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The object recognition feature on Microsoft Surface is the first of its kind. Since most touch screens are dependent on electrical resistance or heat, it would not work. But since Surface is simply based on touch (which cameras recognize (see the Natural User Interface (NUI) article for more info)) it can recognize not only human touch, but objects as well.

In fact, object recognition is almost exactly the same as touch recognition. A game with bouncing balls would bounce off of a camera just as it would a finger or hand. The nice thing about this is that it helps merge technology with the real world. That means that in the paint app, you can use the paintbrush rather than your finger, and have the same effect. And in the air hockey app, the puck and goalie mallets from any other table work perfectly.

But when it comes to Microsoft Surface, there is object recognition and there is object recognition. What I mean is that Surface can do more than just say “hey, there is an object on me”.

Microsoft Surface can also recognize specific objects, what they are, and interact with them!

In order for Surface to recognize what an object is you have to put a tag on it. These are called byte tags, and they look a lot like a domino:

When an object with a tag is placed on the Surface, the relation between the tag and the object is recognized, and from there on out, it is recognized as that object. So if you put a camera down with a tag in relation to that camera, the Surface recognizes the object as a camera.

This has no use in simple things such as a paintbrush or airhockey puck/goalie mallets as mentioned before. This is used when sharing data between digital electronics and Surface, such as cameras, mp3 players, and cell phones.

But you need more than just a tag to do that. For the data transfers, Microsoft Surface uses Bluetooth 2.0. So once you place your camera (which has a tag on it), and it is recognized as a camera, Bluetooth 2.0 downloads all of the images onto surface, and creates a spill out effect. It’s as simple as that, but at the same time, very advanced.

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A Natural User Interface (NUI) is a term used when interaction between digital data and the user is done so in a natural way. Hardware in a Natural User Interface is very minimal, leaving out input devices such as a mouse or keyboard. Interaction is instead done with “natural” gestures that have direct control of the data. These gestures are used to manipulate data, and can be anything from a “touch and move” to a “fling” to a “pinch”.

The NUI is truly a huge jump in computing, in fact, Microsoft said that it is “as significant as the move from DOS to GUI”. Let’s take an example to prove it – how about the simple task of making an image bigger. In DOS, well, it isn’t really plausible. In a GUI it is very tedious. You would have to select the image, fill out forms on how much bigger you want the horizontal to be, do the same for the vertical, and click submit (and possibly do this again if you guessed the wrong size). In a NUI, it’s MUCH simpler. Put your two fingers down and resize. Walla! Not to mention that you can physically see how much bigger it is while you resize it, and you can resize it continuously.

Microsoft Surface further defines the NUI by allowing for real world objects to easily “communicate” with the digital interface of Surface. By allowing these real world objects, the interface becomes even more “natural”, because the objects on the surface (you can capitalize that “s” if you’d like) are actually a real, natural object.

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When the first computer was made, it used vacuum tubes, magnetic tape for storage, and weighed in at 29,000 pounds; it was the size of a garage. Next was DOS based computers, and soon enough came the microprocessor. Since then, 1991, the internet, operating systems, software, and computers continue getting better and faster. But for almost 20 years now, despite the improvements, users have used the same, limiting setup: CPU, monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, microphone, and all the cords that come with it. Now it is time for something new, and that something is Microsoft Surface.

Microsoft Surface first started under the code-name ‘Milan’ in 2001. The “Milan team” went through over 80 different designs, and built applications such as the famous photo browser, mapping software, and more. In 2003 the project was presented to Bill Gates, and from there the project and its team grew even more. The final prototype was chosen in 2005, and then presented to the public in 2007 (May 29th) by CEO Steve Ballmer. Now even more applications are being made for more specific purposes, and even for clients such as Harrah’s Entertainment and AT&T that have already taken advantage of Microsoft Surface.

What started as a small project has grown into one of the most known and most advanced projects in consumer and business computing. Microsoft Surface IS the future of computing.

A History from www.microsoft.com – SurfaceHistoryBG.doc

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