Microsoft today provided details on its new ''surface'' computing initiative at the Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital conference in Carlsbad, Calif. The technology grew out of a collaborative effort between the Microsoft Hardware and Microsoft Research teams.
Surface is a 30-inch display in a table-like form factor. It allows users to drag objects by moving a finger across the screen. It also can recognize objects with special ID tags. Microsoft said Surface computing recognizes many points of contact simultaneously, not just from one finger as is the case with typical touch-screens.
The Surface display uses infrared cameras to sense object, hand gesture and touch input. This is in turn processed [a Core 2 Duo processor, graphics card and RAM is onboard], and the result is displayed on the surface using DLP-based rear projection. Surface runs on Windows Vista and has wired Ethernet 10/100 and wireless 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity. Surface products are expected to appear later this year in public kiosk applications.Microsoft Surface.
More from the Blogosphere:
How Surface works - Popular Mechanics.
Labels: Microsoft, Multi-touch Screen, Surface Computing | 
Stumble It!