Remember how cool it was in Minority Report when Tom Cruise’s character moved virtual interfaces around with his hands, before dashing off to kick some future-crime ass? Well with the introduction of Microsoft’s new Surface computer, that might not be so far fetched.
The device has no keyboard or mouse, but instead reacts to human touch and everyday objects.
Essentially a ‘digital table’, it uses ‘surface technology (thus the name) to enable users to ‘grab’ digital information – photos, websites, music files, work documents – with their hands, interacting with content by touch and gesture. However, what’s really nifty, is that it recognises multiple devices, objects and users simultaneously, just by placing them on the surface (well not the users, they can just touch it. Although…). So you can share your holiday snaps, phone contacts or the latest Steps album, with just a flick of the wrist – all while chatting over a cocktail.
Currently only available in the US, and being trialled extensively in Seattle, Microsoft claims that their new technology has ‘fundamentally altered how we interact with the digital world’. Quite a bold claim, but one the product appears to live up to.
The only catch is its size, which inspired a particularly amusing YouTube parody, but such concerns are really missing the point. Obviously, it is not exactly practical to carry a coffee table in your top pocket, but as the name suggests, the raison d’être of Surface is, well, surface. After all, how can you put your laptop, mobile phone, whiskey sour and mp3 player down and ‘physically’ move content between them on something that isn’t fairly big? The implications for large scale, commercial adoption of the technology, which in turn would be readily available to the public in the spaces they naturally interact in, are huge.
It’s not just listening to music, sharing photos and watching videos either. Surfaces in hotel lobbies let you browse and book rooms, while units in bars and restaurants enable you to order drinks, peruse the menu, and request a 12-ounce rib eye at the touch of a finger. It’s also pretty clever at showing you the local sights and planning any journey around town in an instant.
The concept of users going to a computer, rather than carrying it everywhere with them, harks back to the early days of computing, and could just represent a significant change in our behaviour and interaction with both our surroundings and technology.
Not bad going for a coffee table.
As you would expect, Surface has its own pretty snazzy site, featuring videos, more info and the development team’s blog. Check it out at www.microsoft.com/surface
Tom Hurrell is feeling the surface (but sadly it’s just a regular desk and people are staring).
