A new and improved Microsoft Surface SUR40 table has been showcased at CES 2012, and this updated version doesn’t even require your touch to operate. The design was originally an interactive touchscreen table, but now it operates more like a sense-screen table.
Microsoft has employed a special screen by Samsung that features an additional pixel (four instead of the standard three RGB pixels) that is actually a camera. The camera makes the screen on the Microsoft Surface SUR40 a giant lens, says PSFK. It can sense your fingers because it can seem them, so you don’t have to touch the screen to interact with the table. In fact, it can sense more than one users’ hands and even the direction your fingers are pointing.
Visit TheVerge.com to watch a video of the Microsoft Surface SUR40 table in action.
Interactive Sense-screen Tables
Microsoft Surface SUR40 Features an Improved User Interface
Trend Themes
1. Sense-screen Technology - The use of additional pixels for camera technology in surfaces leads to a new era of sense-screen surfaces, opening up opportunities for new interactive technologies.
2. Multi-user Interaction - Table cameras that can sense more than one user's hands at the same time open up the opportunity for interactive and collaborative group work.
3. Touchless Interfaces - The advent of touchless interactions with sense-screen technologies may lead to innovations in fields like healthcare and food service where hygiene is of utmost importance.
Industry Implications
1. Retail - Sense-screen technology could be used to create interactive product displays and immersive customer experiences in retail.
2. Hospitality - Touchless interfaces in the hospitality industry could improve hygiene standards in hotels, restaurants, and cafes.
3. Healthcare - Touchless interactions with sense-screen technology may lead to more hygienic medical equipment interfaces.