Week 6: Clear as Microsoft Touch

I am a little bit of a gadget guy by nature but something truly remarkable caught my eye while I was watching the lectures for this week and I had to do some more reasearch because it was almost to cool to believe. There was a video demonstration of the Microsoft Surface that should interaction between not just one computer user, but 2 or 3 users and the everyday phones, cameras and objects that we have become acustom to. Obviously I went directly to the source itself and found more interesting video demonstrations and even an explanation as to how it works. This is the site that Microsoft is providing:

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/Pages/Product/WhatIs.aspx

I was unable to immbed any of the videos they were showing but sniped this little explanation as to how the crazy thing works.

"Microsoft Surface uses cameras and image recognition in the infrared spectrum to recognize different types of objects such as fingers, tagged items and shapes. This input is then processed by the computer and the resulting interaction is displayed using rear projection. The user can manipulate content and interact with the computer using natural touch and hand gestures, instead of a typical mouse and keyboard."

Off to trusty YouTube and you can see for yourself why this is exciting.



According to Technologizer.com this unique table computer was first announced in 2007 by Microsoft but as you can imagine there are some price restraints on the market. Currently they will set you back about $10,000 but there is some chatter that a more consumer friendly version will be on the market for $5000-$10,000 depending on size and capability. This is still quite outside my price range but I can see where it will be affordable later. Until then I will just have to find one of the places that own and use them listed in the same article by Technologizer.com.

http://technologizer.com/2009/05/22/after-two-years-microsofts-surface-tabletop-computer-hasnt-revolutionized-anything-yet/

I suppose if I wanted to stop blogging like a rookie and step up to the big boys I could just empty my savings and place an order. I imagine however that the first search I did when I got it running would be for divorce attornys!