Overview

Microsoft Surface is a commercial surface computing platform from Microsoft that enables people to use and touch real world objects to share digital content at the same time. The Surface platform consists of software and hardware products that combine vision based multitouch PC hardware, 360-degree multiuser application design, and Windows software to create a natural user interface (NUI). The first Surface product, Microsoft Surface 1.0, is a 30 in (76 cm) 4:3 rear projection display (1024x768), with integrated PC, and five near-infrared (IR) cameras that can see fingers and objects placed on the display. The display is placed in a horizontal orientation, giving it a table-like appearance. The product and its applications are designed so that several people can approach the display from all sides to simultaneously share and interact with digital content. The cameras vision capabilities enable the product to see a near-IR image of whats placed on the screen; captured at approximately 60 times per second. The Surface platform processing identifies three types of objects touching the screen: fingers, tags, and blobs. Raw vision data is also available and can be used in applications. The device is optimized to recognize 52 simultaneous multitouch points of contact. Microsoft Corporation produces the hardware and software for the Microsoft Surface 1.0 product. Sales of Microsoft Surface 1.0 were discontinued in 2011 in anticipation of the release of the Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface and the Microsoft Surface 2.0 software platform. The current Surface product, the Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface, is a 40 in (102 cm) 16:9 LED backlit LCD display (1920x1080), with integrated PC, and PixelSense technology; which replaces the cameras in the previous product. PixelSense technology enables Samsung and Microsoft to reduce the thickness of the product from 22 in (56 cm) to 4 in (10 cm). The size reduction enables the product to be placed horizontally, and adds the capability to be mounted vertically while retaining the ability to recognize fingers, tags, blobs and utilize raw vision data. Samsung produces the hardware and Microsoft produces the software platform for the SUR40. Surface is designed primarily for use by commercial customers to use in public settings. People interact with the product using direct touch interactions and by placing objects on the screen. Objects of a specific size and shape, or with tag patterns, can be uniquely identified to initiate a preprogrammed response by the computer. The device does not require the use of a traditional PC mouse or keyboard, and generally does not require training or foreknowledge to operate. Additionally, the system is designed to interact with several people at the same time so that content can be shared without the limitations of a single-user device. These combined characteristics place the Microsoft Surface platform in the category of so-called natural user interface (NUI), the apparent successor to the graphical user interface (GUI) systems popularized in the 1980s and 1990s. Microsoft states that sales of Surface are targeted toward the following industry verticals: retail, media and entertainment, healthcare, financial services, education, and government. Surface is available for sale in 23 countries including: United States, Canada, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Netherlands, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates (UAE), United Kingdom (UK), Australia, Korea, India, Singapore, Hong Kong. Samsung is expected to expand in to additional markets in 2012; but, no official announcements have been made.

History

Demonstration using Microsoft Surface (View in high quality) The product idea for Surface was initially conceptualized in 2001 by Steven Bathiche of Microsoft Hardware and Andy Wilson of Microsoft Research.[4] In October 2001, DJ Kurlander, Michael Kim, Joel Dehlin, Bathiche and Wilson formed a virtual team to bring the idea to the next stage of development. In 2003, the team presented the idea to the Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, in a group review. Later, the virtual team was expanded and a prototype nicknamed T1 was produced within a month. The prototype was based on an IKEA table with a hole cut in the top and a sheet of architect vellum used as a diffuser. The team also developed some applications, including pinball, a photo browser and a video puzzle. Over the next year, Microsoft built more than 85 early prototypes for Surface. The final hardware design was completed in 2005. A similar concept was used in the 2002 science fiction movie Minority Report. As noted in the DVD commentary, the director Steven Spielberg stated the concept of the device came from consultation with Microsoft during the making of the movie. One of the film's technology consultant's associates from MIT later joined Microsoft to work on the Surface project.[5] Surface was unveiled by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on May 30, 2007 at The Wall Street Journal's 'D: All Things Digital' conference in Carlsbad, California.[6] Surface Computing is part of Microsoft's Productivity and Extended Consumer Experiences Group, which is within the Entertainment & Devices division. The first few companies to deploy Surface will include Harrah's Entertainment, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, T-Mobile and a distributor, International Game Technology.[7] On April 17, 2008, AT&T became the first retail location to launch Surface.[8] In June 2008 Harrahs Entertainment launched Microsoft Surface at Rio iBar[9] and Disneyland launched it in Tomorrowland, Innoventions Dream Home.[10] On August 13, 2008 Sheraton Hotels introduced Surface in their hotel lobbies at 5 locations.[11] On September 8th, 2008 MSNBC began using the Surface to work with election maps for the 2008 US Presidential Election on air. MSNBC's political director, Chuck Todd, was placed at the helm.

features

Object recognition. Microsoft notes four main components being important in Surface's interface: direct interaction, multitouch contact, a multi-user experience, and object recognition. Direct interaction refers to the user's ability to simply reach out and touch the interface of an application in order to interact with it, without the need for a mouse or keyboard. Multi-touch contact refers to the ability to have multiple contact points with an interface, unlike with a mouse, where there is only one cursor. Multi-user is a benefit of multi-touchseveral people can orient themselves on different sides of the surface to interact with an application simultaneously. Object recognition refers to the device's ability to recognize the presence and orientation of tagged objects placed on top of it. The technology allows non-digital objects to be used as input devices. In one example, a normal paint brush was used to create a digital painting in the software.[12] This is made possible by the fact that, in using cameras for input, the system does not rely on restrictive properties required of conventional touchscreen or touchpad devices such as the capacitance, electrical resistance, or temperature of the tool used (see Touchscreen). The computer's "vision" is created by a near-infrared, 850-nanometer-wavelength LED light source aimed at the surface. When an object touches the tabletop, the light is reflected to multiple infrared cameras with a net resolution of 1024 x 768, allowing it to sense, and react to items touching the tabletop. Surface will ship with basic applications, including photos, music, virtual concierge, and games, that can be customized for the customers.[13] A unique feature that comes preinstalled with Surface is the pond effect "Attract" application. Simply, it is a "picture" of water with leaves and rocks within it (a lot like Microsoft Surface Lagoon, included in the Surface Touch Pack). By touching the screen, users can create ripples in the water, much like a real stream. Additionally, the pressure of touch alters the size of the ripple created, and objects placed into the water create a barrier that ripples bounce off, just as they would in real life.

Hardware specifications
[edit] Microsoft Surface 1.0
Software platform: Microsoft Surface 1.0 Form factor usage: Tables and counters Display + vision input technology: Rear projection DLP w/cameras Price: Starting at $10,000 USD Weight: 198 lbs (90 kg)

Physical dimensions (L x W x H): 42.5 x 27 x 21 in (108 x 68.6 x 53.3 cm) CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.13 GHz processor Graphics (GPU): ATI Radeon X1650 - 256 MB Memory: 2 GB DDR2 Storage (hard drive): 160 GB HDD Display size: 30 in (76.2 cm) diagonal Display resolution: 1024 x 768 4:3 aspect ratio Extensions (ports): XGA (DE-15) video out, RGB analog component video out, RCA analog component audio out, 4 USB ports Networking: Wi-Fi 802.11g, Bluetooth, and Ethernet 10/100 Operating system: Windows Vista (32-bit)

[edit] Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface

Software platform: Microsoft Surface 2.0 Form factor usage: Tables, counters, kiosks and walls Display + vision input technology: Thin LCD w/PixelSense technology Price: Starting at $8,400 USD Weight: 80 lbs (36 kg) Physical dimensions (L x W x H): 42.7 x 27.5 x 4 in (108.5 x 69.9 x 10.2 cm) CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 2.9 GHz dual-core processor Graphics (GPU): AMD Radeon HD 6570M 1 GB GDDR5 Memory: 4 GB DDR3

Applications development
Microsoft Surface applications can be written in Windows Presentation Foundation or XNA. The development process is much like normal Vista development, but custom WPF controls had to be created by the Surface team due to the unique interface of Surface. Developers already proficient in WPF can utilize the SDK to write Surface apps for deployments for the large hotels, casinos, and restaurants.

introduction
Microsoft Surface is a new paradigm for desktop-computing which is presented as a 30 inch diagonal display surface for the collaborative use of individuals or groups. The interface is Touch User Interface (TUI) and individuals can use hand gestures on the table or place physical objects on it, in order to move objects between objects. For example: a Digital Camera can be placed on the surface and photos may be streamed out of it into the table. Another hand gesture will instigate other actions.

[edit] History
A new concept in 2001, Steve Bathiche of Microsoft hardware and Andy Wilson of Microsoft Research began brainstorming concepts for an interactive table. It has taken six years for the finished result to

emerge on to the open market, and beautiful code name "Milan" is too! Currently, Nigel Keam, Microsoft's Architect of the Microsoft Surface Computing technology when bringing this technology into the world of computing focused on how the table would interact with other objects.

[edit] Features
The most useful aspect of the Surface Computing interface is with photographs and maps. There are military applications as well as commercial ones. NYU Computer Scientist, Jefferson Hahn, founder of Perceptive Pixel, builds huge multi-touch displays for his corporate and military customers using this revolutionary new technique in the Touch User Interface (TUI) paradigm. The fun part of "Surface Computing" is that photos can be organized and played with in even better ways than real photos, because hand-gestures will move and resize them on the fly using "Surface Computing." Photos can be swept with a hand gesture into a portable device such as a wireless photostorage capable cell phone using the side-loading feature.

[edit] How It Works

Microsoft Surface uses a series of infra-red cameras to literally see what is on the table-top. These cameras position the actual devices in the "Surface's" internal memory while the relative positioning is constantly changing and re-dimensioning. The infra-red is instrumental in picking up hand-gestures and the display auto adjusts brightness to ambient room lighting. Aspects of the glass surface allow certain light frequencies to pass in one direction but not others.

[edit] Current Commercial Situation

It is proposed to offer these devices for $5,000 to $10,000 at this time (end 2007 beginning 2008.)