Posts Tagged microsoft surface
Dungeons and Dragons played on the Microsoft Surface
Posted by admin in Games Gadgets on December 19th, 2009
It has been decades since I have played Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). Decades. I’m not certain why I ever stopped. Maybe because I realized that playing D&D gave you an automatic label of “geek”.
However, this team from Carnegie Mellon has developed a D&D that can be played on Microsoft’s Surface. There is a video of it after the jump if you want to see it in action, and I highly recommend that you do, even though it is quite long. And you thought the SCOPE augmented reality game looked neat.
The video shows that players can put their miniature figures on the Surface, and it will automatically give the stats on the display.
As for the Dungeon Master’s (DM) role, he or she can make maps, and then go in for closeups and scroll with some device exists that outside of the surface. You’ll have to watch the vid to see what I’m talking about. It would appear that the DM is linked to the Surface with a laptop for their own personal privacy.
Now, the whole Dungeons and Dragons game is dependent on dice, and it appears that there is a kind of virtual dice that the character can “roll”.
Even though I am not in the Role-Playing Game scene any more, I can see how this technology could take off. However, we are a long way from having a Surface in every household. Honestly, I can’t help but love the Surface and want one for my very own.
SurfaceScapes Gameplay Session from Surfacescapes on Vimeo.
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Dungeons and Dragons played on the Microsoft Surface
Lumino Project takes Microsoft Surface to the next dimension
Posted by admin in Future Concepts on December 10th, 2009
This is the Lumino project, a new way of interacting with the Microsoft Surface. In fact, it takes it to a whole new dimension: the third one.
You mean that there is more to do with a Surface than shifting two-dimensional images? Absolutely! Not only can the Lumino project recognize a three-dimensional object on the table, but it can recognize when one object is put on top of the other.
So far, it seems good enough to make various structures in three-dimensional space. Sort of like playing with Lego with a computer that recognizes what you are building with the bricks.
That is about as good as another use the developers found: a checkers game. That’s right, it can recognize when players are “kinged”, and it can even give the player an idea of the best moves to make in the game.
Think that is pretty much useless? So do I. However, I did see one application that looked very interesting. This guy used a cylinder to make a dial control on a picture on the Surface, and was able to control the brightness and contrast. I realize that I didn’t describe it very well, but check out the video at the Source, and you can read and see more about it.
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[ Lumino Project takes Microsoft Surface to the next dimension copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
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Lumino Project takes Microsoft Surface to the next dimension
Airbot is a robot X-man
Posted by admin in Future Concepts on December 10th, 2009
Okay, take two minutes out of your busy schedule to watch this robot using some major-league telekinesis. Chances are, you’ll probably be thinking what I’m thinking: I didn’t realize droids could be Jedis too.
As you might have guessed, the Airbot, as it is called, uses the same technology as the Mindflex that we reported on back at CES last January. I have to admit, I don’t think that accuracy in ballistics was part of Mindflex or the Star Wars Force Trainer, a similar product.
I also don’t remember these toys being able to peel an onion. The Airbot also has the ability to use its air-stream to lift any object weighing up to 188 grams and 97mm in radius.
Airbot was the creation of two University of Illinois students Aaron Becker and Robert Sanheinrich, as well as the help of their professor, Timothy Bretl. It was first on display at IROS 2009 (IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent RObots and Systems).
Sure, it may be in the development stages for now, but applications for this are pretty endless. Just think of an age where robots use their telekinetic powers to bus dishes from tables. That, or carry all sorts of stuff from here to there.
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Infractor is an innovative way of research
Posted by admin in Future Concepts on November 7th, 2009
This next device is odd, to say the least, but I can see how it would come in handy. There is a video of it after the jump if you want to see it in action, but it won’t make sense without a little bit of explanation.
Here’s how it works. You begin with a “light source” that is really a database of some information, like the New York Times, for example. This source is placed on a table that is probably best described as a Microsoft Surface (but isn’t).
This source shines a light with visible particles that essentially contains all the information of on that database. From there, the user can physically place a “prism” that filters out all the information except a certain subject. That subject can be pre-determined by the user by a jog wheel.
I suppose this would be a non-Wikipedia way of doing research. For example, let’s say you had a light source of world history, and you used the prison to filter out everything but Egyptian history. From there, you could use another prism for Cleopatra, the pyramids, or whatever piece of information you need.
I’m not certain why you couldn’t do what the Infractor does on a computer with an ordinary search engine, but the Infractor website says the presence of a physical object helps.
Perhaps the idea for the Infractor came from a Surface-like computer seen in the movie The Island, which operated with a desk-sized flat display and paperweight-like objects.
infractor – interactive, collaborative multitouch application from siwamat on Vimeo.
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Microsoft shows off its next-gen computing muscles on campuses nationwide
Posted by admin in Future Concepts on November 6th, 2009
Even though Microsoft could probably easily rest on the profits from Windows 7, it is always good to hear them working on new ways of interfacing with computers. Lately, chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundle has been going from college to college, showing off the latest next-gen computer prototype.
Mundle has a lot of interesting things to say about the way computers are headed. One of his demonstrations includes a computer that can project its images onto a pane of glass in front of him. He says that the future will probably bring about a workstation that will include multiple displays, that will eventually work their way into 3-D images. I can’t help but agree with him.
Mundle then used gestures to rotate and focus in on an image of a wind turbine. Gesture recognition is something that has been under development, and I’m certain will be perfected by the year 2054. (Because Minority Report takes place in that year.)
Mundle also showed how a computer can recognize handwriting when doing searches, but his results page was quite confusing as it showed many pages like a quilt of many tiny tiles. He then used eye-tracking to scan along those tiles, and each one would enlarge as it came into focus.
It really is quite amazing to see what they are working on, especially the eye-tracking. I don’t know whether that was just a special effect, but I certainly wouldn’t mind having that now. Perhaps Microsoft is one step closer to achieving that 2019 vision of the future.
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Microsoft shows off its next-gen computing muscles on campuses nationwide
Gaze into your CRISTAL Table and remote control your future
Posted by admin in Future Concepts on August 18th, 2009
For those who have longed for a Microsoft Surface in your own home should forget it, and embrace a CRISTAL era of remote control.
CRISTAL, or Control of Remotely Interfaced Systems using Touch-based Actions in Living spaces, is a concept device that allows the user to control all the devices in their living room from one place. As you can see in the picture, the CRISTAL can connect with an overhead camera, giving you a bird’s eye view of your living room.
From there, the user just touches the image of the device to take control of it. For example, lights can be dimmed or brightened with a sliding gesture. Roomba vacuum cleaners can be controlled by simply drawing a path on the floor. See more of what it can do with this video after the jump.
What really makes it cool is that it gives the opportunity for a user to pick a movie from a digital storage space, and then drag it to the TV to watch. This also works with photos, and they can be dragged and dropped to digital picture frames.
The CRISTAL is intended to replace TV remote controls, but the designers say it will probably take five to ten years before this technology will be in the home of the typical consumer. And when I say typical, I mean rich, as it would probably cost ten to fifteen thousand dollars.
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Gaze into your CRISTAL Table and remote control your future
Mircosoft Surface 2: The SecondLight
Posted by admin in Future Concepts on March 18th, 2009
I’m sure that you probably have heard of the Surface, Microsoft’s touchscreen table. I believe they cost about $10,000, and I’m not certain how much they are worth it. However, you got to admire its Picture Manager that allows you to group pics as if they were all on the table.
I had a chance to use one at a Sheraton in Seattle. They had them in the waiting room, and it was fun to find places to visit in the city, and there was a feature that allowed me to make a map to wherever I wanted to go.
It would appear that Microsoft has upgraded the Surface with version 2.0, or as they like to call it, the SecondLight. Surface 2 has a second projector, which allows the Surface to layer one screen over another. This will allow a satellite overlay to be projected onto a city map, or render a completed building over a set of blueprints.
I’m not certain why a second projector is needed for this sort of thing. I’m guessing the projections won’t be hovering over the Surface table like holograms or anything. By the way, the SecondLight plans to have high definition cameras and infrared sensors, so it can detect hand gestures. That’s right, you won’t even need to touch the table on the Surface 2.
All this new technology sounds pretty neat to me. It reminds me of the scene in Iron Man where you see Tony Stark assemble the blueprints for his armor with holograms and gesture-based controls.
We will see what kind of use the world can get out of the Surface 2. I can honestly say that I am looking forward to it.
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Mircosoft Surface 2: The SecondLight