I'm changing the layout of my blog a little, and making it a bit more structured. I'm devoting Wednesdays to technology. In the world today, the pace of technological innovation is increasingly rapid. I know this and it scare me a little. But I also know that if I stay abreast of it, I will not be left behind. To that end, I'm going to explore some of the innovative technologies out there.
Today's topic: the Microsoft Surface! It is basically a touch screen computer, but it is so much more than that! Each pixel in the screen is able to "see" what is above it. And the pixels together can form images and figure out how to react.
It can interact with physical objects, such as credit cards, if it is linked to a cashier system. The video suggests that it can also figure out that you just put a cell phone down and make the pictures explode onto the table for quick sharing. It looks like they are already marketing the surface system for bar/restaurant tops and point-of-sale displays, which are my first two thoughts.
I'd like to get one, but I have a few reservations about the system. First, the screen is integrated into a computer, which means that the computer is likely not capable of upgrades. That means that, despite it's cutting edge nature, you'd have to get rid of the system in a 5-6 years. I think a screen with a connection to a box that could run the software on it would be a good product to sell to early-adopters of the technology. It's also missing a text-specific input device. I'm sure that with vision sensors under your fingers, you could come up with some pretty interesting vision input methods, but I'm sure that hasn't been explored yet.
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