Here is a round up of some of the new things happening with digital tabletop technology.
As developers of software and resellers of digital tabletop hardware we are constantly on the look out for the latest technology and the changes happening in this space.
At the beginning of this year (2012) Samsung released the long awaited
Samsung SUR40 with Microsoft PixelSense. The team at
nsquared had been working with
Microsoft and Samsung for over a year prior to this release and nsquared is acting as a reseller for the SUR40 in Australia. Many of our clients are buying the SUR40 preloaded with a number of the nsquared applications.
The nsquared meeting room table
Since the launch of the SUR40 several interesting tabletop solutions have started to emerge. Working with
3M, nsquared has embedded a multi-touch screen into meeting room tables, creating a totally flat (no bezel) tabletop solution that is easy to wipe down and keep clean as well as being very robust and usable from any side of the table. More good news is coming from our work with 3M later this year as this
engadget article suggests.
We are expecting a number of far smaller form factors to emerge in the coming months, driven in part by the release of
Microsoft Windows 8. The team at
Sony have demonstrated the Vaio Tap 20, a 20" multi-touch (10) screen that can morph between a vertical screen and a horizontal screen. Clearly smaller than most of the screens nsquared has been working with, but it offers an entry level digital table top experience for 2 people. We are hoping to see several more solutions like this from other hardware manufacturers in the coming months.
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| The Sony Vaio Tap 20 |
So what is next ?
There are a lot of research projects happening in the field of table top computers and we hope some of these will lead to new exciting products we can use to help build rich experiences for our customers. One that has caught our eye is the
BendDesk project in Germany, a touch surface that has a horizontal and a vertical component. While not the social experience that we love about true digital tables, it still represents and interesting look at how the interactive workspace might evolve.
