The video with most gaming potential: Microsoft Surface
by Ross Miller 
{ May 31st 2007 at 12:01AM }
Today Microsoft unveiled its vision for the coffee table of the future: Surface. Though many years off for a consumer model (and even longer for an affordable one), Microsoft is envisioning functions such as effortless connectivity with cell phones and cameras. Of course, when we watch the video embedded after the break, all we can think about is how we'd love to mod it for gaming: Starcraft, Eye of Judgment, even Bejeweled or Puzzle Quest.
We think you'll be seeing game-related potential, too, and we want to hear your best ideas. Ready. Set. Theorize.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Gavin @ May 31st 2007 12:06AM
Let the Wookie win.
cc123 @ May 31st 2007 12:06AM
Preordered.
Shagittarius @ May 31st 2007 12:16AM
What no holograms? That shit is so last gen.
Tom @ May 31st 2007 12:22AM
Two words: air hockey!
Fernando Rocker @ May 31st 2007 12:25AM
Like a videogame table, is just like a big screen DS
Scott Beeson @ May 31st 2007 12:27AM
big screen DS? MULTI-touch. MULTI! touch screen vs. multi-touch screen is like foosball vs world cup.
fwacce @ May 31st 2007 12:27AM
Yeah, I saw one at Pizza Hut.
Fernando Rocker @ May 31st 2007 12:32AM
Nintendo have a patent for multi touch screen... in the beggining, the DS was suposed to have a multitouch screen. So, is not a big deal.
sp @ May 31st 2007 12:40AM
Pong
pangit @ May 31st 2007 12:47AM
nothing exciting, apple uses multitouch on their phone. and dont even think about gaming on this cuz microsofts initial plans for this is commercial use putting the price on this for $5000-$10,000.
http://www.macrumors.com/2007/05/30/microsoft-launches-multitouch-surface-computing/
NintendoFanbot @ May 31st 2007 12:50AM
Something like this would be quickly welcomed at maybe an arcade. Too bad the arcade market isn't there anymore nor is any other market (such as home gaming) ready for such focus.
But for multimedia it seems great.
Diskoboy @ May 31st 2007 1:01AM
Oh man, this thing could do amazing things for the all but dead arcade biz.
If MS is smart, they'll start developing games that will let people play Surface games with people at home, on their Vista PC's or 360's, via the internet.....
Like Sega tried to do during the last days of the Dreamcast (Remember Alien Front Online?).
Probot @ May 31st 2007 1:03AM
Didn't Nintendo do something very similar to this at their E3 booth a couple of years ago? It was a pond with fish that reacted to the waves.
I'm sure there are videos of it on YouTube somewhere.
Beni Nkangoh @ May 31st 2007 1:04AM
I wonder what happens if you put a DS on that table? Probably destroys the universe. No biggie.
Probot @ May 31st 2007 1:05AM
Video of Nintendo's E3 2005. Zelda's Pond
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fG5AXmxg6Fg
OhJustSomeRandomGuy @ May 31st 2007 1:09AM
This seems fairly useless for most games, but board games would get a nice kick in the pants, as would CCGs.
Warhammer 40K without the setup, and trying to determine firing arcs, range and line of sight. That'd be great.
For like 100 people.
Noid @ May 31st 2007 1:10AM
check the official site here. http://www.microsoft.com/surface/
we were sent it earlier today at work from microsoft.
samfish @ May 31st 2007 1:14AM
I want one of these and a copy of Photoshop and various other art programs.
...although I can't even afford a Cintiq monitor, sooo....
I imagine that it would be an absolute nightmare working on this thing for anyone who has a cat, though.
Anyhow, even though Microsoft is working on this, Nintendo will probably be first out of the gate with a console built around this technology.
And the fanboys...they will scream "gimmick" until their throats bleed.
kronos6 @ May 31st 2007 1:20AM
microsoft has been working on this tech for a couple years now....it was shown about 2 years ago but without the camera/phone wireless interfacing and not as in depth as this
samfish @ May 31st 2007 1:20AM
This, by the way, is supposedly* from Apple:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6379146923853181774
*I've heard some people say it's not Apple. I can't seem to find any real info on it. Not as polished as Surface, but it shows more possibilities.
driven2sin @ May 31st 2007 1:22AM
its not touch screen.. it is lame cameras
France @ May 31st 2007 1:42AM
This is so old. Japan has had this for years. The US is behind, when it comes to tech.
Markusdragon @ May 31st 2007 1:42AM
Ah, but what happens when you put a coffee cup on it?
J44xm @ May 31st 2007 2:17AM
Some pretty myopic thinking here.
lejakl @ May 31st 2007 2:34AM
You guys ever feel like whenever they use multi-touch screens, they do it ever so cautiously?
I mean, its cool and all. But I wanna know I can drop a coffee mug on it and not lose my coffee table, yanno?
Erik Novak @ May 31st 2007 3:12AM
it's more than just a multi-touch, it also recognizes input devices, and credit cards and whatnot.
XGamerX @ May 31st 2007 3:12AM
I doubt many developers will jump on this out of the gate. Microsoft will have to launch its own titles to get it off the ground. That is once the price comes down to the point it becomes a potential household item.
http://gamergeddon.com/
jSn @ May 31st 2007 3:33AM
This was at CES or something. It seems as if M$ purchased the technology for use in a commercial market. I think the guy who originally created it saw it as a new way for people to use computers if I recall correctly.
Whatever, I'm sure I'll own one sometime in the future - even if it's not that amazing of a tech. To the guy who said Japan's had this for years - can you give a link or two as to who's made it and what they're called.
mocax @ May 31st 2007 3:55AM
Microsoft's Surface is based on Jeff Han's research.
Makes use of special glass panels and infrared cameras. So cameras inside the table can see special tags or barcodes on the underside of items like wine glass, or dinner plate.
iPhone's concept is more traditional.
Joni @ May 31st 2007 4:30AM
Reminds me of "citywall" running on Ubuntu
http://citywall.org/pages/about
Daufufa @ May 31st 2007 4:50AM
Taito is already using similer technology in their arcade game
http://aquarian-ac.net/aaa/asobi_rule.html
bearattack79 @ May 31st 2007 4:56AM
I work on Slot Machines like that.
Burnt Meatloaf @ May 31st 2007 5:17AM
This interface paradigm works fine with a very small amount of information. However, it doesn't scale very well. I've seen all kids of things like this for more than a decade, and nothing ever makes it into real-world use.
It does, however, give us one bright glimpse of the future: the death of file requesters. Come on... I had a file requester replacement on my Amiga about 15 years ago called Magic Requester that was infinitely more powerful than the pathetic waste that comes with XP.
I don't know what it is about desktop widgets that gets geeks excited.
RJ @ May 31st 2007 5:19AM
It has potential. I've been waiting for computers to be going this route ever since I saw those desks in Starship Troopers. Watching the map part makes me think of combining that with Civilization. Seeing some of the other multitouch videos and seeing how it can rotate and zoom, playing Civilization like that would be awesome. The world could be an actual globe that you rotate and zoom in to specific locations.
Kye @ May 31st 2007 5:54AM
Must remember to never ever put wallet, mobile or camera on the table ever again.
staxontoplyon23 @ May 31st 2007 6:07AM
"it's more than just a multi-touch, it also recognizes input devices, and CREDIT CARDS and whatnot."
Yeah, can't wait to swipe my Credit Card into a MS device, that will bring gameplay excitement to all new levels, like the realistic feeling of paranoia about their security track record. Or the sinking feeling that I microtransacted myself into a huge bill. In MS land, game plays YOU.
Neebs @ May 31st 2007 6:25AM
No matter who you are, that is cool shit.
Bluebreaker @ May 31st 2007 6:40AM
The first thing I thought of when they announced this on the news plain as day: "Tom Clancy's Endwar"
It reminded me of how the general used something like this to command his army.
Le Driver @ May 31st 2007 7:01AM
One immediate gaming use comes to mind: pinball. Tap the table in one spot to activate one flipper, tap the table in another spot to activate the opposite flipper, hold down your finger to draw back the spring which releases the ball. Voila. Digital pinball table.
-Le Driver
http://www.rpgb.blogspot.com
AK @ May 31st 2007 7:18AM
Wow, the University of Illinois had their own prototype around a year ago and I played it. Overall, I don't think that this will succeed because the internet and coffee is better.
Tom Hayden @ May 31st 2007 8:05AM
Didn't HP already make this and show it off at their 40th anniversary thing a while back?
nate @ May 31st 2007 8:54AM
the guy that says japan has this is essentially right. with a caveat and a bonus.
these japanese arcade games use cards in the same way that this microsoft thing uses devices, but they save a fair bit of cash by not using a touch screen, but a seperate screen that reacts to the touchin.
the bonus is that its all joined together in groups of 5-16 and the overall action is displayed on a big screen.
billychaos @ May 31st 2007 9:26AM
So what happens if my fat ass cat decides to lay on it, and all those cat owners know, your cat WILL lay on it rather you like it or not. It will mostly try to lay on it when you are using it.
Arglor @ May 31st 2007 9:49AM
@ SAMFISH
Thats not Apple. Its a film from some NYU student technology proggy. It was released february of 2006 and Engadget has a whole article about it here:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/09/nyus-multi-touch-sensing-through-frustrated-total-internal-refl/
It got me excited a while back, and now i *hope* they have a patent and won't be ripped off by Microsoft or at least that Microsoft consulted them before doing the whole surface approach.
There was another vid of a screen that used input from objects to manipulate images (i.e. it was a video game where you used squares to make "platforms" for animated stick figures to walk across.) Not sure where that went in the internet storage bin.
Benjamin09 @ May 31st 2007 10:23AM
13. Didn't Nintendo do something very similar to this at their E3 booth a couple of years ago? It was a pond with fish that reacted to the waves.
hahaha, that has to do with the shadows. that is nothing like Surface.
Jonathan Tran @ May 31st 2007 10:28AM
This should really be used for:
1. RTS games. Starcraft 2 + this table = awesome
2. Interactive board games and card games: Add features to board games like score tallies, or animations. Add a tiny barcode to Magic or whatever card game cards, the table can auto enforce rules so you can stop explaining to your dumb friends that NO THEY CANNOT USE "PROTECTION FROM WHITE" AGAINST WHITE PEOPLE
3. Photos, as shown
4. Can you say: Disco is back?
Rallion @ May 31st 2007 11:02AM
"Yeah, can't wait to swipe my Credit Card into a MS device"
Do you have any idea how many cash registers run on Windows?
tetracycloide @ Jun 1st 2007 10:10AM
Seeing the words 'Microsoft' and 'effortless' in the same sentance is always good for a laugh, thank you joystiq.
MattGamer @ May 31st 2007 12:02PM
Ha ha! Wow, I can now get scammed easier. Just throw my credit card anyplace and there you go, they get to charge whatever to your card. Nice. ;]
Yes, this would be a great gaming device, but I doubt I will be able to play (or even own) one for at least 7-10 years.
mark @ May 31st 2007 12:24PM
But what happens when you get a blue screen or red lights of death? I'm not paying to ship that thing out... :X