Microsoft's ‘touch screen’ for any surface goes on sale
Prototype technology that turns any surface — a wall, table, or floor — into an interactive touch screen has been years in the making. Now, anyone can get their hands on the software. — Screengrab from Ubi's video …
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft has treated touch as a broad interface strategy since its multi-touch demonstrations in 2008, with later work spanning shape-shifting displays and 3D touch with tactile feedback. Ubi moves one branch of that work from research demonstrations into software that can be deployed on ordinary physical surfaces.
First-order effects
- Ubi makes surface-based touch interaction available to prospective users without requiring a purpose-built touchscreen wall, table, or floor.
Second-order effects
- Microsoft gains a market test for whether projected, software-defined touch interfaces appeal beyond the fixed displays targeted by its earlier touchscreen research.
Third-order effects
- If Ubi finds adoption, it supports a shift in which interactive environments are defined more by sensing and software than by the display hardware itself.
The trend: Touch computing is expanding from dedicated screens toward interfaces that can be layered onto the surrounding physical environment.