Surface Computing

Microsoft Surface (“Surface”) is a commercial computing platform that enables people to use touch and 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) for users. Microsoft Surface 1.0, the first version of Surface, was announced on May 29, 2007 at the D5 Conference. It shipped to customers in 2008 as an end-to-end solution with Microsoft producing and selling the combined hardware/software platform. Microsoft and Samsung partnered to announce the current version of Surface, the Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface (“SUR40”), at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in 2011. Samsung began shipping the new SUR40 hardware with the Microsoft Surface 2.0 software platform to customers in early 2012. Microsoft also provides the free Microsoft Surface 2.0 Software Development Kit (SDK) for developers to create NUI touch applications for Surface and Windows 7 touch PCs.

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 what’s 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.

Watch the Microsoft Surface Demo below

Microsoft notes four main components being important in Surface's interface: direct interaction, multi-touch 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-touch—several 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. 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 .

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.

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.