The Future is Coming

You can't tell from here, but that screen is only 6 inches tall...

It's been an interesting year for technology so far... Technically, a lot of the advancements are with products bought out before this year, but that's the key. We're taking what we've created, and shooting it into the world of science fiction. Some of you will already know about Microsoft Surface... but how many of you knew that they've patnered up with Samsung and have developed Surface2? I watched the Keynote address this evening, streamed live from MiX11 (you can check it out below, if you've got a spare 50-minutes or so to kill), and i couldn't help getting just a little excited about the idea behind the product. They're calling it the NUI, the Natural User Interface, and it's the next step from the GUI that we've all grown to love. Luis Cabrera talks about the past, and how Today's leading companies were the ones to embrace the jump from Command Line Interfaces to a GUI system, and how this is the ground floor for the next step.

And they're right.

How many times have you watched Minority Report? What do you remember most? The custom-built Lexus? Or Tom Cruise, manipulating information with his fingertips. I know which one sticks out in my mind. The fact that Surface2 can be wall-mounted (or used horizontally) is a massive step change from it's original incarnation, and with the advances other companies have made in terms of glass screens, mean we're probably not that far away from the above image (sans silly gloves).


Then add Kinect into the equation. Now your face and body can be tracked, and recognised, when you walk into a room. With the upcoming Kinect for Windows SDK, people are already coming up with unique ways of utilising the 3D depth camera, from navigating the Universe, to navigating the lounge room.

Okay, we may not quite be at a price point where this is easily available. I would've bought Kinect the day it was launched internationally, if I had more than a 5 foot squared space for my gaming needs, and more light that is available in my 1 Bedroom Studio-Garage, but having it now isn't the point. It's what people are doing with it that excites me.

After all, once upon a time, it was a bunch of hackers that made the ipod do more than play music. And now almost everyone is using an iPhone.