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Why Surface matters There is plenty of interest in Microsoft’s newly launched Surface device, certainly in EMC Conchango’s studio. While it’s cumbersome in an un-housed state, it does have the wow factor, always evoking latent childhood memories of sensory and multi-touch interfaces, accelerated in modern films including Bond and Minority Report. ...

Many months ago, a group of creatives came up with an idea for a creative ‘meeting of minds’ under the rather mystical name, The Fantastic Tavern. Like many good ideas, it sat dormant, waiting for the right moment to be realised. Later conversations touched on similar themes. At ReMIX UK, friends discussed if we could nurture a creative ...

Before the festive holiday kicked in I intended to design a Microsoft Surface Card Sorting application but time ran out without me getting much further than a brief conversation over a cuppa with some user experience colleagues and a few very rough and barely legible sketches of the application interface. To make sure I don’t ...

Friday 28th November saw the first of the Virgin Atlantic VJAM workshops to brainstorm ways to improve the travel experience for customers.  Conchango took the Microsoft Surface unit along and I played guardian and host of this device for most of the day.  The attendees included travel professionals, experts in social media and ...

In a previous post, Object Recognition leads the way for Microsoft Surface, I touched on how Microsoft Surface recognizes devices placed on top of it.  Microsoft Surface reads a small square 8-bit tag that is attached to an object so that users can interact with it.  The tag is a combination of dots that works like a barcode. When ...

At the Tesco wine fair the Microsoft Surface table turns from a bar in to a rich immersive experience for the wine enthusiasts to explore content though touch and natural gestures. The punters had their own take on the five Ss in tasting wine.  So as spit became swallow and their hand-eye coordination slowly declined over the day, you ...

During the Surface workout Isobel demonstrated the magic of Microsoft Surface.  The one feature of Microsoft Surface that Bel didn’t touch on was object recognition.  Yet object recognition is one of the features of Microsoft Surface that really excites me. The five cameras inside the unit can recognise objects placed on the ...

Isobel has just turned 4 and uses a computer mouse to (attempt to) navigate sites such as CBeebies.  She finds the mouse challenging and frustrating.  At such a young age her motor movement abilities are still developing.  Combine the motor skills required with spatial concepts necessary to effectively use the mouse and it’s ...