Microsoft Surface =/= FOSS

[Woolio1]

Okay! Hello, people of the Ubuntu forums. It's me again, Henry Ericson, with another brilliant suggestion. This one focuses on the Microsoft Surface display, a large table with a glass top. Inside is a projector, a very fast PC, and a series of Infrared cameras that pick up whatever is placed on the glass.

It's really an amazing creation, and has a myriad of uses. The bad news is it's only available to companies (currently), and it isn't Open Source... Just think of what it could be if it were!

So, I'm asking all the hardware and coding junkies here in this forum to help with the production of one of these devices. Who knows? We may have a device that you can build for very little, and even make it yourself!

LINKS

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Surface

[Giant Speck]

Wait... Microsoft makes products that aren't open source? You don't say!

[Islington]

Wait... Microsoft makes products that aren't open source? You don't say!

You mean to say Linux isn't closed source‽‽‽

that is so not secure, I am switching to microsoft right away.

[Mr. Picklesworth]

Here you go:
http://nuigroup.com/

Your analysis of the technology is pretty accurate, but it's important to know that Microsoft did not invent the underlying technology.

There are a few different approaches; Surface does Diffused Illumination. It's one of the cheaper ways to do it, and a bit more flexible. Everything is inside a deep table with a sheet of frosted glass on top. Lots of IR light sources inside, pointing outwards, so that the surface is evenly lit. A camera (or a bunch of them) with a filter on top so it only picks up the IR being reflected (by pretty well anything; the paintbrush demo is my favourite). The glass plays with optics appropriately, so things fade away the further away they are.
Now throw in some nice image analysis software, stick a good projector behind or above the glass (making sure it won't melt), and you're golden!

[Woolio1]

Wait... Microsoft makes products that aren't open source? You don't say!

Please don't troll on my thread. Thank you.

Henry Ericson

[NoaHall]

Okay! Hello, people of the Ubuntu forums. It's me again, Henry Ericson, with another brilliant suggestion. This one focuses on the Microsoft Surface display, a large table with a glass top. Inside is a projector, a very fast PC, and a series of Infrared cameras that pick up whatever is placed on the glass.

It's really an amazing creation, and has a myriad of uses. The bad news is it's only available to companies (currently), and it isn't Open Source... Just think of what it could be if it were!

So, I'm asking all the hardware and coding junkies here in this forum to help with the production of one of these devices. Who knows? We may have a device that you can build for very little, and even make it yourself!

LINKS

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Surface

Who are you? I've never heard of you before.

[Tristam Green]

He's Henry Ericson.

In regards to the OP:

Microsoft Surface isn't FOSS because it isn't software. It's hardware that runs Vista.

[Giant Speck]

Please don't troll on my thread. Thank you.

Henry Ericson

Um... excuse me?

[schauerlich]

Wait... Microsoft makes products that aren't open source? You don't say!

Please don't troll on my thread. Thank you.

Henry Ericson

Um... excuse me?

[Hyporeal]

It's really an amazing creation, and has a myriad of uses. The bad news is it's only available to companies (currently), and it isn't Open Source... Just think of what it could be if it were!

Could you elaborate? It sounds like a fun toy, but the price tag puts it well out of my budget for toys. What are the potential uses of this device?