Today, we received the shipment from Microsoft at Veveo. If you have not heard of Microsoft Surface before, It is a touch screen based computer embedded in a table. The surface of table is illuminated from underneath by a projector (rear-projection) and touch input is implemented by reflecting IR radiation off the fingers and then being captured by five IR camera hidden inside the unit.
To learn more about Microsoft Surface head over to:
- Microsoft’s page on Surface
- Wikipedia article on Microsoft Surface
- Watch a Youtube video on Microsoft Surface
Unboxing Pictures
flickr set on microsoft surface unboxing
Some observations:
- It is very heavy!
- and expensive (around $15,000)
- The power socket is hidden underneath and is very difficult to access. The power button is equally well hidden and difficult to find.
- Installation was non-trivial. The touch input did not start working out of the box. We had to use the bundled mouse to initial installation steps.
- The “surface shell” with the ripples in the water is a great way to understand the potential of this device. It feels like you are touching water! and your brain expects that water will drip when you lift your fingers up. I think it is more realistic (compared to devices with smaller touch screens) because of the size of the display and the fact that it is aligned horizontally making it more natural.
- Since rear-projection is used for the display, the viewing angle is very wide (nearly 180 degrees)
- The matte finish on the touch surface as a good feel (almost like paper).