# Microsoft Surface. Wow!



## Plane Sailing (May 30, 2007)

I've just heard about Microsofts new o/s platform "Surface". They've been working on it in secret for five years, apparently, and it is due to be launched with T-Mobile and Caesars Palace by the end of 2007, or so The Register says.

Take a look

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

It's going to be a while before it is consumer level technology, but... me wantee! 

Cheers


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## XCorvis (May 30, 2007)

Looks like it has awesome potential for gaming, but I shudder to think of what happens when you spill a coke on it...


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## DethStryke (May 30, 2007)

XCorvis said:
			
		

> Looks like it has awesome potential for gaming, but I shudder to think of what happens when you spill a coke on it...




It's under a hard plastic top, so nothing would happen aside from your new need for paper towels.


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## ThirdWizard (May 30, 2007)

It's a giant DS.


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## Thornir Alekeg (May 30, 2007)

If I got one for home it would probably spend all its time covered in craft projects, school papers and junk mail.  

It does seem like interesting technology.  I'll be curious to see how it gets accepted and used.


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## Mercule (May 30, 2007)

That is pretty cool.  I wonder how it will behave in the real-world.


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## Ashrem Bayle (May 30, 2007)

This is the coolest thing ever.
Video: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4217348.html?page=1


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## DonTadow (May 30, 2007)

BOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Dangit, i just read the article and was about to englighten my fellow enworlders with the next step in dungeons and dragons and someone beats me to it.  5k actually isnt that bad for me. I might try to pick one up in a year or too.


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## borc killer (May 30, 2007)

that would be the ultamate table for gaming.


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## Ashrem Bayle (May 30, 2007)

borc killer said:
			
		

> that would be the ultamate table for gaming.




Yep. You'd have any "miniature" you'd ever need for free forever.


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## Mycanid (May 30, 2007)

mm HMMM! VERY interesting ....


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## Hand of Evil (May 30, 2007)

With price drops and such, this will be down to little in no time.  Most of the cost that I see in the video is the monitor, everything looks to be off the shelf stuff, besides MS wants as many out there are possible, so they can sell you upgrades!


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## HeavenShallBurn (May 30, 2007)

I foresee another Segwe(sp?)

It does look like the ultimate game table but it's price is set too high for really wide adoption at 5k.  On top of that it seems like a one trick pony, a gimic.  Sure it allows you to essentially play with pictures and videos intuitively and quickly get files out of devices but other than that it doesn't seem to have utility.  How do you word process or spreadsheet on it?  How do you write code?  Ultimately what little I've seen doesn't show it acting as anything more than a media portal, and at 5k it's pricing itself way outside the market for that.


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## Hand of Evil (May 30, 2007)

Ashrem Bayle said:
			
		

> Yep. You'd have any "miniature" you'd ever need for free forever.



Barcode a label on the bottom that reads character data, have an application that displays 'firing arcs' and brings up a 1x1 grid and a overhead pic.  Damn sweet.


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## Hand of Evil (May 30, 2007)

You can see a video here also: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18936536/


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## DethStryke (May 30, 2007)

HeavenShallBurn said:
			
		

> I foresee another Segwe(sp?)
> 
> It does look like the ultimate game table but it's price is set too high for really wide adoption at 5k.  On top of that it seems like a one trick pony, a gimic.  Sure it allows you to essentially play with pictures and videos intuitively and quickly get files out of devices but other than that it doesn't seem to have utility.  How do you word process or spreadsheet on it?  How do you write code?  Ultimately what little I've seen doesn't show it acting as anything more than a media portal, and at 5k it's pricing itself way outside the market for that.




http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/30/technology/microsoft.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

This gives you a bit more information.

The device can be interacted with via touch, stylus (so write what you want) and voice activated (which I would agree may be far from perfect, but it has improved quite a bit in the past 5 years). A demonstration of current uses is going to be very limited - it's in prototype form currently. Once it is on the open market, there are going to be tons of things to do with it because developers as a community can have a go at it.

I'm not sure what you mean about another Segway. If you mean a widely used device that has technology embedded which has great potential beyond the pilot application (the dual-wheel person mover), then I can understand. That's not what I'm getting from your context.

I do work in DC and major airports, and Segways are a huge hit with law-enforcement and commuters/tourists. You can even rent Segways for your family in DC to tool around to all the sites. I see roving bands of out-of-town families in DC-Branded Segways zipping between monuments and museums all the time. The base of their design was to show off the Auto-balancing technology, which has many other commercial applications - I just don't want to hijack the thread even more.


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## HeavenShallBurn (May 30, 2007)

Thanks I hadn't seen that one.  It does seem to have more uses than the demo video showed.  Still skeptical though but I usually am.  And I knew there was something wrong with my spelling  



			
				DethStryke said:
			
		

> I'm not sure what you mean about another Segway. If you mean a widely used device that has technology embedded which has great potential beyond the pilot application (the dual-wheel person mover), then I can understand. That's not what I'm getting from your context.



Segway-an innovative and interesting device that's ultimately not very practical and won't be widely adopted.
Technologically the Segway is both innovative and advanced but as a device it's just not useful to the vast majority of people and not practical except in isolated circumstances.  I was commenting that I foresaw basically the same sort of small-scale niche use for the Surface as the Segway rather than broad adoption across the population.  They seem to be widespread because you're in one of the specific areas where their market niche is practical.  Aside from certain types of metropolitan areas that occupy a tiny geographic area they're utterly useless as a means of transportation that's why only about 24000 have been sold.


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## Angel Tarragon (May 30, 2007)

I've known about this for a couple months now. It helps to be a subscriber to PC World and PC Magazine.


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## DethStryke (May 30, 2007)

HeavenShallBurn said:
			
		

> Thanks I hadn't seen that one.  It does seem to have more uses than the demo video showed.  Still skeptical though but I usually am.  And I knew there was something wrong with my spelling




No problem!   I was surprised that the CNN article was so much more effective at explaining the benefits. The sensing of devices placed on the table is where the real fun will be, in my opinion. That can just be manipulated WAY too much to NOT be useful. The price is reflective of the fact that there are probably no manufacturers ready and able to make the product without significant extra cost. I would expect being able to find this table under 1k within 3 years of launch though (more or less as the CNN article mentions).

Skepticism in consumers is a great thing. The adage that "if it looks too good to be true, it usually is" has a valid reason for existence. I prefer to watch and wait with a fair amount of optimism first. The first of anything is always a horrible idea that will never catch on...  

I will agree that my experience with the Segway is largely anecdotal, but I did see a trade show presentation in the last six months that had off-road and climbing wheel chairs (ones that could sense and literally climb up curbs and steps) that used the balancing technology. I don't know how much experience you have with ADA-related issues (Americans with Disabilities Act) but that is a HUGE deal for the day-to-day lives of many people - especially considering the amount of amputees our Armed Forces are seeing in the past 4 years and beyond.


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## Plane Sailing (May 30, 2007)

HeavenShallBurn said:
			
		

> I foresee another Segwe(sp?)
> 
> It does look like the ultimate game table but it's price is set too high for really wide adoption at 5k.  On top of that it seems like a one trick pony, a gimic.  Sure it allows you to essentially play with pictures and videos intuitively and quickly get files out of devices but other than that it doesn't seem to have utility.




Well, considering that it is targeted at big companies with 'reception areas' of one form or another, 5k is a drop in the ocean compared to what it could bring them in returns. Microsoft plan to 'consumerise it', but not for several years - i.e. time for prices to come down dramatically. Just consider the PC power that one gets for £400 nowadays - and furthermore I remember back in the early 90's that many top end PCs (not servers) sold for about £4000 ($8000 dollars). What is the top end nowadays I wonder? About half that, I'd imagine.

It obviously isn't the kind of thing that you'd word-process on or write code on  However, it just may open up a brand new computing niche (in the same way that people don't write or code much seriously on PDA's, but PDAs and phone-PDAs opened up some brand new niche applications).

I, for one, welcome our multi-touch overlords of the future.


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## Ashrem Bayle (May 30, 2007)

Imagine that is your table top. (Minus the text of course.) You double tap your miniature and his character sheet pops up beside him. Maybe you even tap the weapon/attack you intend to use.

Tap the target you wish to attack, then tap the dice to roll. All the math is done, the character sheet for the enemy is updated with the damage...etc. etc.

Maybe there is a round tracker floating around the board to help you track initiative.

Imagine when you tap the character, the spaces he can legally move to are highlighted.

Tell the board what type of spell you are casting and you drag the spell "template" around to determine which enemies get affected.

Awesome....


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## Michael Morris (May 30, 2007)

HeavenShallBurn said:
			
		

> I foresee another Segwe(sp?)
> 
> It does look like the ultimate game table but it's price is set too high for really wide adoption at 5k.  On top of that it seems like a one trick pony, a gimic.  Sure it allows you to essentially play with pictures and videos intuitively and quickly get files out of devices but other than that it doesn't seem to have utility.  How do you word process or spreadsheet on it?  How do you write code?  Ultimately what little I've seen doesn't show it acting as anything more than a media portal, and at 5k it's pricing itself way outside the market for that.



 I'm sorry, but you're flat wrong. Segeway failed because there was no market for what amounted to an over-hyped, over-priced scooter.  This is an entirely new interface approach which will be picked up by other developers.

Price is a very poor and ultimately short sighted way at looking at this.  The first PC's where in the $3,000 to $5,000 range in 1980 -- in today's dollars that's around $5,000 - $10,000.  It will be ten to twenty years years before this technology gets to be as ubiquitous as PC's are now, but it's coming.

The move in computing is towards intuitive interfaces.  Mice and keyboards aren't intuitive.  Voice and gestures are.  Voice recognition is starting to become useful. Gesture recognition is becoming useful in devices like this.  Computers will in the end move towards conforming to our needs, not us to theirs. Only a select few people ever should need worry about the underpinnings of computers - those who enjoy it and make a career of it.  The goal for us, the programmers - is to develop computer systems so intuitive and responsive that you as the end user don't need to worry about learning and studying an interface.

This technology truly is exciting.  Sedgeway is not - very bad comparison.


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## WhatGravitas (May 30, 2007)

Michael Morris said:
			
		

> Computers will in the end move towards conforming to our needs, not us to theirs. Only a select few people ever should need worry about the underpinnings of computers - those who enjoy it and make a career of it.  The goal for us, the programmers - is to develop computer systems so intuitive and responsive that you as the end user don't need to worry about learning and studying an interface.



Right. And that's the reason why that thing is _as innovative as great!_. It's a huge step forward in interfacing (okay, the idea was there for a long time... but seeing that thing... y'know what I mean).

And for the "cannot write on it"... Yeah, if this thing advances, you will probably use it in combination with:

1) Voice recognition.
2) Pen recognition.
3) Keyboard emulation on the screen.

Because, in the end, the keyboard isn't the best thing that exists, it's just the best thing we have _now_.

The Surface is a step closer to everyday-technology: See, today, older people are struggling with modern computers, because they're not used to it. It's not intuitive.
Innovative technology must be usable by just looking at it. Everything else is... bad.

I'm happy with that development. Immensely happy.


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## Michael Morris (May 30, 2007)

Couple ideas on what this could be used for.


Harrah's will be one of the first customers - so depending on the sensitivity of the table's cameras to see the objects on the surface they could use special dice and cards that have their face values marked on the back in microprint as part of the back pattern so that the computer can see what it is but a human player could not.  This allows the house an extra layer of protection from cheating and something casinos *will* invest in since with all their vigilance against cheats and honest errors they still lose a couple million a year per location
When the user presses their finger to verify the charges the table could take an infrared snapshot of the user's fingerprint for verification.

That's just off the top of my head. If I brainstormed for a few days I could come up with more.


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## WhatGravitas (May 30, 2007)

Michael Morris said:
			
		

> That's just off the top of my head. If I brainstormed for a few days I could come up with more.



I see great use in following things:

1) Hyperlinking: Letters, books, and more could have a small barcode on the back/forward. After reading it, the computer downloads the appropriate e-mail/website/whatever - just by putting it on the desk.
For scientific stuff, that's huge. Crawling through references can be a royal PitA!

2) OCR/Scanning: With sufficiently high resolution, this can be a poor man's (or rich man's) scanner, far more intuitive than a flat-bed scanner. Imagine: Press it on the screen, and it remains there for your future perusal.

3) New forms of entertainment: Like the Wii. Just cooler. It's a great music instrument: Imagine you're a DJ, with access to all music and sounds in existence (or saved on your HD), reacting to your movements (you can control it by your speed, number of fingers and so on).

Of course, just top of my head.


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## Kaodi (May 30, 2007)

This certainly seems promising.

The one thing though, I was thinking... With greater size, comes more room for hardware. With more and more powerful hardware, comes an electricity bill to make the average person run screaming in terror.

Actually, that leads into another thought... I wonder how well you could make one of these things work for multiple people at a time... Four times more power isn't quite so bad if four people can use it for different things at once...


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## HeavenShallBurn (May 30, 2007)

Michael Morris said:
			
		

> I'm sorry, but you're flat wrong. Segeway failed because there was no market for what amounted to an over-hyped, over-priced scooter.  This is an entirely new interface approach which will be picked up by other developers...snip...This technology truly is exciting.  Sedgeway is not - very bad comparison.




After googling it and finding more info on functionality that wasn't shown in the first demo I saw I agree that it does look a lot more useful.  And it would be the true ultimate gaming table that's for sure.


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## Michael Morris (May 30, 2007)

Kaodi said:
			
		

> This certainly seems promising.
> 
> The one thing though, I was thinking... With greater size, comes more room for hardware. With more and more powerful hardware, comes an electricity bill to make the average person run screaming in terror.
> 
> Actually, that leads into another thought... I wonder how well you could make one of these things work for multiple people at a time... Four times more power isn't quite so bad if four people can use it for different things at once...



 Size for somethings is going to be determined by the fact that human beings are size X to Y and we aren't going to evolve to be any bigger or smaller anytime soon.  This thing doesn't _have_ to be 30" but that's what is comfortable to us.  The components that detect objects on the table do not _have_ to be at the scale they are, but that's a comfortable size.

Cellphones being as small as they are is a bit of a fad - keyboards and keys need to be a certain size for comfort reasons - there's no real way around this.  While you can cram more processing power into the space, the space isn't going to shrink below a certain point.

I mean, the desktop PC hasn't physically become smaller for close to two decades now. Other _types_ of computers have arisen to fill mobile niches, but PC's are the size they are due largely to human comfort standards.


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## Megatron (May 30, 2007)

An oversized LCD tablet? Wacom did it years ago. Not news.


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## Plane Sailing (May 30, 2007)

Megatron said:
			
		

> An oversized LCD tablet? Wacom did it years ago. Not news.




You need to look again. Wacom have never done multi-input devices, let alone computers with the ability to communicate wirelessly and directly with devices in the way that the demonstrations show.

If it was an oversized LCD tablet it wouldn't be news. However, it is a long, long, long way past that 16 year old concept.

Look again.


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## Plane Sailing (May 31, 2007)

Incidentally, the first commercial, public, multi-touch device that we're likely to see is probably the Apple iphone - it demonstrates the two-finger scaling of photographs in their demo at http://www.apple.com/iphone

Cheers


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## Redrobes (May 31, 2007)

Hang on guys - this is really old stuff !

There is this :-

http://www.touchtable.com/site/index.php

or even this - THIS is the ULTIMATE gaming table...

http://www.ms.northropgrumman.com/images/TerrainTable_FS.pdf


But almost everything that you guys are raving about exists right now. I have been plugging ViewingDale with its hardware accelerated pan and zoom mapping for over a year and there has been scant interest. You can have all that about having your map with grids and monsters on it. It has dynamic character sheets and the dice app rolls 3D dice with physics interactions (That bit is free try it right now !). I actually thought that the videos showed quite a lot of lag on the movement of the simulated photos, and I did not see smooth zoom into those maps at all.

And I am not the only one. Many other of the virtual table tops are creating software that do exactly what this does only you don't get it with the touch panels. Splitting this technology up into the hardware and the software, the hardware has existed for years as a specialist item but the software you can have right now for a  few bucks custom made for RPG gaming with all of the art to boot !

This table is neat and of course I want one, but it would not give me anything that I cannot do right now except that it would have to be done with a vertical monitor and a mouse.

And Ashram Bayle - you seriously need to look at some VTT's

http://www.viewing.ltd.uk/cgi-bin/viewingdale.pl?category=pic_page8


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## jaerdaph (May 31, 2007)

Wow, this is really amazing, especially the multi-user/multi-input and device recognition capabilites. I can't wait until this makes it into the home. I already want the coffee table and one in my kitchen. It will be just like living on the Enterprise-D!

There is so much potential in this technology - the future is coming   



			
				Megatron said:
			
		

> An oversized LCD tablet? Wacom did it years ago. Not news.




Actually, a Walcom tablet is just an oversized mouse.


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## DonTadow (May 31, 2007)

jaerdaph said:
			
		

> Wow, this is really amazing, especially the multi-user/multi-input and device recognition capabilites. I can't wait until this makes it into the home. I already want the coffee table and one in my kitchen. It will be just like living on the Enterprise-D!
> 
> There is so much potential in this technology - the future is coming
> 
> ...



I have a projector setup. My setup cost about 800 total.  I have friends who spent anywhere between 1000 to 1800.  If this thing falls in price over the next couple of years, it could be in the 1000 to 2500 range, not a bad price. Considering with the projector setup, you have to buy replacement bulbs and get adequate mounting for the projector.


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## heruca (May 31, 2007)

Redrobes said:
			
		

> Ashram Bayle - you seriously need to look at some VTT's




I concur.


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## Hand of Evil (May 31, 2007)

I agree the tech has been around but those are selective items, MS will bring it to everyday business and then the home.  Just thinking of the uses for table top games, could be worth millions alone.


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## Bagpuss (May 31, 2007)

The surface is able to read data from devices placed on top of it, so you could have a "3D miniatures" with chips in the base that transmit the data to the surface about the character to the application. 

You could even roll traditional style dice, which transmit what orientation they land in to the surface. Roll the dice on the surface and the surface then does the calculations for you.

Unfortunately at the price it currently is that's a long way off.


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## DethStryke (May 31, 2007)

Bagpuss said:
			
		

> You could even roll traditional style dice, which transmit what orientation they land in to the surface. Roll the dice on the surface and the surface then does the calculations for you.




Or simply read the number that's face down on the table to determine what number is on the other side...

Man, I haven't been this excited about a piece of new hardware since I got a 2400-baud modem for my C-64!


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## DMFTodd (May 31, 2007)

>> Imagine that is your table top. (Minus the text of course.) You double tap your miniature and his character sheet pops up beside him. Maybe you even tap the weapon/attack you intend to use.
Tap the target you wish to attack, then tap the dice to roll. All the math is done, the character sheet for the enemy is updated with the damage...etc. etc.

Imagine? That's how I play already with kloogewerks.


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## hexgrid (May 31, 2007)

Redrobes said:
			
		

> Hang on guys - this is really old stuff !




It's not that it's completely new, it's that it's a huge step closer to becoming a consumer product.


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## WhatGravitas (May 31, 2007)

Redrobes said:
			
		

> Hang on guys - this is really old stuff !



No, the concept and the involved technology is old.
But:
1) It responds to multi-touch, unlike Wacom stuff and can read off stuff.
2) Since it is based on cameras, the surface will be much more damage resistant, than these flimsy touch-sensitive surfaces.
3) It is planned as possibly wide-spread thingy, unlike the other tables, which are almost industry-only.


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## hexgrid (May 31, 2007)

Ashrem Bayle said:
			
		

> Imagine that is your table top. (Minus the text of course.) You double tap your miniature and his character sheet pops up beside him. Maybe you even tap the weapon/attack you intend to use.
> 
> Tap the target you wish to attack, then tap the dice to roll. All the math is done, the character sheet for the enemy is updated with the damage...etc. etc.
> 
> ...




Of course, this would mean that before you can run any encounter, large amounts of data have to be entered into the system, and you become limited by what the software has been programmed to handle (no new spells or classes, for example.) It would also be very difficult to create an interface that doesn't get in the way. These issues have been the downfall of any existing rpg software I've tried.

Instead, I think it would work best if it just emulated what a real table already does- give you maps and "pieces" of terrain to move around, and leave the actual mechanics to paper and dice.

Of course, a nice middle ground could probably be found between the software doing very little and trying to do too much.


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## Hand of Evil (May 31, 2007)

hexgrid said:
			
		

> Of course, this would mean that before you can run any encounter, large amounts of data have to be entered into the system, and you become limited by what the software has been programmed to handle (no new spells or classes, for example.) It would also be very difficult to create an interface that doesn't get in the way. These issues have been the downfall of any existing rpg software I've tried.
> 
> Instead, I think it would work best if it just emulated what a real table already does- give you maps and "pieces" of terrain to move around, and leave the actual mechanics to paper and dice.
> 
> Of course, a nice middle ground could probably be found between the software doing very little and trying to do too much.



I think a middle ground is the way to go, looking at what Fantasy Ground and Battle Ground are doing, but with the interface people could bring their own 'widgets' built in to their character sheets, just place your cell phone or PDA or IPod on the table top and there is your character sheet widget.


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## DaveMage (May 31, 2007)

Hmmmm....

If it's based on cameras, does that mean you have to be properly dressed to use it?    



As for me, I'm not seeing a use for this particular device in my home as it is right now.  (Though I certainly see the potential for the technology down the road in other devices.)


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## Ranger REG (Jun 1, 2007)

DaveMage said:
			
		

> As for me, I'm not seeing a use for this particular device in my home as it is right now.  (Though I certainly see the potential for the technology down the road in other devices.)



Other than for a game table, nah. More likely for business/office purpose, replacing or retrofitting conference tables to accomodate this technology; or in studios (still photography or filmmaking). If the technology is rugged enough, it could also serve as a military strategic command application.

If it can be built on pliable or flexible material and components, you could simpy roll it up for portability. No need lugging 50-inch plasma/lcd tv to family picnic on Super Bowl Sunday.

But I'm getting way ahead of myself, aren't I?


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## frog (Jun 1, 2007)

And now you see the true future plans of WotC digital initiative...


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## Ranger REG (Jun 1, 2007)

frog said:
			
		

> And now you see the true future plans of WotC digital initiative...



No, I do not. Screw DI.  :\


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## Hand of Evil (Jun 1, 2007)

Add to this Sony's new little item, a razor-thin display that bends like paper while showing full-color video. 
: http://www.circvsmaximvs.com/showthread.php?t=25342 DI is here1


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## WhatGravitas (Jun 1, 2007)

Hand of Evil said:
			
		

> Add to this Sony's new little item, a razor-thin display that bends like paper while showing full-color video.
> : http://www.circvsmaximvs.com/showthread.php?t=25342 DI is here1



For the CMless people: Yahoo! News about a bendable, paper-thin display, that can show full colour.

Heh. After years of seeing such stuff in Sci-Fi, we finally get it in real... I see so much combination with the MS Surface thing - a home with both would totally look like some Star Trek LCARS-and-PADD studio.


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## DonTadow (Jun 1, 2007)

frog said:
			
		

> And now you see the true future plans of WotC digital initiative...



I see what you're saying, and hasbro is a big enough company to be developing software for this thing already.  It wouldn't surprise me if WOTC said that this could play ap art in DI's far off future.


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## D.Shaffer (Jun 1, 2007)

Ranger REG said:
			
		

> Other than for a game table, nah. More likely for business/office purpose, replacing or retrofitting conference tables to accomodate this technology; or in studios (still photography or filmmaking). If the technology is rugged enough, it could also serve as a military strategic command application.



If it doesnt have to be a table, that opens up more applications too. No more needing a mouse to move stuff on your monitor, it'd be a more intuitive GUI.  I dont see anyone doing away with keyboards anytime soon, though.  As is, I type faster then I write and it doesnt cramp up my hand like handwriting tends to do. 

Make it a portable device and it'd make a great portable console, imagine a DS the size of a laptop.


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## Hand of Evil (Jun 1, 2007)

I will have to look at some old threads but not all that long ago there was a video of an intelligent whiteboard, where you would draw on it and it would animate and apply physics to your diagram.  Add that to this.

found it: http://media.skoopy.com/misc/whiteboard/

NOTE - the internal link on the page showing this vedio is not worker save...so don't click it as it is spam!


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## Le Noir Faineant (Oct 23, 2013)

Plane Sailing said:


> I've just heard about Microsofts new o/s platform "Surface". They've been working on it in secret for five years, apparently, and it is due to be launched with T-Mobile and Caesars Palace by the end of 2007, or so The Register says.
> 
> Take a look
> 
> ...


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## Kramodlog (Oct 23, 2013)

Talk about necromancy...


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## Janx (Oct 23, 2013)

goldomark said:


> Talk about necromancy...




And technically, The MS Surface tablets are NOT the same thing as this technology.  MS simply re-used the name for a different product.


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## Zombie_Babies (Oct 23, 2013)

What's that got to do with a 6 year old thread getting a new post put in it?


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## Le Noir Faineant (Oct 23, 2013)

Wait, what? This was in my newsfeed, I swear! -_-


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## darjr (Oct 23, 2013)

It was probably a spammer that got nixed before others saw it


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## Mustrum_Ridcully (Oct 24, 2013)

Janx said:


> And technically, The MS Surface tablets are NOT the same thing as this technology.  MS simply re-used the name for a different product.




Yup. The Surface tablet/notebooks are neat, but they are not even remotely as cool as the Surface table. Apparantly that's now called PixelSense?


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## Janx (Oct 24, 2013)

Mustrum_Ridcully said:


> Yup. The Surface tablet/notebooks are neat, but they are not even remotely as cool as the Surface table. Apparantly that's now called PixelSense?




I've met a few folks who have developed for it during the Surface era.  There were suitably impressed.  The instances of use seemed to be info kiosks and such at places like Disney or Exxon.  Expensive.  Flashy.

Also noticing from the Pixel Sense link, they reference a Samsung SUR40.  Clearly Samsung made the hardware before getting the memo that MS wanted to rename it.


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## Mustrum_Ridcully (Oct 24, 2013)

Janx said:


> I've met a few folks who have developed for it during the Surface era.  There were suitably impressed.  The instances of use seemed to be info kiosks and such at places like Disney or Exxon.  Expensive.  Flashy.




Seems the (game) table at home isn't in the stars right now. 



> Also noticing from the Pixel Sense link, they reference a Samsung SUR40.  Clearly Samsung made the hardware before getting the memo that MS wanted to rename it.



That's what I thought, too. 

It's a bit of a shame. I think Surface fit the name of it very well. It's not like you put something on your (computer) tablet... But I guess the name had some marketing appeal?


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## Plane Sailing (Oct 25, 2013)

Well, it's nice to see that the old 'Surface' table technology hasn't just been quietly dropped as I had feared. On the other hand, even though I've been interested in it for years, I'd not heard of the Pixel Sense (silly name!) so it isn't as if Microsoft are actually promoting it or anything.

Which is a bit of a shame, as it has the potential to be a game-changer technology, while their surface tablet is just a me-too development.

Cheers


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## darjr (Oct 26, 2013)

I so wish they had concentrated on this for the living room instead of surface. How much of a splash would they have made. Instead now I suspect that Apple TV might be something like it and, if true, Microsoft will be beaten to market again with something they very easily could have done first, really had first.


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