One of the forefronts of human – computer interfaces that seemed to have gathered much attention over the years is the concept of a touch and gesture – based way of manipulating computer objects. This concept was probably popularized by the movie Minority Report, where a computer with gestured-based multi-touch interface was being used by Tom Cruise. Although the technology is already in existence today and excellent prototypes and demonstrations are available from technology companies interested in this space, nothing has actually gone beyond the lab. This is about to change.

Microsoft is launching their surface-based computing platform and this will be available to a select partner companies: (Harrah’s Entertainment Inc., Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., and T-Mobile USA Inc). Dubbed Microsoft Surface, it comes in form of a sleek table with its top actually acting as a display and a multi-touch, gesture-based interface. Powered by a modified version Windows Vista, it utilizes infrared technology for “machine vision” and high-definition DLP engine to project the display. Besides using touch and gestures to control the interface, Surface can also recognize and interact with objects placed on top of it based on their shape or through a digital tag placed on the object. This is not yet ripe for the ordinary home users though. With cost going up to ten thousand dollars, Microsoft is initially targeting hotels, restaurants, retail points and casino resorts as its primary users. Touch-based interface will provide rich experiences for customers of the following business. With the launch of this initiative, Microsoft is setting the stage for a more mainstream use of the multi-touch, gesture based user interface.