MAHESH.N

MICROSOFT SURFACE COMPUTER

Microsoft Surface

Developer(s) Microsoft

Initial release April 17[1] 2008

Stable release Surface 2.0 / 2011

Development status

Commercial applications

Operating system Surface: Windows Vista, Surface 2.0: Windows 7

Available in English

Website www.microsoft.com/surface/

What is Microsoft surface?• Microsoft Surface is a surface

computing  platform that responds to natural hand genrates and

real world object• has a 360-degree user interface,

a 30 in (76 cm) reflective surface

• It is multitouch computer with different look & feel.

• Surface has been optimized to respond to 52 touches at a time

HISTORY2001: Microsoft researchers “Steve Bathiche and Andy Wilson” developed idea of interactive table that could understand the manipulation of physical pieces.2003: 1st prototype model named T1which is based on an IKEA table was born. Team saw the value of the surface computer beyond simply gaming and began to favor those applications that took advantage of the unique ability of Surface to recognize physical objects placed on the table.

HISTORY(contd)

2005 :Attention turned to its form factor- Tub proto type was designed.2007:Final structure finalised,interactive tabletop device was built that seamlessly brings both the physical and virtual worlds into one.

FEATURES OF SURFACE COMPUTING

Direct interaction : Users can actually “grab” digital information with their hands and interact with content by touch and gesture, without the use of a mouse or keyboard.

Multi-touch contact : Surface computing recognizes many points of contact simultaneously, not just from one finger, as with a typical touch screen, but up to dozens and dozens of items at once.

FEATURES

Multi-user experience : The horizontal form factor makes it easy for several people to gather around surface computers together, providing a collaborative, face-to-face computing experience.Object recognition : Users can place physical objects on the surface to trigger different types of digital responses, including the transfer of digital content.

STRUCTURE

screen

CPU:

Projector

Infrared

(1) Screen: it tabletop into a large horizontal "multitouch" screen, capable of processing multiple inputs from multiple users. The Surface can also recognize objects by their shapes .

(2) Infrared: Surface's "machine vision" operates in the near-infrared spectrum, using an 850-nanometer-wavelength LED light source aimed at the screen. When objects touch the tabletop, the light reflects back and is picked up by multiple infrared cameras with a net resolution of 1280 x 960.

(3) CPU: Surface uses many of the same components found in everyday desktop computers — a Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM and a 256MB graphics card. Wireless communication with devices on the surface is handled using WiFi and Bluetooth antennas (future versions may incorporate RFID or Near Field Communications). The underlying operating system is a modified version of Microsoft Vista.

(4) Projector: Microsoft's Surface uses the same DLP light engine found in many rear projection HDTVs. The footprint of the visible light screen, at 1024 x 768 pixels, is actually smaller than the invisible overlapping infrared projection to allow for better recognition at the edges of the screen.

SPECIFICATIONS

Surface

Surface 2.0

surface• Surface is a 30-inch (76 cm) display in a table-

like form factor, 22 inches (56 cm) high, 21 inches (53 cm) deep, and 42 inches (107 cm) wide

os: Windows Vista :

available version:• Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.13 GHz

• 2GB DDR2 RAM

• 250GB SATA Hard Drive

Surface2.0

• The Surface 2.0 Experience" has a 40 in (102 cm) 1080p LCD HD screen,

• 2.9GHz AMD Athlon II X2 processor, and Radeon HD 6700M

• Os: Windows 7$& Windows Phone 7

WORKING

Microsoft Surface uses cameras to sense objects, hand gestures and touch. This user input is then processed and displayed using rear projection.Microsoft Surface uses this rear projection system which displays an image onto the underside of thin diffuser.Image processing system processes the camera images to detect fingers, custom tags and other objects such as paint brushes when touching the display.The objects recognized with this system are reported to applications running in the computer so that they can react to object shapes, 2D tags, movement and touch.

FUTURE INNOVATIONS

Surface will continue to be sold to and used by restaurants, retail and public entertainment venues.

Computer scientists hope to incorporate this kind of technology in peoples’ daily lives… Future goals are to surround people with intelligent surfaces (look up recipes on your kitchen counter or table, control TV with coffee table, etc.

Every household may have one in place of their everyday coffee table.

CONCLUSION

Microsoft Surface is the future of computers.

Fundamentally changes the way we interact with technology.

Surface takes existing technology and presents it in a new way. It isn't simply a touch screen, but more of a touch-grab-move-slide-resize-and-place-objects-on-top-of-screen, and this opens up new possibilities that weren't there before.