A look at Microsoft's latest surface computer
Not content with turning all manner of surfaces into computers, Microsoft's researchers are working to turn an entire room into one giant computing surface.
Andy Wilson and his team had already turned a table top, a globe-sized sphere, and a walk-in dome into surface computers. Microsoft also has its Surface, a tabletop computer that it sells for use in places like hotels and restaurants. But with LightSpace--the latest research project--Wilson has turned an entire 10-foot-by-8-foot room into a surface computer. The floor, table, and a wall are all interactive in this latest project, with users able to do things like move an object from one surface to another.
To achieve this feat, LightSpace taps a combination of projectors and depth-sensing cameras. Among the things that LightSpace lets a user do is take an object from, say a table, and sweep it into their hand or a plate or other object. A projection of the image stays on their hand or other thing being used to carry the object.
