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more about #surface more comments → Deckard: This would be cool for a game like Axis and Allies. more » Odin: Reminds me. I need to get around to writing my DnD app. My group and I are tired of the unstable and clunky Fantasy Grounds II more » OMG! Ponies!: I cast Magic Missile at the Gazebo. more » mexi1010: I really like this idea. Especially the nob part. Now we will have module nobs! more » t3knomanser: That is not a microsoft surface table. That's an optical screen, not a touch screen. See the weird symbols in those prisms? Those are sigils that a ca... more » dc-united: Or you could just unfold a paper and read a story that interests you. (And I don't have to listen to that spacey, new-age music while I read.) This ... more » tazm0n: Don't cross the beams.. don't cross the beams...Oh great... he crossed the beams, we're DOOMED... #infractor more » AmishJohn: I know of at least one Giz staffer who's waiting for the multitouch ottoman to go with that table... #gizmodoremainders more » xenti: Spork-ulina. #gizmodoremainders more » blunt: Not wanting to shove something made out of algae into your mouth kinda rules out sushi, doesn't it? #gizmodoremainders more » -
#surface
Way More D&D on the Microsoft Surface
The last clip was a tease. But here we see lots more sample footage as some brave Carnegie Mellon students make D&D play on the Microsoft Surface. Don't you dare pretend you're too cool for this. [Surface Blog via Kotaku] -
#surface
Lumino Project: Next-Generation Lego Crossed With Microsoft Surface
Lumino may look like generic building blocks, but it actually marks a new phase in the life of Microsoft Surface: The recognition of the third dimension. The UI implications are pretty staggering. More » -
#surface
How Superman Might Read the NY Times
The Infractor is probably the least efficient manner in which you could read the morning paper, but it involves Fortress of Solitude-esque prisms and interactive rays of light. Quite simply, the paper has never looked better. Video demo: More » -
#remainders
Stuff We Didn't Post Today (and Why)
Job Postings Reveal That Microsoft's Not Stopping At Windows 7...Carpool LED Signs Pretend That We All Get Along...Biodegradable Plastics To Be Made Out Of Green Gunk...I Don't Have Enough Fingers And Toes For Ideum's New Multitouch Table More »
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#surface
Dungeons & Dragons on the Microsoft Surface
For thousands of years, none of us quite understood the point of the Surface. Then, a few Carnegie Mellon students armed with but blades and wits developed this D&D game, and they lightning bolted the naysayers away. [Microsoft via Kotaku] -
#exclusive
Leaked Courier Video Shows How We'll Actually Use It
Microsoft's Courier booklet was surprising, mostly because it was so far outside of what everybody now expects from a tablet. This internal video shows how Microsoft thinks we'll use Courier. More » -
#exclusive
Courier: First Details of Microsoft's Secret Tablet
It feels like the whole world is holding its breath for the Apple tablet. But maybe we've all been dreaming about the wrong device. This is Courier, Microsoft's astonishing take on the tablet. More » -
#multitouch
CRISTAL: Control Your Living Room By Dragging, Dropping, Swiping a Surface Table
CRISTAL is a research project that moves the universal remote to a Microsoft Surface-type table with incredibly intuitive gestures. Want to watch a movie? Drag the cover to your TV. It even lets you trace a path for your Roomba. More » -
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#tablets
Vintage Bill Gates Predicts Tablets to Be the 'Most Popular Form of PC Sold in America'
Our own Adam Frucci doesn't like the idea of tablet computing. And most of the world agreed with him back in 2001 when Bill Gates and Microsoft were pushing the form factor. More » -
#twitter
SurfaceTwitter Is Like TweetDeck on Multitouch Steroids
Holy crap: a multitouch Twitter app for Surface. The capabilities are a little basic now—only 25 recent tweets are shown in ScatterView, where you can manipulate them—but thinking about the possibilities explode my brain. [Microsoft via Gartenberg] -
#space
First TV Image of Mars Ever Was Made With Crayons
What you are looking at here is the very first image ever taken of the surface of Mars. It was acquired by NASA's Mariner 4 using a television camera, and rendered using crayons. Look closer: More » -
#clips
Microsoft Presents Us With Their Vision of the Future
XUI, or experience-user-interface, is Microsoft's anticipated evolution of the NUI, or natural user interface (a la Surface). What's that really mean? It means something amazing—essentially computers/life rethought. More » -
#surface
Microsoft Surface Is an Incredible User Experience That Sucks a Whole Bunch to Setup
Surface is a triumph of Microsoft usability and design. It's a multitouch table computer. Minority Report! And so on. Setting it up, however? Ominous foreshadowing: It comes with a keyboard and mouse. More » -
#multitouch
Maximum PC Builds a Surface-like Multitouch PC for $350
Maximum PC didn't like the idea of paying $12,000 for a Microsoft Surface. So what did they do? They made their own multitouch table PC for a fraction of the price. More » -
#playinggod
Microsoft's Interactive Omnidirectional Projector Puts You in the God Seat
An omnidirectional projector with a camera inside watches your hand movements and reacts fast, like a planetarium-wide Surface table. Does it give you a Zaphod-sized ego? Hell yes it does. Check out this vid: More » -
#microsoft
Super Bowl Security Uses Microsoft Surface For Coordination, Holding Up Nacho Bowls
The people in charge of Super Bowl CIVIII, or whatever they're up to now, are going to be using Microsoft's Surface to coordinate and view the goings on in Tampa this Sunday. More » -
#patents
Sony Patents Surface-Like Touchscreen Printer
A new patent app from Sony reveals a pretty interesting inkjet printer that takes design cues from the Microsoft Surface. More » -
#fail
As Seen at CES: Microsoft Surface Fail [UPDATED]
Intrepid reader Yves Milord snapped a pic of what might be the first error message seen on a Microsoft Surface. UPDATED More » -
#carbonfiber
Carbon Fiber Surface Table Is Thin, Really Thin
I don't know that anyone goes around complaining that their table is just too darned thick, but this carbon fiber "Surface" Table has been fashioned to a scant 2mm. -
#microsoftsurface
BMW First Car Company to Implement Microsoft Surface
By allowing its snooty customers to manipulate the snooty Microsoft Surface interface with their snooty fingers, BMW has officially become the first car maker to offer the touchscreen tech to a worldwide car-buying audience. Impressed? Me neither, but that's just because I'm a low-paid writer who's insanely jealous of anyone driving a car that's hotter than my 2006 Mercury Milan. So, basically everyone. -
#moviereview
Quantum of Solace Is the Perfect Bond Movie
The latest Bond is the perfect Bond Movie. Yes. It is. In fact, Quantum of Solace is not only the perfect Bond movie, it's the best Bond movie ever, period. Even surpassing Casino Royale—and I mean both the Craig's one and the original Peter Sellers, David Niven, and Woody Allen's delirium—which to me surpassed Connery's best (I know, sacrilege). It has everything a Bond film must have and more: Cars, cocktails, airplanes, boats, cocktails, smart hot girls, evil baddies, slimy baddie sidekicks, cocktails, and gadgets. Contrary to previous versions, the new Bond actually has some cool gadgets in it. I don't mean cheesy stupid mini-rockets firing from the exhaust pipe of an Aston Martin or laser watches that can cut through steel and french lingerie. I mean cool, believable technology that integrates in the movie transparently. More » -
#microsoftsecondlight
Microsoft SecondLight Caught on Video: It's Like Surface, With Magic
Microsoft announced the SecondLight table a few days ago, offering plenty of explanations as to how this modified, quasi-X-ray Surface table works and how one might use it, but little in the way of visual aides. The dual-projection system, by which the table identifies where it is being touched and projects a second, alternative image didn't sound like the kind of thing that would look, well, seamless. As it turns out, it does. Say what you will about the SecondLight's incredibly complicated design, but you can't deny that, in motion, the hidden overlay concept is pretty impressive. [PCPro via Slashdot] -
#surface
Surprise: Microsoft Surface Costs More Than Expected
When Microsoft announced its Surface multitouch computer, we knew it'd be a toy for well-funded, respectable news outlets long before Joe the Plumbers, since it was going to cost $10,000. Turns out, it actually costs more like $13,500. That's with a 10 percent discount! Microsoft is still expecting good ol' economies of scale to kick in to help fulfill its dream of fancy coffee tables in every home, but uh, you might want to hang on to that iPhone or something if you want the multitouch future anytime soon. [Cnet via ZD Net] -
#whatstakingyousolonginthere
Interactive Mirrors: The Inevitable Future of Vanity
Lit Studios and Interference inc, the same guys who made that ridiculous laser pointer wall a few weeks ago, are back with a touch-enabled interactive mirror. Using a combination of projection techniques, they were able to superimpose a clear, vivid, moving image on top of a regular reflection, creating the bathroom mirror HUD that humanity (read: the sci-fi community) has been yearning for since about 1950. More » -
#multitouch
SMART Table for Kids is Like a Cheaper, Funner-er Microsoft Surface
As much fun as it is to tinker with Microsoft's multitouch Surface table, most of its applications have been decidedly gimmicky. By offering a lower price (sooner than MS), more compact design, and more complete suite of software, SmartTech wants to bring multitouch tables to the people who would probably most appreciate them — kids. From the video (and press release), it looks as if the SMART Table has a nearly identical — if not better — set of capabilities to the Surface: multitouch, gesture support, a 27in screen and a super-simple SDK. Details are slim at the moment, but the price is a comparatively low $7000, so expect to see the SMART Table popping up in more affluent school districts as early as Spring 2009. [SMART via Crunchgear] -
#surface
Microsoft SecondLight Adds Extra Layers to Surface
Microsoft seems to be throwing every wild touchscreen idea it can into research right now, first prototyping their weird SideSight cellphone motion detector earlier this week, and now revealing SecondLight, a “magic lens” compatriot to their Surface multitouch table. SecondLight allows users to slide a type of transparent screen on top of the regular Surface display, and see extra info displayed on the screen. For instance, using SecondLight over an image of a car turns it into x-ray specs that show model's wireframe underbelly. More » -
#microsoftsurface
Microsoft Survey Hints At "Oahu," Surface Multitouch Table At Consumer Prices
Microsoft is at least considering releasing a consumer-priced version of its Surface computer, if a marketing research survey is to believed. The survey is centered around a device called “Oahu,” which, from its description, sounds a lot like the table we've all come to know and love: a multitouch flat screen that sits like a table top and allows for multiple users to interact with it at once. More » -
#surface
Microsoft Surface SDK Coming This Month
Do you want to develop niche multitouch applications for a platform that most people will never get their hands on for the foreseeable future? You're in luck. Later this month, Microsoft will be releasing its Surface SDK beyond the few companies that have been privy to it since launch to attendees of its Professional Developer Conference. I am curious to see what kind of multitouch gaming could come out of more developers having access to the kit, but the fact that you can't just go out and buy one for your living room undoubtedly puts a damper on development fever for the platform. [Cnet] -
#ceatec2008
Pioneer 3D Floating Vision: Half Wii, Half Surface, All 3D
Pioneer showed off their new Floating Vision technology at CEATEC this year. It's a system of layers: first, an LCD with built-in computer, then an array of 3D lenses, and finally the "space sensor," or virtual screen, where you can wave your fingers around and watch the 3D animations react accordingly. But the space sensor can also distinguish between and interact with different objects, like the Microsoft Surface: hold your phone under a falling object, say, and it'll appear on your phone's screen with a coupon for that item. Second video after the jump. More » -
#clips
Microsoft Surface on a Wii Balance Board
It's tough to imagine the eureka moment when an engineer, equating the Microsoft Surface with a fat person with a penchant for curly fries dipped in ranch, decided to place the Surface on the Wii Balance Board. But the result, coupled with a custom-coded Surface app, creates a tilt screen of epic proportions. Pushing on one edge of the Surface works just like rotating an iPhone. And we can't wait to see the technology manifest to an insane 4-player co-op game of Monkey Ball. [Stimulant via ubergizmo] -
#education
Education's Many Problems Solved With Multitouch Desks
Education is a bitch. Teachers usually leave the profession within five years, kids either bomb standardized tests or learn them so well they bottom out immediately after, and funding is scarcer and scarcer to come by. The solution? Interactive multi-touch desks, naturally! More » -
#diy
LED Coffee Table Plays Four-Way Pong (Can Surface Do That?)
Well, yes, it probably could, but as yet it's only there for picking the interior color for your new BMW and the like. So for now, this DIY coffee table with a matrix of 4,092 LEDs is what I want in my living room. Using 65 microcontrollers and four Atari 2600 joysticks, the circuit wizards at Sparkfun have loaded their LED table with four-way cooperative Pong, which actually looks like a lot of fun in action. More » -
#election2008
Microsoft Surface Predicts the Election with McCain and Obama Bobbleheads
MSNBC had an impromptu demonstration of its new Microsoft Surface table this morning, and gave political analyst Chuck Todd a chance to play with his dollies. At first, the goateed Todd moved states around, zooming, coloring and highlighting with his finger. Though he didn't really have a full handle on all the features himself, the demo was pretty much Surface as usual, until he brought out his bobbleheads. More » -
#multitouch
TouchKit Brings Surface-Like Multitouch to the Nerdy Masses
Touchkit, an open source (software and hardware) multitouch kit designed by NOR_/D, has been announced at a $1580 price point, or roughly 1/8th the cost of Microsoft's Surface table. That's not to say that the TouchKit is equivalent or even necessarily a competitor to Microsoft's offering, but it is theoretically capable of many of the same flashy tricks. The system must be hooked up to a separate computer, and also requires an external projector. As you can see in the video, there's not exactly a whole lot it can do out of the box, but the open source platform can be tweaked by anyone with a little knowledge of C++. Check out the gallery of the hardware and potential installations are their site. [Gizmag] -
#microsoft
Uncrating the First Surface Table in Australia
Unlike many gadgets, the Microsoft Surface Table isn't something that a lot of consumers get a chance to unbox for themselves. That doesn't mean you shouldn't get to enjoy seeing some lucky Aussies from the Amnesia Blog pulling the first Surface in the land down under out of its crate. Follow me past the jump for a nice dose of living vicariously through others. More » -
#surfacesphere
Hands On With the Microsoft Surface Sphere Prototype
Microsoft's Surface Sphere operates a lot like the original Surface, utilizing a projector surrounded by a ring of IR cameras, which is then covered by a semi-opaque globe. The IR cameras detect when the beams are being blocked, and transmits it as contact. Using it, I found there are still a few early glitches, but this is an amazing piece of technology and far along for a prototype. More » -
#microsoftsphere
Microsoft Multi-touch Sphere Plays 360-Degree Video, Trippiest Pong Game Ever
The Seattle PI has the first look at Microsoft's multi-touch Surface Sphere—simply Sphere—that we've known would debut this week. It's more advanced than Surface, since it has to use algorithms to round images, and uses an infrared system to detect hands and objects touching it. It plays omnidirectional video and what has to be the craziest rendition of Pong ever. The video shows a lot of amazing potential, but incredulously, it's just an ooh-and-ah project right now, with no commercial plans—it's just supposed to relay their vision of everything as a potential Surface. We're convinced, now make it happen. [Seattle PI]
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#surface
Microsoft Surface Sphere Will Be Multi-touchable Next Week
Microsoft is going to debut its spherical multi-touch Surface next week at its annual Research Faculty Summit. We're pretty curious about what you can do with a big ball of multi-touch (and wondering about the little things—is it a perfect sphere? How are you supposed to hold it? Is it like a globe?). They pulled references to it off the exhibit list (to keep it a surprise, probably), but it's still very much on the floor display map, as you can see. We're stoked. [Mary-Jo Foley] -
#digitalwall
Panasonic Shows Off Surface-Like Digital Wall
Microsoft's getting some competition for its Surface device. Panasonic is showing off a very Surface-like product it's calling Digital Wall, and it's exactly what it sounds like. While at this point it doesn't appear to offer all the the features of Surface it could also come in much cheaper that the Microsoft version, and for many people that's the key. Hit the jump for a short video of the Digital Wall in action. [Digital World Tokyo] More » -
#marketingofthefuture
Disney's Innoventions Dream Home is a Big Ad For Microsoft and HP...But I Still Want It
Recently, Disney announced the grand opening of their new Innoventions Dream Home located in Tomorrowland in Anaheim, Calif. The construction was a collaborative effort between Disneyland, Microsoft, HP, Life|ware and home-builder Taylor Morrison—so naturally the home functions more as a big advertising campaign for current products than an actual "home of the future." Still, I wouldn't mind booting out the fictional Elias family from their 5000-square-foot home to get my hands on some of this tech. More »
