Much To Do About Microsoft Surface

Microsoft's introduction of surface computing has caused a ruckus on the IxDa, which is the discussion board of the Interaction Design Association. There was a huge backlash on the product and I commented negatively as well. I was disappointed that already at the introduction of the product Microsoft had partnered with chain hotels and casinos to introduce the product to the public in the near future. It just shifted the focus from innovation toward selling the product. Many of the shown applications are lame like showing augmented information about the wine you are drinking right on the surface of the table...

On the other hand I really like the interaction with real objects. Using the table to share data between different devices. There is a lot of promise in that. I wonder if they could have solved the recognition problem with RFID tags instead of cameras. Cameras need distance, which makes the table bulky.

Ideas and innovation happens in synchronicity. All of a sudden a few people have the same ideas around the same time. Much of it has to do with technology moving to the next level opening up the doors for certain new ideas. 
This has happened for multi-touch. The iPhone made it popular and the time for multi touch computing is now. It's everywhere and we are going to see a lot more of it. Exciting times.

This is another example of multi-touch used for a collaboration instrument as shown at the Transmediale 2007 in Berlin



This is one of MS's cheesy ads for Surface:




http://www.microsoft.com/surface/
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/surfacecomputing/default.mspx

Jeff Han at TED 2006

I've posted on multitouch technology before, but watching Jeff Han from the NYU Research Lab in NY talk about their research just adds another layer. The demo shows him manipulating data and objects with his hand and fingers using a variety of gestures. Rarely have I seen a more convincing way of Human Computer Interaction. It makes complete sense right away and makes you wish time would fly so we could all use machines like that.

Jeff Han: Multi-touch Screens - the steroid version

Started reading John Maeda's "The Laws of Simplicity" today. He keeps a blog lawsofsimplicity.com, that continuously develops the ideas further. A few clicks later I ended up on the Signal-vs-Noise blog and eventually saw this amazing video showing Jeff Han and Phil Davidson demonstrate how multi-touch screens “will change the way we work and play.” Examples include usage in image editing, web browsing, creating 3D animations, etc.

These guys were announcing on their site that they were up to some exciting things. One of my very first posts was about their work. This is the amazing development:



http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid271543545/bctid422563006

Jeff Han, NYU, Multi-touch Technology

Just must have hid underneath a rock for the last two weeks, if you haven't heard of Apple's new iPhone. What came as a surprise to me was the fact that multi-touch screens have been around for almost 20 years. Sitting there in laboratories...why hasn't anybody picked up on this technology?
Look at this: AWESOME!