INTRODUCTION:

Over the past couple of years, a new class of interactive device has begun to emerge, what can best be described as surface computing.Surface computing is a new way of working with computers that moves beyond the traditional mouse-and-keyboard experience. It is a natural user interface that allows peopleto interact with digital content the same way they have interacted with everyday items such as photos, paintbrushes and music their entire life: with their hands, with gestures andby putting realworld objects on the surface. Surface computing opens up a whole new category of products for users to interact with.Surface computing is a completely intuitive and liberating way to interact withdigital content. It blurs the lines between the physical and virtual worlds. By using yourhands or placing other unique everyday objects on the surface such as an item youre going to purchase at a retail store or a paint brush you can interact with, share andcollaborate like youve never done before. Imagine youre out at a restaurant with friends and you each place your beverage on the table and all kinds of information appears by your glass, such as wine pairings with a restaurants menu. Then, with the flick of your finger, you order dessert and split the bill. We really see this as broadening content opportunities and delivery systems.Surface computing is a powerful

movement. In fact, its as significant as the move from DOS [Disk Operating System] to GUI [Graphic User Interface]. Our research shows that many people are intimidated and isolated by todays technology. Many features available in mobile phones, PCs and other electronic devices like digital cameras arent even used because the technology is intimidating. Surface computing breaks down those traditional barriers to technology so that people can interact with all kinds of digital content in a more intuitive, engaging and efficient manner. Its about technology adapting to the user, rather than the user adapting to the technology. Bringing this kind of natural user interface innovation to the computing space is what Surface Computing is all about.

HISTORY:
In 2001, Stevie Bathicheof Microsoft Hardware and Andy Wilson of Microsoft Research began working together on various projects that took advantage of their complementary expertise in the areas of hardware and software. In one of their regular brainstorm sessions, they started talking about an idea for an interactive table that could understand the manipulation of physical pieces. Although there were related efforts happening in academia, Bathiche and Wilson saw the need for a product where the interaction was richer and more

intuitive, and at the same time practical for everyone to use. This conversation was the beginning of an idea that would later result in the development of Surface, and over the course of the following year, various people at Microsoft involved in developing new product concepts, including the gaming-specific PlayTable, continued to think through the possibilities and feasibility of the project. Then in October 2001 a virtual team was formed to fully pursue bringing the idea to the next stage of development; Bathiche and Wilson were key members of the team.In early 2003, the team presented the idea to Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman, in a group review. Gates instantly liked the idea and encouraged the team to continue to develop their thinking.Surface prototypes, functionality and applications were continually refined. More than 85 early prototypes were built for use by software developers, hardware developers and user researchers.One of the key attributes of Surface is object recognition and the ability of objects placed on the surface to trigger different types of digital responses, including the transfer of digital content. This feature went through numerous rounds of testing and refining.At the same time, the original plan of using a single camera in the vision system was proving to be unreliable. After exploring a variety of options, including camera placement and different camera lens sizes, it was decided that Surface would use five

cameras that would more accurately detect natural movements and gestures from the surface.

KEY ATTRIBUTES:
Direct interaction.Users can actually grab digital information with their hands and interact with content through touch and gesture, without the use of a mouse or keyboard. Multitouchcontact: Surface computing recognizes many points of contact simultaneously, not just from one finger as with a typical touch screen, but up to dozens and dozens of items at once. Multiuser experience. The horizontal form factor makes it easy for several people to gather around surface computers together, providing a collaborative, facetoface computing experience. Object recognition. Users can place physical objects on the surface to trigger different types of digital responses, including the transfer of digital content.

HARDWARE:

Essentially, Microsoft Surface is a computer embedded in a mediumsized table, with a large, flat display on top that is touch-sensitive. The software reacts to the touch of any object, including human fingers, and can

track the presence and movement of many different objects at the same time. In addition to sensing touch, the Microsoft Surface unit can detect objects that are labeled with small "domino" stickers, and in the future, it will identify devices via radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags. An attractive glass table about three feet high, with a solid base that hides a fairly standard computer equipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, an AMI BIOS, 2 GB of RAM, and Windows Vista. 1) Screen: A diffuser turns the Surface's acrylic tabletop into a large horizontal "multitouch" screen, capable of processing multiple inputs from multiple users. The Surface can also recognize objects by their shapes or by reading coded "domino" tags. (2) Infrared Cams: Surface's "machine vision" operates in the near-infrared spectrum, using an 850-nanometer-wavelength LED light source aimed at the screen. When objects touch the tabletop, the light reflects back and is picked up by multiple infrared cameras with a net resolution of 1280 x 960. (3) CPU: Surface uses many of the same components found in everyday desktop computers a Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM and a 256MB graphics card. Wireless communication with devices on the surface is handled using WiFi and Bluetooth antennas (future versions may incorporate RFID or Near Field Communications). The underlying

operating system is a modified version of Microsoft Vista. (4) Projector: Microsoft's Surface uses the same DLP light engine found in many rearprojectionHDTVs. The footprint of the visible light screen, at 1024 x 768 pixels, is actually smaller than the invisible overlapping infrared projection to allow for better recognition at the edges of the screen. Unlike most touch screens, Surface does not use heat or pressure sensors to indicate when someone has touched the screen. Instead, five tiny cameras take snapshots of the surface many times a second, similar to how an optical mouse works, but on a larger scale. This allows Surface to capture many simultaneous touches and makes it easier to track movement, although the disadvantage is that the system cannot (at the moment) sense pressure.

WORKING:
The Surface Computer uses the concept of multi-touch for taking the input for its user. When the user touches the screen, the movement of his fingers are captured by thew five IR video cameras, present beneath the surface of the glass. These IR cameras are used to sense objects, hand gestures and finger touch.

It implements a rare projection system which displays on to the underside of a thin diffuser. An image processing system processes the camera images to detect the fringes. The objects recognized are reported to the applications running in the computer so that they can react to the objects shape, movement and touch of the finger.

deficiency.Brush, paint, and reveal, the last of which is kind of a negative brush that shows a background bitmap underneath .

MUSIC:
The Music application works like a virtual jukebox, displaying music arranged by album and allowing the user to flip over albums, select songs, and drag them to the "Now Playing" section. The album browser works a bit like Apples Cover Flow, although many albums are visible at once without scrolling.In addition to playing music that is already stored on the unit's hard drive, Music can also transfer songs from portable music players.

APPLICATIONS: WATER:
Water is used as an "attract mode" for the Surface desktop, and it is certainly attractive. The default background picture is an image of smooth pebbles that appear to sit beneath a thin layer of rippling water. By itself, the water moves as if it were being disturbed by a light breeze, but it is when you touch the screen that it becomes more interesting than just another screensaver. One interesting feature of Water is that if you take any object and stick an identification sticker on the bottom, the program will switch background pictures whenever you turn the dial.

PHOTOS:
Sharing photos is a much more unrestricted activity, thanks to the fact that the consumer is also the creator of the content, and the photo album application reflected this freedom. By simply placing a Bluetooth-equipped digital camera on the tabletop, Surface was able to import the photos and place them in a pile on the screen.Photos are arranged into albums that look like piles. Tapping the pile once spreads it around the screen and from there you can drag, rotate, and resize the images to your hearts content. Apart from the above mentioned it is also applied in various fields.

PAINT:
Paint programs have been a natural demonstration application for new platforms ever since MacPaint graced the first Macintosh back in 1984. Surfaces paint program is even lighter on features than MacPaint was, but the natural user interface makes up for this

SURFACE FUTURE:

COMPUTING

IN

Although surface computing is a new experience for consumers, over time Microsoft believes there will be a whole range of surface computing devices and the technology will become pervasive in peoples lives in a variety of environments. As form factors continue to evolve, surface computing will be in any number of Environments schools, businesses, homes and in any number of form factors part of the countertop, the wall or the refrigerator.

CONCLUSION:
Many people who viewed the early Xerox PARC demonstrations of the GUI came out of that experience knowing that every computer would work that way someday, and they were right. Playing with Surface, one gets the sense that although not every computer will work like this someday, many of them will.Some people will look at Surface and claim that it does nothing that hasn't been tried before: computers with touch screens have been around for years and have already found niches in ATMs, ticket ordering machines, and restaurant point-ofsale devices.

A computer on every desktop is an old saying Surface Computing says every desktop is a computer.