Successful Practise: The State of Multimedia Technology

In my research of the current state of multimedia technology, I found an article by the BBC, where they are investigating three new possible methods of interaction with technology, particularly computers. The three new methods of interaction include: touch screens, movement and mind control. The article I have used is located at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/7676552.stm .

The type of interaction that I will investigate is the use of touch screens. Touch screens already feature in existing forms of technology such as PDAs, the IPhone, Nintendo DS and so on, but now they are trying to integrate the technology into computers so people do not have to use the mouse to command a computer. In the article, they describe technology that aims to offer a new way to interact with computers, which is "Surface" by Microsoft. Surface is a table mounted touch screen and on the inside, it has been designed to operate like a computer running Windows Vista. The use of a projector inside of the table and a reflective screen as the table top enables the users to see and "interact" with the table. I found an article detailing the various features of Microsoft Surface and it is located at: http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/29/microsoft-announces-surface-computer/. According to the article, Surface is able to recognise physical objects placed upon it including a paintbrush and a mobile phone and it will enable hands-on control of various media such as pictures, maps and music. Surface was designed directly for establishments such as hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues, with people actually being able to perform tasks such as, ordering a drink via a tap of the finger or even sorting through a list of music and organising it into playlists like with a computer. The difference here being, that they would not need to worry about having all the components necessary to run a computer, such as the monitor, hard drive and mouse, as Surface acts as all of them in one and can be used just with normal hand gestures.

Upon reflection, it does seem that Surface has got a lot of potential on causing an impact on the current state of technology. Combining the fact that it operates like a normal computer but without the need for the mouse and keyboard and that it also can recognise physical objects placed upon it, whether it's a person's hands or a still object like a bottle of wine means it can open up a whole new world of possibilities. As said before, it has been designed in mind to be easily usable by people who are not confident with a mouse, and thus it means it can offer people a less daunting and more familiar way of interacting with a computer, as it all requires us to do, is what we already know how to do by instinct. It can offer people a new way to do traditional tasks as well as technological ones in a completely new way so there definitely is potential for it having an impact.