Microsoft Surface and Multi-Touch News and Reviews

To help consolidate news about natural human technologies, we have decided to move multi-touch and Surface news to GottaBeMobile.com.

Please head over there for all the latest on touch, multi-touch, surface, and more.

Surface is news pretty weak right now. I'm considering moving the posting of Surface news over to GottaBeMobile and consolidating coverage there, where we cover a lot of multi-touch human interface technologies.

I'm curious what GottaBeSurface readers think?

Checkout this video by the folks at Cynergy demonstrating Maestro, built using Flash, Silverlight, and Windows Presentation Foundatin. Basically reproduces the Surface experience without the need of a Surface computer. 

They use a pair of LED gloves and a Wii remote as the hardware.

Very, very cool. via Gizmodo.au

One of the areas I am most excited about for Microsoft Surface is in the education space. Here is a quick run-down of potential solutions for the school room, the homeschool space, and K-12 in general:

• Geography - manipulating maps
• Science - tagging all sorts of items found in the lab, placing on the Surface, and then interacting with information about those items. Think slides, chemicals, objects, lab specimens, etc
• Math - interacting with clocks, manipulating objects for counting / sorting
• Music - See my piano post from Sunday. What about a virtual drum set?
• Modeling
• Imagine several Surface computers in a library for research

Getting the price down is key for this to be a potential in the homeschool space. More important than that, though, is getting applications developed.

Great stuff from Thomas Dahlquist on solutions he'd like to see on the Microsoft's Surface.

What about a piano?

Crave's got a great video piece from CES on their interactive surface technology.

The StarBoard system is really two technologies in one. Firstly, it features Hitachi's short-throw LCD projector. This is important, because the projector sits mere inches from the interactive surface. This means you get a huge -- 50-inch, in fact -- bright screen, which doesn't get blocked out by your head as you lean over the table. The image it projects is incredibly high-quality too, and there was no noticeable distortion.

We got some great private time with the Surface, including some demos only seen by a few people.

This is some totally cool stuff.

Click To Play

From GottaBeMobile.com

We are one tight-knit group of folks gathered around the Tablet PC / UMPC space. It is one reason why Marc Orchant's current situation has stunned us all. We've been following Marc's writings and listening to his podcasts for years, growing to know him more and more each day. He truly is one of the most likeable and knowledgeable people I've ever met. Now, one of our very own is in a critical situation, and his family is in an immeasurable amount of pain. I know first-hand the impact and encouragement that a community can give as it rally's behind you in times of severe trial. When my daughter, Maggie, was undergoing chemo and multiple brain surgeries, the community gathered around us in some unbelievable ways, flooding the hospital with more cards than they had ever seen, and praying for us on a daily basis.

I'd like to ask all of you to join me, and many others around the world, at 1:00 pm MST today to pray for Marc and his family.  Knowing that we are gathered together at the same time, lifting up Marc and his family, you will find yourself encouraged as well. Please repost this and pass the word around to as many sites as you can.

With this latest update from Sue Orchant, we have some definite things to pray for, and to be thankful for on behalf of Marc’s family:

In this past day we have seen some baby steps of improvement. He has some response to stimuli and his oxygen levels and heart rate have improved. I am guardedly optimistic. He still has not regained consciousness but we will take things minute by minute.

With you at 1:00 pm MST,