Surface computing demo

(Click to download QuickTime videos: 15 seconds, 3.5 mb each.)

A couple of the projects on display at the Microsoft Research TechFest yesterday involved "surface computing" -- the idea of turning an ordinary surface into an active computer interface. One of the projects, TouchLight, is shown in this photo of Microsoft researcher Andy Wilson that accompanied our story.

Another surface computing project on display at the event is called PlayAnywhere. The system basically turns an ordinary tabletop into an interactive surface that could be used for playing computer games, among other things. It consists of a computer, a projector and an image-processing system that analyzes video from an incorporated camera to see what is happening on the table, allowing the system to react as programmed.

For example, the PlayAnywhere system can sense when a hand or a piece of paper is placed across the table. It can then adjust the path of the bouncing ball, or project an image or video onto the paper. In the same way, the system can recognize the patterns printed on game pieces placed on the table, and project the corresponding image.

To get a better sense for what this is like, check out three short videos that I took of the PlayAnywhere demo during TechFest yesterday. Click on the images above to download them.

Explained Wilson: "The vision really is that you have this thing that's completely self-contained, and it literally has a handle on it, so you can pick it up and set it up anywhere. A kid could have this in his room, set it up on the floor, play around it -- and in some sense the floor comes alive, or your desk comes alive."

The projects on display at TechFest are still in the realm of research, but because the company's research unit often feeds technology to Microsoft's separate product teams, many of the projects point toward the long-term direction of the company's products. The broader aim of Wilson's surface computing research is to move beyond the traditional screen, keyboard and mouse to use alternative surfaces for input and output. Here's how he explained the underlying motivation for his work:

"The desktop metaphor suits a particular mode of interaction with computers and your documents and your information. But as the machines become more and more part of our daily lives, it's hard to imagine having a desktop computer everywhere you go. We're already moving away from that with the phones and the Pocket PCs and the Tablet PCs -- a lot of different form factors that are really kind of loosening up our notion of what a computer is. ... Now we're really considering what's going to happen after that. Look at it this way: If you have 20 computers in your house, can you imagine having 20 keyboards? No. Some things are going to be specially tailored to environments in your house."

For more on Wilson's work, see his Web page.

Posted by Todd Bishop at March 3, 2005 12:08 PM