Touchscreen interfaces…is Microsoft Surface useful in businesses?

"What is Microsoft Surface?" That is what I thought when I heard about this in the course: User Interface Design. I was impressed! It was so new and fascinating to me that I would like to know more about this innovative interface…! And would it also be useful in businesses/organizations? What do you think?

First of all, Microsoft Surface has made an absolutely spectacular demo movie…take a look at the video you can see on the mainpage of my blog ("Microsoft Surface: Hands-on First Look")

When I first saw this video I was amazed about the possibilities and the design of this interface. You can manipulate objects on the screen with your fingers. Drag virtual photos to sort them, flick an on-screen globe to spin it and so on. This new Surface design, has a multi-touch screen. You can use two fingers (or even more) and, for example, you can drag two corners of a photograph outward to zoom in on it. But how is this possible? A projector sits underneath the tabletop, projecting images onto it. Five video cameras observe your hand movements and relay information to the computer.

Obviously, Microsoft Surface is the greatest multi-touch device on earth (in my opinion greater than the Iphone) and is rolling out to business customers in a variety of industries. Microsoft has designed an amazing device, one that essentially creates an entirely new market space. Although there are more multi-touch devices, but I had never seen anything that compares to the Surface…in terms of size, versatility and scalability!

A main aspect of this multi-touch design is an innovative twist, namely interaction, between people but also with other electronics. An example interaction with other electronics (which is obvious showed in the video demonstration) is that you can take some pictures. When you set the camera down on the table top, the fresh photos come pouring out of it into a virtual puddle on the screen, a slick, visual way to indicate that you’ve just downloaded them. Next, you can set a mobile phone down on the table, and copy photos into it just by dragging them into the mobiles zone.
The Surface design will also give an extra dimension in relation to the interaction between people, which is very useful in some organizations. This machine is already installed in T-Mobile stores, hotels, casino’s and video game stores. So Microsoft Surface is indeed useful in some businesses!!
Did I make you curious about how businesses really make use of the possibilities of Microsoft Surface? If so, give you’re reaction on this blog and tell me how you think businesses can use this Surface design?

In my next blog I will give you the details of how organizations implement Microsoft Surface and which opportunities, I think, this multi-touch screen brings, especially in relation with their customers.

See you next time!

Linda