The Touce-screen Table Can we play on this?

[ackotheadvertiser 0]

Okay, this was also meant for my site, so please do not abuse as well. It's just news. What do you think? According to me, I'd like to have it, but it's a bit too expensive. Here's the article:As for now, I'll be giving full details on the capability of the one and only.. The Touch-screen Table. This great Product will be released in stores in 2010, and will cost anywhere between $4,000 to $10,000. Depending on your location. Some of the amazing features this product holds are (for example) the Image and Video viewing. If you have an every-day Digital Camera, you could easily withdraw photos and video files simply by placing your digital camera on top of the glass layer of the Touch-screen Table. Once you've withdrawn the desired Photos and/or Videos, you can Scale their size and even move them around as if they were really on the table. As for having some touch-screen fun, you can easily draw using hundreds of different Brushes and Tools that will each individually affect your illustration. Drawing on the Touch-Screen table allows you to use anything, as long as it can touch the screen. If you want to use all of your fingers to draw at once, that's easily possible. "It's as Easy as touching a screen", as some might say. One of the very interesting Features of the Touch-Screen table include Food! Yes, Food! The Touch-Screen table allows you to select out of hundreds of restourants depending on your Location, and then you can easy click and drag the food into a basket! Then, you place your Credit Card on the Glass Layer of the Table, and it withdraws the money on it's own! Within 30 minutes of your time, you will have your food delivered to you, and no Cash is needed. It's as Easy as That. Yes, this is For Real.

[Tramposch 1]

I assume you are talking about the Microsoft Surface. All of your points are true, except for one. When you said you could put any digital camera or other device on it and get pictures and video, that isn't true. It needs a receiver (I don't know what technology they will use, maybe wireless, maybe bluetooth) inside the device for that to work. You can't just set it on there and say "go" and expect magic to happen. Things don't interface like that now. Other than that, I am looking forward to this.

[Digitalidad 0]

I just watched a video about that table on YouTube some days ago and I wondered if it was a hoax. It looked just to good ?Now, about the food, that's just a simple software app. If it's not somehow bound to the table's hardware it could be used with any kind of device, including any old computer with internet access and no touch screen. Frankly speaking I think that thing will be just too expensive at the beginning -like most new technologies- and will not be very successfull in sales terms. Maybe in 2010 it will be more popular when we get cheaper displays, have you heard about electronic ink? Now that sounds interesting.?

[novoAlias 0]

I just watched a video about that table on YouTube some days ago and I wondered if it was a hoax. It looked just to good Now, about the food, that's just a simple software app. If it's not somehow bound to the table's hardware it could be used with any kind of device, including any old computer with internet access and no touch screen. Frankly speaking I think that thing will be just too expensive at the beginning -like most new technologies- and will not be very successfull in sales terms. Maybe in 2010 it will be more popular when we get cheaper displays, have you heard about electronic ink? Now that sounds interesting.

I love e-ink I'm trying to get an e-ink license plate for uhh... research purposes.

What I don't understand about the microsoft surface is the 10,000 price tag. At my university me and a couple of other students built a functioning multitouch surface using about $80 worth of materials. It wasn't that amazing to look at but it worked well and the technology was very simple. Adding an internal projector is not that much of a leap, and from there you can simply include a mid-high range computer with linux based GUI and voila! An honest to goodness james bond-esque touch table. These are actually roughly our plans for this coming year, unless someone distracts us with a high speed camera or something just as cool.

What kind of price would you consider worthwhile? Because thinking about it from off the shelf parts (not free/cheap second hand parts which would be just as good)....

Box, LED's, mirrors and other shite.. $100-200
High Quality IR Webcam $100
High Quality Projector $1000+
Mid-high end computer $500+
Software $ Free.ish

Total ~$2000 US

And the best part? You can have it now! I honestly dont know where microsoft is coming from...

[Tramposch 1]

Keep in mind there are also new technologies involved, and probably a lot of them we have no clue of because it isn't available to the public. One that is the most widely known is the ability to place gadgets on it, as mentioned before. Also, this is a 30" screen, that isn't a projector and is a legit touch screen, unlike many monitors that are loosely defined as touch screens that use add on films or sensors to make touching work. These are not as efficient as screen built for touching. But I do agree, though, that $10k is a bit steep...

[novoAlias 0]

Keep in mind there are also new technologies involved, and probably a lot of them we have no clue of because it isn't available to the public. One that is the most widely known is the ability to place gadgets on it, as mentioned before. Also, this is a 30" screen, that isn't a projector and is a legit touch screen, unlike many monitors that are loosely defined as touch screens that use add on films or sensors to make touching work. These are not as efficient as screen built for touching. But I do agree, though, that $10k is a bit steep...

Most of the new technologies are available as open source... Also the projector/IR touch screen combination is actually pretty capable as long as the light conditions do not change drastically. It can easily fit inside a surface scale coffee table and better yet, it can be expanded to whatever size you like....

Here are some instructions and a video on making a touch surface that resembles a drafting desk... http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/
Here is a project underway using IR/projector/mirror and personally I think it looks better than the surface... http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

As for the gadget stuff, phones should be a piece of cake, there is already software to interact with your phone via bluetooth. Cameras would be harder, unless they too had bluetooth. Something we found is that paper with writing can be just about read if placed face down on the table, so logically a high resolution webcam should be able to 'read' and correlate with a cards details stored in the computer. And really, would you rather trust ubuntu or a logistically challenged windows computer with your credit card details? I know which i'd pick...

Alot of the cutting edge stuff is really being done by the masses these days and not by the imaginatively challenged multi billion dollar companies.
If you don't believe me check these out:
Want a VR environment that reacts to where your head is? (so you can look 'behind' things onscreen) It's $30 and here http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/
Want to integrate real life with virtual reality? Try this http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

But thats just my take, the way I see it by the time the surface finally comes out home built variations running on home brew software will be streets ahead and gaining speed.
Edited February 4, 2009 by novoAlias (see edit history)

[Digitalidad 0]

Keep in mind there are also new technologies involved, and probably a lot of them we have no clue of because it isn't available to the public. One that is the most widely known is the ability to place gadgets on it, as mentioned before. Also, this is a 30" screen, that isn't a projector and is a legit touch screen, unlike many monitors that are loosely defined as touch screens that use add on films or sensors to make touching work. These are not as efficient as screen built for touching. But I do agree, though, that $10k is a bit steep...

In fact no monitor is born with a touch screen. You have a monitor and you put a touch sensor on top of the screen (and a controller card and drivers inside), and you get a touch screen monitor. Maybe you are talking about the difference between the monitors that are sold already with a touch sensor inside their case and the "touch screens" you can buy for a few dollars and put on top of your monitor -externally, which, I agree are not of high quality and tend to get broken soon. Now, there are several touch technologies too, for example infrared, capacitive (electric draw on the surface), resistive and acoustic waves. Today the most common (and cheapest I believe) is resistive.


Whatever... In the end, as I said before (too), this table is way too expensive

[Veradesigns 0]

This table is mainly used by businesses so people can have fun ether play with there pictures from there phone or camera, and watch videos not only that but they can just slide there credit card through the table and the bill would be payed they can also but items from the table like for example beverages, Microsoft indeed bill gates did an excellent job creating this magnificent peace of work. Hopefully they have computers like these soon.

[ackotheadvertiser 0]

Well yes, this table is used for business, fun or just viewing stuff the easier way. I think it is pretty awsome. I am still not sure about the credit card and the putting camera on it thing, maybe you will must have a cable or something to connect the camera with it. And really, where does Microsoft finds these stuff from lol? They don't have enough profit already? Bill Gates created a lot of stuff to make our life easier, if it wasn't for him, the computers tehnology would off been pretty much nowhere.