Rogue

Back in February I blogged about an amazing piece of tech the guys over at NYU had been working on. A brilliant new multiple point touch interface, capable of interpretting the pressure and width of contact applied to it's surface.

When they coupled that with some sharp little apps which made full use of the new interface mechanism, it really was just an amazing leap forward for UI.

Now, Microsoft has announced their own version yesterday which has apparently been in the works since 2001. It looks strangely identical. Yet it has a much smaller screen. Didn't see that coming did we?

Not that I really mind to be honest. Whether they did or did not pursue a completely closed off internal development process and just happened to reach the same end-game is immaterial. The fact remains that they're able to bring this tech to those with the cash, unlike the NYU gear which was never able to be put into product due to costing.

Admittedly the scope and penetration of the Microsoft product (Surface) is only going to be places like hotels and rich people's shopping precincts initially - but if it's a good implementation more people will get it, driving down the price eventually and making it easier for those with smaller cash cows to get it.

I'm thinking eight of them networked and embedded in a conference table, with a massive presentation size one arrayed on one wall. Enabling people to shift content back and forth from the mobile devices (laptop, pda, etc) onto the nearest Surface and then hand them (almost literally) off to whoever is driving a presentation or meeting.

Good-bye tablets! Now instead of using hand/eye coordination and a stylus on a detached piece of kit, now you could instead literally just 'paint' with your hands directly onto the screen. Fantastic.

Give me a toggleable on screen keyboard and I'll be in heaven.

Games wise this isn't going to work for your traditional shooters, but things like strategy games for example are perfect for it. Puzzle and arcade games too.

Mmmm... juicy.