Back in February of 2006 I wrote (well actually, I didn’t write much) about an incredible video I’d come across which demonstrates a technology which I thought represented a bright future in computer/user interaction. The inventor of the interface technology and co-founder of the company which produced the device you see in the video is a guy by the name of Jefferson Han, a research scientist at New York University.

It was clear from the moment that initial demo hit the internet that this technology was going to be big. It has immediate implications for corporate boardrooms, military command centers, sports training rooms, or really any scenario where a group of people wants to share and single screen and interact with a great deal of visual information. What wasn’t immediately clear however was how and when this technology would make it’s way into the consumer market. The possibilities seemed endless, but who would harness it into something useful?

Fast forward a little over a year to last night, when Microsoft announced their Microsoft Surface technology which is based on Han’s work. Although there have already been a few consumer devices announced which will incorporate this technology, most notably the Apple iPhone which is scheduled for release next month, none have succeeded in truly capturing the potential of this great leap in user interaction until now. With Surface, Microsoft is not only taking a stab at bringing a great technology to the masses, they are also casting off nearly a decade old shroud of irrelevance when it comes to developing and introducing new and exiting technologies to the public. Sure, they have always been there when it comes to keeping up with the demand for new technology in a changing market place, but when was the last time Microsoft was responsible for introducing something to the consumer market that was truly revolutionary? This is, after all, the company who is largely responsible for the way in which we interact with computers every day of our lives. The innovation they showed in the 80s and 90s which brought us Microsoft Windows and Office have impacted us all weather we want to admit it or not.

Since the mid 90s by contrast, Microsoft has been playing catch up with a number of other innovators in the industry. As an avid Apple user, I’d be quick to point out that a large number of advances from Microsoft in the past 5 years or so have been in direct response to groundbreaking advances by our friends in Cupertino. The same trend holds true throughout most of the Microsoft portfolio. Windows borrowing from OS X, Windows Mobile borrowing from other mobile device software makers, and the Zune? give me a break.

I should mention that a lot of people consider Microsoft’s new(ish) ribbon interface to be a very significant advancement in computer interactions. While I’m not able to comment from personal experience, I feel like ribbon is a great direction for UI, but not a fundamental change in the way we interact with computers. Ribbon still involves a mouse, and a keyboard. It may be true that ribbon makes it more intuitive to use a complex application, users are still required to think like a computer before they can successfully interact with it. More importantly, ribbon is simply a more efficient way (in most people’s opinion) to achieve the same results, with similar behavior that we are all familiar with. People who already use Office every day will enjoy the benefit of the new UI, but it doesn’t attempt to add additional functionality to the machine.

With their efforts to lead the multi-touch charge with Surface, Microsoft is sending a message to the world that they aren’t just the world’s largest software pusher, they still care about technology and want to help make peoples lives easier and more fulfilling through creative uses of computing power. This breakthrough will usher in a a whole realm of new possibilities for computer technology in our daily lives. For better or worse, we will see computers in places we never thought possible before. I’ve so rarely been in a position to say this in recent years, but honestly, way to go Microsoft.

Here is great Microsoft Surface and Multi-touch demonstration and background video from Popular Mechanics.

Links:
Popular Mechanics Article
Microsoft Surface
Perceptive Pixel (Jefferson Han’s company)
My original Multi-touch post
Seattle PI Article

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Microsoft Surface, Multi-touch, UI