficult to get a test unit, it should be easy enough for developers to slap together a prototype. MS also mentions the hand-in-hand aspect of Surface and Windows 7, which is supposed to multitouch it up in a couple years here. Makes sense; I know a lot was learned about touch interface design (Windows and otherwise) from working on the Surface. → Read More
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/26610613#26610613 Remember that Election 08 iPhone app I wrote up a couple days ago? Looks like Microsoft Research has been thinking along the same lines and in honor of the voting season has unleashed some election-orientated applications for the Surface. And because of the “M” in “MSNBC,” they got a pretty extensive little segment, seen above, demonstrating some of the little widgets they’ve put together. As usual with Surface stuff, it’s pretty underwhelming to watch, but actually interacting with these things is always fun. I can only imagine the arguments people are going to have over these things in hotel lobbies across the nation. Me? I’m a Cascadian Separatist. → Read More
In the Home Appliances section of IFA 2008 in Berlin there are dozens of brands of coffee makers, most doling out freshly-brewed Joe to bleary-eyed conventioneers. Interestingly enough, some of the companies are using cool interactive displays, much like Microsoft Surface, in an effort to catch our attention. → Read More
MultiTouch, a company specializing in, you guessed it, multi-touch technology, today launched the world’s first modular multi-touch LCD screen, which will allow owners to create screen tables and walls to their desired size.
Dubbed The MultiTouch Cell, each LCD screen unit is available in both 32- and 46-inch sizes and offers Full HD capability. The Cells can be positioned in portrait or landscape modes and can be turned into huge multi-touch screens or a multi-touch coffee table for those who don’t need something so grandiose.
The MultiTouch Cell is the company’s response to Microsoft’s Touchwall, which we wrote about earlier this year. Touchwall uses three infrared lasers that scan a surface, and a camera, which feeds information back to Microsoft’s Plex software after something breaks through the laser line. In contrast, the MultiTouch Cell uses an LCD display and according to the company, bests current projector-based systems by improving durability — MultiTouch claims users will get 50,000 hours of use compared to 3,000 hours for projector-based offerings — as well as improved image resolution, contrast, and color quality. → Read More
What can you do with a Microsoft Surface touch-screen computing table, other than use it as an expensive interactive kiosk in AT&T wireless stores? Design shop VectorForm has a few ideas. It has been pumping out prototype Surface apps for the last five months, and now has a Surface blog to document it all. For pure tactile enjoyment, it’s hard to beat the Vector Drum Kit (see video above), which lets you bang away at the Surface using real drum sticks. Then there’s the SurfaceDJ, which lets you add or remove beats by placing small squares on a record-sized disc at the center of the table (see first video below). Plug that into your iPod, er, Zune, and you’ve got some pretty heavy artillery to pump out some tunes. Then, of course, you can always use the Surface for more pedestrian apps, such as PowerPoint or as a kiosk. The last video below shows the BMW Konfigurator, which Vectorform created for BMW as an alpha prototype. You set a small model of the BMW car you want to learn more about on top of the Surface. It then brings up an interactive brochure, and you can change the color by placing different colored tiles on the table. I’m not sure you really need a huge Surface table for this, but it would make for a good sales pitch—until those little cars and tiles get lost or stolen. Update: The BMW video has been pulled off of YouTube. Perhaps BMW didn’t like its plans being revealed. → Read More
Remember TouchWall, the experimental Microsoft touch interface operating system we wrote about in May (here’s me playing with it)? We’ve been trying to get Microsoft to send us a copy of the operating system so that we could build a touch interface computer the size of a wall, but they have yet to agree. Today they say the technology is still years off in terms of development. But the overall idea has inspired a new product which is being released today by Microsoft Office Labs – pptPlex. Despite the horrible product name, some people will find this very useful. it turns PowerPoint into a more dynamic presentation tool that breaks away from the slide mentality to allow the presenter to zoom in and out of areas. No more worrying about whether or not a bit of text will be large enough to read when projected on a wall. You can simply zoom in on it. A video overview is below: → Read More
Microsoft is rolling out the Surface into a bunch of Sheraton Hotel lobbies tomorrow. Unfortunately, it’s not the Surface Sphere, but from what I saw back in June, the flat one should be quite enough to keep people’s attention. It’s free to use and of course free to look, so stop by a lobby tomorrow on your lunch break and give the thing a touch. If you haven’t seen enough video of the thing yet, here’s some Microsoft marketing for you. Update: Click below to see if your city is included in the rollout. (it’s kinda limited) → Read More
http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1526070353 When I got to play around with the Surface back in June, I was excited about the possibilities of other shapes and applications, but Microsoft responded to questions on that front as they responded to almost every question: “There are many possibilities and we’re looking into things” or some analogue thereof. Well, they’re letting one shape out of the bag this week, the totally expected spheroid version of the Surface and our local journalists have dirtied it up with their little paws (and taken video). To be honest, it doesn’t appear that different from the flat surface, although the fundamental change from a limited shape to a continuous one is something I’m sure the designers are excited about. They take interface design very seriously and seemed very good at it as well, so maybe I’ll be as impressed by the sphere Surface as I was by the flat one — as soon as I get my hands on it. → Read More
Not content with a PC on every desktop, Microsoft wants to see every available surface become a computer screen. It has already developed a multi-touch Surface Computer (which is being used in AT&T stores), and turned that vertical in a multi-touch wall. Now, it’s latest project at Microsoft Research is a Sphere (see video above). A prototype of the spherical display is expected to be unveiled today. On of the features is the ability to “send to dark side.” When you place your hand on an image and press, it sends the image to the other side of the sphere, where a collaborator might be standing. The video also shows a globe mapped onto the sphere, some video playing in a crystal-ball effect, and Pong-like game. (Todd Bishop at the Seattle PI has more details). Now, if they could only put Google Earth on that thing. CrunchBase Information Microsoft Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
There were still a few surprises up Microsoft’s sleeve today at this little conference I’m at. They’re talking about the SDK, testing the surface with robotic arms, and they demoed some totally freaking awesome apps they’ve got running in launch or alpha state. Believe me, you do wish you were here. Lots more pictures inside. → Read More
I’m here at a Microsoft event where we’re getting into the nitty gritty details of Microsoft’s touch-screen table, Surface. If you want to see an earlier version in motion, check out Matt’s hands-on from CES where he makes a fool of himself. Meanwhile, we’ll be learning about what the thing is made up of, its parts and history (it used to be called “Playtable”), and what the plans are for the future. I got to play around with one for quite some time last night and I’m with Matt and the others in thinking this thing is really incredibly fun. Click on the link below for rest of the info and lots of pictures, and as more events occur I’ll keep you informed. → Read More
Microsoft Surface debuted at Harrah’s in Las Vegas yesterday. The tables come with several programs that make throwing your money away all the more enjoyable. One such program, called Mixologists, lets gamblers create their own drink, which then presumably sends the order out to the bar. There’s also one to watch YouTube videos (oh, great), and one that lets people chat and flirt and so on. Gambling brings people together. The casino rollout is one of the first commercial uses of Surface; AT&T rolled them out a few weeks ago in its stores. The $10,000 table is still a little while away from mass consumer adoption. Ask Santa for one in a few years. via Drudge Report → Read More
Microsoft seems to think the future of the computer doesn’t lie in traditional keyboards but in gesture-based controls, such as those used on the iPhone and its own Surface device. And the next version of Windows, for now just called Windows 7 or Vienna, will have much touchscreen and gesture support built in. While we’re still a few years away from all having Surfaces in our homes, Microsoft recently showed off a new, cheaper application of gesture control that could be integrated into monitors or laptops fairly easily. Is this what Microsoft wants to do? You bet. Microsoft knows that gesture-based input is hot, as iPhone’s popularity shows, and the surface and touch wall devices, when coupled with Windows 7, could change the way we use computers. If it works. → Read More
Michael is at the D6 conference in Carlsbad, California where Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates are set to take the stage this opening night and preview the user interface of Microsoft’s next operating system, known as Windows 7. It is expected to be released in 2010 and to replace Vista. During the keynote, Corporate VP Julie Larson-Green demoed new multi-touch functionality based on the same principles as Surface. Microsoft is working with OEMs to get the multi-touch feature on at least some new machines once Windows 7 is released in 18 months or so. See a demo below and more info here. For more coverage of Microsoft’s efforts in touch computing, see our recent coverage of TouchWall. http://images.video.msn.com/flash/soapbox1_1.swfVideo: Multi-Touch in Windows 7 → Read More
On Thursday May 22, Microsoft will open up its Silicon Valley office to a select crowd. The agenda – Rick Rashid (SVP Global Research) and Roy Levin (Director Silicon Valley Lab) will show twelve new research projects, focusing on search, graphics, security, privacy. No word if they’ll be showing off TouchWall, but it’s worth trying to get in just in case they do. The event is on May 22 at Microsoft’s Mountain View Campus (Building 1, 1065 La Avenida, Mountain View, CA 94043). Registration begins at noon, and the event goes from 1 – 4:30. To get in, add the Facebook application and also register on the main site here. Code “MSRMay” should work until they shut it down. CrunchBase Information Rick Rashid Roy Levin Microsoft Information provided by CrunchBase → Read More
