Working with Microsoft Surface
May 2nd, 2008 by Jesse Hsia
(4 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ...I’ve been itching to share what I’ve been up to lately work-wise. Since last December, I’ve been working on a proof of concept application on the new Microsoft Surface computer. It was a very fun and cool project to work on for obvious reasons, but just getting back to coding UI’s and spending time away coding lower level stuff was an appreciated change. It was also cool because there was a press release for the app so our app was heavily photographed and filmed. The devs even got a chance to take part in on the photo shoots!
On the technology side, the Surface computer has a pretty unique offering. It’s definitely a new computing platform and moving towards the next evolution of user interfaces. It’s ability to handle multiple inputs at once and interact with objects is what makes this very a very compelling platform. Most devs who sees and interact with the Surface for the very first time will realize there is lots of potential for this platform. Hopefully everyone will get a chance to play with the surface in person, because the interaction in person really beats any online picture or video. If you live near the recently announced 5 AT&T stores with the surface machines, I’d highly recommend checking them out!
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That’s come cool stuff Jesse! Someday maybe you can give a demo at the ICS scholar day.
Jesse, it seems that this is still in a very early stage of development, with just a handful of systems deployed, in a very cash-rich customer environment.
Do you think it could ever become affordable enough to replace school chalk/whiteboards, or be on the cover of student notebooks?
tj: Thanks! I’d love to share my experience. Unfortunately I don’t have a surface so it might have to run on my laptop
Frank: The system has rolled out to the wild, so it’s no longer a “concept”, however, you’re definitely right on in terms of it’s price. Going price for a unit is about 10-15K last I’ve heard.
I think the scenario you present is a very interesting one, and has great potential! It should definitely be in the future of our education system. The price will definitely get lower as they’re planning a consumer version of the table. Besides, there are other efforts/technologies going on concurrently that’s very similar to the surface. In fact, you can actually do this today with a price of a Nintendo Wii controller and some hacking + programming skills, you can make your own touch surface whiteboard.