Gizmodo
Project Milan is in fact a touch-sensitive table as you guys speculated and we reported earlier. Dubbed "Surface" and five years in the making, it's set to establish a paradigm of what Microsoft calls "surface computers" which use touch as the sole method of input.
Painting with surface sounds particularly intuitive (and fun): you can use a paint brush or simply dip your fingers into virtual paint cups. Photo resizing and stacking works much like the iPhone's zoom gestures. Also cool is the capacity for multiple users.
Such sweet tech comes at a price, naturally, with the units running $10,000 a pop. But, Microsoft expects prices to plummet over the next three to five years to the point they'll be in your homes. In the meantime you'll be able to play with them at T-Mobile stores, Harrah's and Sheraton hotels. Got more questions? Hit the jump for a FAQ and (naturally) a boatload of pictures. Update: And a video!
What is Microsoft Surface? Microsoft Surface™, the first commercially available surface computer from Microsoft Corp., turns an ordinary tabletop into a vibrant, interactive surface. The product provides effortless interaction with digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects. Surface is a 30-inch display in a table-like form factor that's easy for individuals or small groups to interact with in a way that feels familiar, just like in the real world. In essence, it's a surface that comes to life for exploring, learning, sharing, creating, buying and much more. Soon to be available in restaurants, hotels, retail establishments and public entertainment venues, this experience will transform the way people shop, dine, entertain and live.How does Surface work?
At a high level, Surface uses cameras to sense objects, hand gestures and touch. This user input is then processed and the result is displayed on the surface using rear projection.What is surface computing?
Surface computing is a new way of working with computers that moves beyond the traditional mouse-and-keyboard experience. It is a natural user interface that allows people to interact with digital content the same way they have interacted with everyday items such as photos, paintbrushes and music their entire life: with their hands, with gestures and by putting real-world objects on the surface. Surface computing opens up a whole new category of products for users to interact with.What are the key attributes of surface computing?
Surface computing has four key attributes:
• Direct interaction. Users can actually "grab" digital information with their hands and interact with content by touch and gesture, without the use of a mouse or keyboard.
• Multi-touch contact. Surface computing recognizes many points of contact simultaneously, not just from one finger, as with a typical touch screen, but up to dozens and dozens of items at once.
• Multi-user experience. The horizontal form factor makes it easy for several people to gather around surface computers together, providing a collaborative, face-to-face computing experience.
• Object recognition. Users can place physical objects on the surface to trigger different types of digital responses, including the transfer of digital content.
How does Surface benefit consumers?
Surface breaks down the traditional barriers between people and technology, providing effortless interaction with digital content. Similar to the way ATMs changed how people got money from the bank, Microsoft is changing the way people will interact with all kinds of everyday content, including photos, music, a virtual concierge and games. Common, everyday tasks become entertaining, enjoyable and engaging, alone or face-to-face with family, friends or co-workers.
Microsoft Surface [Microsoft]
Microsoft hopes 'Milan' table PC has magic touch [CNET]
Comments
Yes please.
iPhone killer.
Cool....as a gadget. I'm not really seeing the real-world purpose just yet. Maybe I'm just tired but it seems like more work to point to things over a 30 inch surface then move a mouse a couple inches. I guess it would be nice for drawing or anyone not used to a computer. Anyone suggest real, good uses for it?
this is really going to change paper football.
Looks like Microsoft has come up with a good response to those who say that they've never done anything that wasn't stolen/copied/derivative. Of course, I fully expect to see the fanboy contingent saying that they were trying to copy the iPhone, and simply couldn't get it small enough... Heh
Woot! The first technology for my starship has arrived. Now just waiting on hyper drives and photon cannons......
i'm very aroused.
but seriously that is sweet. i'm gonna spam everybody i know with pictures i made finger painting. smiling sunshine with a strip of blue sky across the top. square house with pointy roof. i t's gonna be awesome!
I had 2 thoughts after watching the demos at the Microsoft site.
1) This is Freaking cool!
2) I agree width Pegleg Joe for the most part. I see this as a sales/marketing tool in a retail environment, but no individual will have one in his house. And with all the DRM I am sure will be built into it. I am not sure how many businesses will use it either.
@Pegleg: Solitaire?
From Popular Mechanics' behind-the-scenes access: "Then, Gattis put a cellphone on the surface and dragged several photos to it - just like that, the pictures uploaded to the phone. It was like a magic trick." Woah.
Seconded.Anyone who has seen this demo (from February 2006) will have trouble believing that this is technology which Microsoft actually developed for itself.
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/65
In addition, how are the basic ideas here really different from what Apple is shipping next month with the iPhone? Is this really an attempt to deflect attention from the iPhone by throwing out a technology demo for something no one can buy anytime soon?
I love how the models are smiling and having fun.
Seems pretty cool!
and before all the rest of yall jump on the "youll never see this in someones home" bandwagon, the same was said for computers once...
Also,
Interesting Contoso Phones in there eh?
1) This is très cool.
2) Obviously, everybody has been working on the same stuff for years in parallel (Microsoft, Apple, Han, etc.) so it's gonna be interesting to see if everyone play nice or if this is the start of a patent war.
3) Everybody will have one in their house at some point, maybe as a coffee table, but especially once it can all fit into a thin tablet that you can carry around and put on your lap. The iPhone, in essence, is already a small version of that, although it lacks some of the cool stuff that Microsoft offers, like the ability to connect devices by placing them on the surface to transfer data. Microsoft is not just getting rid of the mouse and keyboard, but also of connectors, and that is cool.
NOTE: Joysticks are not dead quite yet, though.
It looks even better the second time, I so want it even more. Still, 10,000 to 5,000 isn't too bad for what it is. Though while its still too much for my blood, what I'm really excited about is how such technology is going to completely change the world around us. Bring it on!
i love apple and hate microsoft, but if this thing is 5 years in the making, it looks like apple just straight up tore a page out of microsoft's book and wrote their name on it
Just like in that movie "Minority Reports"
I can see this potentially capable of reinventing work space, interactive board games, an area for children to paint/play/learn...and that's just as a table...I'm not a huge fan of Windows or the Zune but at first glance I think Microsoft did alright with this.
I don't know about you guys, but I'd have a hell of a sore back if my computing was done leaning over a coffee table.
This could have many cool applications.. like for mall directories, resturants, grocery stores, movie theaters, rest stops, etc.. Could be prurdy darn cool.
Not shipping until November, which means iPhone will be the first multi-gestural touchscreen product to reach the market.
This is little more than a concept car for the general public, something for M$ to proclaim "Hey, we can do cool shit, too!"
Reminds me of GM's Chevrolet Volt. Their response to the Toyota Prius, already on the market and soon approaching its 2nd generation, is a pipe dream that relies on a HOPE that the technology it uses will come to fruition by 2011. Meanwhile Toyota has a product that, while not as impressive technologically, works and is on the market for you and I to purchase.
Holy crap. They weren't lying. It was ACTUALLY cool.
It's cool, but come on, that's their "Big" announcement?! It's a bigger version of the iPhone interface, and it's $10k!!!
@Mandatory_Field
ummm original? they aren't the only one doing this. They had an interview in the video with a guy whose company is also doing surface computing.
I'd love to have one in my house just for gaming activities. i'd love to do a D&D game using one of these tables.
Marty-
Way to go, apple fanboy. Instead of focusing on the item at hand, you had to go iPhoning on us. Nice work!
Little more than a concept car? Just because YOU can't afford it, doesn't mean they won't be in people's homes.
If this had been dropped by Apple, you (and your ilk) would be proclaiming this as the most innovative tech ever! But since it's microsoft, a company that actually knows how to market an OS, you're Mr. Sour Grapes.
So let me get this straight:
It's a computer that you can touch instead of using a mouse and keyboard.
If that's the case, then my prayers have been answered.
But at $10,000, it isn't very practical.
You've got to hand it to Steve: that premature announcement of the iPhone was masterful. Had he waited until the last minute to reveal the product, as he is usually inclined to do, the excitement would have been moderate and everybody would have said Apple is doing like Microsoft's Milan. But now, everybody who is not a geek thinks that Apple did it first (the touch screen stuff). He had to know there was plenty of oncoming competition. Thanks for the marketing/PR lesson, Master Steve!
@Bohyo:
Agreed, but there might still be a lot of uses in the house, especially of the multiuser kind: playing a board game with the kids, preparing a trip together, looking at vacation pictures with guests, etc. The only problem, of course, is that people use surfaces to put stuff on them (i.e. most coffee tables are covered with books, magazines, mugs, etc.), and counter space is always at a premium in the home (kitchen, laundry room, etc.). And what about spilling... Fun times ahead.
I'm pretty sure that if Microsoft does do this right, most people in the developed world will have one of these in their homes in 5 or so years. Maybe that's a bit too short of a timespan- but Surface will certainly be a presence in the mainstream by then.
I love the possibility's for games on this platform in particular- it's like a more advanced DS (without the portability of course).
I dont know with this whole "MS copied apple on icons" and all of this copying crap.
I was told that in order to invent/innovate something, you need to improve upon what was already made. For example,we would first walk to get to point A from point be, then we had horses, they got you to point A from point B, then there were cars, did the exact same thing, just faster, now there is all the cars of today with radio, mp3, CD, power windows, remote etc, but still get you to point A from point B.
This can be used with Music players, Computers, anything.. it is always been improved upon... but never COMPLETLY Changed... am i right?
"Such sweet tech comes at a price, naturally, with the units running $10,000 a pop."
- Pfft, that'll be $5k in 6 months and $1k in a year . The price of tech is never a barrier for long.
@Pegleg - "I'm not really seeing the real-world purpose just yet."
Weren't the first computers ridiculed for the same reasons? "Who the hell wants a computer in the house, they're strictly for business use." Now see how that's stood the test of time?
People like us who use tech everyday forget how freaking bizarre it is to normal people. Look at the Wii's success, it's intuitive, you only need to hold it to use it, it doesn't have 9 trillion buttons and my grandmother can use it. Is it popular?
This Surface thing will be *huge* but in ways we probably can't see yet. These things won't only be in houses, they'll be *everywhere* and much sooner than 5 years . . . unless they're running Vista.
Cos then they'll suck.
But imagine the possibilities.
If you were playing an RTS game on it, the touchiness of the screen would lend itself PERFECTLY to games.
And porn........don't get me started.
I'll admit, I'm an Apple fanboy. I made the switch to Apple just to try it out because I had been dissatisfied with MS for years.
This, however, is truly revolutionary and I can only hope that Apple follows suit sooner than later because, despite what PegLeg Joe says, I can easily see all at-home computing moving in this direction once prices and sizes (thickness, mainly) drop to a reasonable level.
I literally can't think of a single application that I use on my computer that wouldn't work on an interface like that, especially given the virtual Keyboard in the video posted earlier today. I'm sure that the ideal situation would be a table that could tilt 30-45 degrees to minimize neck and back stress, but I can easily see 3-D modeling programs like Maya working beautifully on this system, maybe with a simple stylus for the real fine details. Not to mention Photoshop, Video Editing...I don't think it's just a novelty gadget by any means.
Microsoft has won me over with this. Not that I'll be buying Vista or a Zune. But when this baby hits the consumer market? Oh, yeah.
Wow, people are already saying they copied the iPhone???
For the people saying this is a "bigger" version of the iPhone, until the iPhone is out we won't know what multitouch technology is behind the hood, and I somewhat believe it'll be only 2 points of contact (like the trackpads on MacBooks). So forget about multi-user, multi-finger etc.
The idea of multitouch displays came way before Microsoft / Apple had a chance to think about it, read more about that on Bill Buxton's website, he was one of the first to demonstrate multitouch interfaces :
http://www.billbuxton.com/multitouchOverview.html
This could actually get my wife to play games!
It'd be great for computer versions of board games, RTS games, etc.
I, for one, can't wait for the hilarious experience of watching someone's table crash and have to be restarted.
@marty_macfly
actully there are already muti touch stuff out there , such as the ibm multitouch tablet. apple wasn't the first one that uses the muti touch feature [in their iphone]
There's a much longer video (18 minutes) here: http://on10.net/Blogs/larry/first-look-microsoft-surfacing...
C'mon, do some of you really lack the creative thinking ability to see the uses for this? My mind is reeling with possibilities. Games, music sharing, file management, ala minority report, amazing. Maybe not as a coffee table, but wow, what a desk it would make!
Everyone saw this thing coming since the TEDtalks, but it is still very very very cool. My only concern is that it is essentially a Windows PC with a MediaCenter like front end on top. If it is just a display and you bring your own PC, that would be much better (i'd much prefer Linux or OS X). Imagine having to reinstall windows after getting bit by some spyware with an interface like that. I think this would be best as an adjustable drafting table form factor that has a lapboard that you can use when you need to get to the command prompt or whatever. As a coffee table though? Not at 10 grand if at all.
Given the iPhone and the presentation at the TED talks, I wouldn't be surprised if Mad Dog Steve has something like this up his sleeve. It just seems totally his style, simple and intuitive, especially after his iPhone presentation where he practically had an orgasm as he said "You can touch your music!"
"If this had been dropped by Apple..."
But it WAS dropped by Apple. 5 months ago.
And in less than 30 days I'll be able to hold the power of multi-touch in my palms, not bent over some huge table placed God knows where in my home (certainly not as my coffee table).
Incase you're trying to put the "Microsoft copied the iPhone" blame on me, I never typed that. There's no way M$ could create Surface this quickly. I believe whole heartedly that it was 5 years in the making as they claim. Multi-touch is serious business.
There will be many others coming out of the wood work with multi-gestural interfaces. I'm thinking the likes of Samsung and Sony off the top of my head. That's why, as jmdecombe stated, the Macworld keynote was such a masterful move.
What I'm saying is that the Apple approach to multi-touch seems better, for Marty MacFly the average Joe, than the Micro$oft vision of playtime in the Harrah's lobby.
To GenericSN, I didn't say it would be the first EVER, rather the first in this newly created race between Apple and Mafi---Microsoft.
Being an avid Apple lover and kissing the virtual feet of that huge Steve Jobs billboard I have in my house every morning, I still have to say this is so, so nice. (but, Steve: If you mess up the European launch of the iPhone and only give the option of one provider, that billboard is coming down - hard!) And cool. Albeit, it IS done by Perceptive Pixels it seems, and as such not really an impressive feat done by Microsoft. Not that it's very relevant, but still.
As for practicality? I can see some fantastic advantages when working with audio, not least with multi tracking. Moving tracks, drawing volume and other controller curves directly on audio tracks, rearranging etc., not to mention editing audio files per se (cutting, moving, duplicating, normalizing, all that stuff). Gimme. Gimme, gimme, gimme. Hey, I think that could make for a great song!
Who are all these people who don't keep stuff on their coffee table? And would find this thing useful?
Any computer that you have to awkwardly bend over to use (see photo of the smiling, awkwardly bent over couple) is a computer I think I'll skip.
Interestingly, they say this item is using "rear projection" for the display. So, that would explain the "thickness" issue.
It also seems to say that it uses cameras (rather than physical touch sensors) to sense input. Perhaps the cameras are part of the reason they needed to use the rear-projection instead of, say, an LCD panel.
So, their technology is very different from Apple's iPhone (rear projection with cameras vs. LCD with touch sensors). Give it some time, each company will use some ideas from the other, and both will have brilliant devices that everybody wants for about the price of a decent computer in a year or two.
Even at $10,000, it's not as "expensive" as it sounds (it is to me...that's a once-every-8-years investment in a "kickass" car in my book...but 10k is the price of a good gadget for many poeple) -- think of how much uber gamers spend on their gaming rigs today -- just the 30" monitor is $1500, and 30" LCD's started at well over $2000. Those nVidia 8800 Ultra's are nearing the $1000 mark. $1000 CPU's are not hard to come by. Pricey computers are not mainstream...but clearly there