1. PUNJAB COLLEGE OF TECHNICAL
EDUCATION
REPORT ON ‘MICROSOFT SURFACE’
SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:
PROF. AMANDEEP SINGH NEHASHARMA
FACULTY PCTE TAFADZWA GONERA

2. Contents:
Introduction to Microsoft Surface
Specifications
Features
Uses or applications

3. INTRODUCTION TO MICROSOFT SURFACE:
Microsoft Surface (codename Milan) is a multi-touch product from Microsoft
which is developed as software and hardware combination technology that allows a
user, or multiple users, to manipulate digital content by the use of gesture
recognition. This could involve the motion of hands or physical objects. It was
announced on May 29, 2007 at D5 conference.
Developer(s): Microsoft
Initial release: April 17[1] 2008
Stable release: Surface 2.0 / 2011
Development status: Commercial applications
Operating system: Surface: Windows Vista, Surface 2.0: Windows 7
Available in: English
Microsoft Surface is a surface computing platform that responds to natural hand
gestures and real world objects. It has a 360-degree user interface, a 30 in (76 cm)
reflective surface with a XGA DLP projector underneath the surface which
projects an image onto its underside, while five cameras in the machine's housing
record reflections of infrared light from objects and human fingertips on the
surface.A commercial Microsoft Surface unit is $12,500 (unit only), whereas a
developer Microsoft Surface unit costs $15,000 and includes a developer unit, five
seats and support.

4. SPECIFICATIONS:
 SURFACE:
Surface is a 30-inch (76 cm) display in a table-like form factor, 22 inches (56 cm)
high, 21 inches (53 cm) deep, and 42 inches (107 cm) wide. The Surface tabletop
is acrylic, and its interior frame is powder-coated steel. The software platform runs
on a custom version of Windows Vista and has wired Ethernet 10/100, wireless
802.11 b/g, and Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity Surface applications are written using
either Windows Presentation Foundation or Microsoft XNA technology
At Microsoft's MSDN Conference, Bill Gates told developers of "Maximum" setup
the Microsoft Surface was going to have:
Intel Core Quad Xeon "Woodcrest" @ 2.66 GHz with a custom motherboard form
factor about the size of two ATX motherboards.
4GB DDR2-1066 RAM
1TB 7200RPM Hard Drive
The discontinued (as of 6 January 2011) commercially available version had the
following specifications:
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.13 GHz
2GB DDR2 RAM
250GB SATA Hard Drive
 SURFACE 2.0
Samsung's "SUR4.0 with Microsoft Surface", a third-party production of Microsoft
Surface dubbed as "The Surface 2.0 Experience" has a 40 in (102 cm) 1080p LCD
HD screen, 2.9GHz AMD Athlon II X2 processor, and Radeon HD 6700M.
Microsoft Surface is now wall-mountable and running off a new more polished,
refined, Windows 7 GUI (now including Windows Phone 7 support).
For this version Microsoft created a new technology called Pixel Sense. In this
technology the IR sensors are made part of LCD display, which allows the surface
of the table to sense, or “see,” what is on top of it without using a camera.

5. FEATURES:
Microsoft notes four main components being important in Surface's interface:
direct interaction, multi-touch contact, a multi-user experience, and object
recognition.
Direct interaction refers to the user's ability to simply reach out and touch the
interface of an application in order to interact with it, without the need for a mouse
or keyboard. Multi-touch contact refers to the ability to have multiple contact
points with an interface, unlike with a mouse, where there is only one cursor.
Multi-user is a benefit of multi-touch—several people can orient themselves on
different sides of the surface to interact with an application simultaneously. Object
recognition refers to the device's ability to recognize the presence and orientation
of tagged objects placed on top of it.
The technology allows non-digital objects to be used as input devices. In one
example, a normal paint brush was used to create a digital painting in the software
This is made possible by the fact that, in using cameras for input, the system does
not rely on restrictive properties required of conventional touch screen or touchpad
devices such as the capacitance, electrical resistance, or temperature of the tool
used (see Touch screen).
The computer's "vision" is created by a near-infrared, 850-nanometer-wavelength
LED light source aimed at the surface. When an object touches the tabletop, the
light is reflected to multiple infrared cameras with a net resolution of 1024 x 768,
allowing it to sense, and react to items touching the tabletop.
Surface will ship with basic applications, including photos, music, virtual
concierge, and games, that can be customized for the customers.
A unique feature that comes preinstalled with Surface is the pond effect "Attract"
application. Simply, it is a "picture" of water with leaves and rocks within it (a lot
like a screen saver used in Windows XP or Vista). By touching the screen, users
can create ripples in the water, much like a real stream. Additionally, the pressure

6. of touch alters the size of the ripple created, and objects placed into the water
create a barrier that ripples bounce off, just as they would in real life.
The surface is capable of object recognition, object/finger orientation recognition
and tracking, and is multi-touch and is multi-user. Users can interact with the
machine by touching or dragging their fingertips and objects such as paintbrushes
across the screen, or by placing and moving placed objects. This paradigm of
interaction with computers is known as a natural user interface (NUI).
Surface has been optimized to respond to 52 touches at a time. During a
demonstration with a reporter, Mark Bolger, the Surface Computing group's
marketing director, "dipped" his finger in an on-screen paint palette, then dragged
it across the screen to draw a smiley face. Then he used all 10 fingers at once to
give the face a full head of hair.
Using the specially-designed barcode-style "Surface tags" on objects, Microsoft
Surface can offer a variety of features, for example automatically offering
additional wine choices tailored to the dinner being eaten based on the type of wine
set on the Surface, or in conjunction with a password, offering user authentication.
USES:
Targeted customers are in the hospitality businesses, such as restaurants, hotels,
retail, public entertainment venues and the military for tactical overviews Partner
companies use the Surface in their hotels, restaurants, and retail stores. The Surface
is used to choose meals at restaurants, plan vacations and spots to visit from the

7. hotel room. Starwood Hotels plan to allow users to drop a credit card on the table
to pay for music, books, and other amenities offered at the resort. In AT&T stores,
use of the Surface include interactive presentations of plans, coverage, and phone
features, in addition to dropping two different phones on the table and having the
customer be able to view and compare prices, features, and plans. MSNBC's
coverage of the 2008 US presidential election used Surface to share with viewers
information and analysis of the race leading up to the election. The anchor
analyzes polling and election results, views trends and demographic information
and explores county maps to determine voting patterns and predict outcomes, all
with the flick of his finger. In some hotels and casinos, users can do a range of
things, such as watch videos, view maps, order drinks, play games, and chat and
flirt with people between Surface tables. AT&T became the first retailer to use
Surface to help their customers purchase phones. Customers could place the
phones on the Surface and receive full phone specs, as well as pricing.[7] It has
also been used in a wide variety of locations which include hotel lobbies, such as
Sheraton Hotels,[8] as well as venues which included Super Bowl XLIII to help
police organize and monitor the event in great detail.