‘Miracle table’ grabs attention

‘Miracle table’ grabs attention
Source CBW - Štěpán Beneš

The days of using a mouse and keyboard on computers might be numbered. Microsoft Corporation’s table-top
multi-touch computer Surface is beginning to catch a wave of attention in the Czech Republic.
‘Miracle table’ grabs attention

Some major corporations have begun using the new device to give presentations of their products. Some
interesting applications for it are being developed here, as well.

The Surface table-top computer is fitted with cameras and image recognition devices in order to allow
a number of users to interact with the computer using not only their hands but tagged items and certain
shapes. Unlike a traditional touch screen, Surface is capable of reading multiple touches simultaneously.
According to Jiří Karpeta, the CEO of the development division at Microsoft in the Czech Republic, the
potential for use goes well beyond ordinary bounds.

“Thanks to the technology, which uses back projection and infrared cameras, we are not limited by the
number of recognizable touches at a given moment, but only by the size of the device itself. I saw with
my own eyes 158 recognized touches, although in that case the students practically were not able to fit
around the table. The recognition system being used also provides other advancements, like the possibility
of recognizing real objects, such as mobile phones, cards, cameras, etc.,” Karpeta said.

So far, the model has been in a limited supply. The Czech branch of Microsoft has one of these tables,
which is available for loan to companies and could be also seen at expos. It costs €11,000 (Kč 276,700),
and a consumer version is planned for release in 2010.

Attending a recent presentation at Microsoft I experienced some of the features of the device. When I
was served a glass of water that was placed on the computer’s 30 inch display screen, I took it in my
hands to avoid spilling it and damaging the computer. When the Microsoft representatives present noticed
this one of them proceeded to take the glass from me and spill half of it on the table with a smile,
demonstrating that it has been designed to withstand the regular wear and tear of a tabletop, and could
potentially be used even in restaurants.

Casinos, cars and classrooms

Surface’s first customers include U.S. telecommunications giant AT&T, which uses it for mobile device
information delivery and interactive buying in some of its U.S. stores, as well as in the Sheraton hotel
chain, run by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. “Among the lesser-known uses of Surface is its role in
the entertainment industry. Harrah’s Casino in Las Vegas uses Microsoft Surface in its hotel bar to keep
customers there for a longer time, sitting and drinking. Surface [at Harrah’s] has various games installed
and you are able to play against other tables. … Revenue went up by 15 percent,” Karpeta said. The casino
devices are also equipped with an application called Flirt that allows patrons to contact each other at
the bar, along with capabilities to order a drink and mix your own cocktail. Of course, Surface has more
wholesome uses as well. “In Reading in the UK, Surface is being used to teach English the fun way at l
ocal schools,” Karpeta added.

“Before a company invests in Surface, it will often prepare a scenario how to use this device to use all
of its features to the max—mostly that multiple people can work at the same time .... The optimum use
of Microsoft Surface is in a personal business, where it can be used as a presentation and configuration
tool … Here both customer and sales people can interact on the configuration. A customer could, for
example, lay a sample of color for a car on the Surface to see the immediate output and therefore not
need to wait for a salesperson. Configuration will therefore be faster and customers will be more satisfied,”
Karpeta said. In the Czech Republic, Škoda Auto has already used Surface to give a presentation of its new
Yeti model at auto shows in Geneva and Brno, South Moravia, drawing strong attention to both to the product
and the innovative form of presentation.

Future uses

Because the use of Microsoft Surface is highly dependant on a given customer’s expectations there are
almost no core applications installed on it. Due to this face as well as its high price of €11,000, it is
not available for personal use. However, plans to put Surface in people’s homes are a big part of the
product’s promise. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has consistently lauded the potential of transforming surfaces
in offices, homes and elsewhere into computers. Some features that could be part of the device’s eventual
home use are already on display. The display reader could recognize special chips attached as stickers to
various gadgets, such as cameras, mobile devices or special cards. When you place a tagged camera on the
table, for example, Surface will recognize it, activate a Bluetooth or similar wireless connection and
download pictures from it for you. The pictures can then be shown on the tabletop.

Czech applications

A number of applications have been developed for Surface. Some particularly interesting ones have been
developed in the Czech Republic. “There are three applications that were developed from scratch in the
Czech Republic— the 3D model of Škoda’s Yeti, a browser for Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons and an interactive
cinema program for the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, where Surface served as an information base.
Other applications [being worked on in the Czech Republic] are only derivates of existing ones from Microsoft
Surface SDK (software development kit),” Karpeta said.

One of the applications with the best potential for eventual home editions of Surface is the Wikipedia browser.
“Wikimedia Browser for Microsoft Surface application was developed for the civic association Wikimedia Czech
Republic as an interesting way to propagate the Wikimedia Foundation project to the Czech public. The
application has been presented at two expos so far—at LinuxExpo 2009 and the international book expo Svět
knihy Praha 2009. At both expos a Microsoft Surface device with Wikimedia Browser for Microsoft Surface was
a part of a Wikimedia Czech Republic exhibition. Every customer had a chance to search for articles on
Wikipedia or for pictures on its sister project, Wikimedia Common, and to try Microsoft Surface for themselves,
” Karpeta said.

According to Karpeta the biggest challenge of creating the Wikimedia Browser application was in adapting
Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons controls for multiple people to use at the same time. “A situation where
multiple people were working with Surface, with one looking for an article and another looking for something
on Commons was not uncommon,” he added.

Innovative thinking

Creating applications for this new model of interactive computer use has required a complete change of thinking.
“The biggest problem when developing applications for Microsoft Surface is to forget the standard path of
thinking upside down and from right to left—generally, one way, which is the orientation of the classic display.
When considering Microsoft Surface, you never know how many people will be around it and how many of them want
to control the device and application. The development of applications for Surface stand and falls on design of
the user interface. Unfortunately, there are practically no designers who will be able to design a user interface
for standard applications. In the world of web development, design is a part of the web presentation, but there
is no such connection in the world of standard applications,” Karpeta said.

The future of Surface remains wide open, according to Karpeta. “My fantasy is to have Microsoft Surface in museums. Imagine coming to the National Museum in Prague and having an opportunity to look at the most uncommon objects that are normally not available to the public as 3D models on Surface. I also spoke to a person who wanted to use Surface as a control device for a big commercial printing machine. He argued that currently used controls are built on touch technology, but aren’t reliable enough and can’t take rough treatment. The price of Microsoft Surface comes to around 1 percent of the price of a whole printing machine,” Karpeta said.