No Microsoft Surface available, then simply bring your own.

It has been published in at many websites but I like the ZDNet one most so here it is

It looks like Microsoft has finally figured out how to turn its table-sized multi-touch Surface computer into a more portable experience.



Microsoft is planning to demonstrate this week at its employee-only Microsoft Research showcase in Redmond a project it is calling the “Mobile Surface.” (Microsoft is briefing a few select press on some of its TechFest projects before the event begins. I wasn’t briefed; I just found the link for this while trolling around on the Microsoft Research site.)

From a description of the Mobile Surface on the company’s Microsoft Research (MSR) Web site:


“Our goal is to bring Microsoft Surface experience to mobile scenarios, and more importantly, to enable 3D interaction with mobile devices. We do research on how to transform any surface (e.g., a coffee table or a piece of paper) to Mobile Surface with a mobile device and a camera-projector system. Besides this, our work also includes how to get 3D object model in real-time, augmented reality and multiple-layer 3D information presentation.”


Microsoft has been working on a variety of Surface-like projects, including the rumored “Oahu” multi-touch table (which would be smaller and cheaper than the Surface) and the Courier book-style tablet. Courier is thought to be in the incubation phase at this point, although the final product may look little like the screen shots and video images that leaked last fall. Last I heard, Courier is unlikely to debut in commercial form until 2011 at the earliest.


Natural user interface (NUI) technology, in general,is going to be a big emphasis at TechFest, based on some of the early information coming from Microsoft’s briefings.


One project I haven’t yet seen mentioned (but which I found on Microsoft’s Research site as one of its TechFest 2010 demos) marries NUIs, tablets and touch. That effort, known as “Project Gustav,” is an “immersive digital painting” research project, as Microsoft’s Web site describes it. More on Gustav from the Microsoft site:


“The natural interface makes Project Gustav ideal for hobbyists and professional artists alike. Project Gustav achieves a high level of interactivity and realism by leveraging the computing power of modern GPUs, taking full advantage of multitouch and tablet input technology and our novel, natural media-modeling and brush-simulation algorithms.”


Update: I thought the whole Mobile Surface concept sounded kind of familiar. It probably has its roots in the Microsoft Research “PlayAnywhere” project on which developers have been working since some time before 2007. (PlayTable, which is related to PlayAnywhere, evolved to become Microsoft’s Surface.)

Invisible speakers brought a step closer: Architects rejoice!

Not sure how they perform and how the quality is but this is an architecs wet dream but also for me as a designer it can be a great thing to use uin a building. Specially when they are so thin and flexible you can yse them as part of a projection screen. No hassle anymore for the centerspeaker:) Bit thanks again to inAVate for bringing this

Invisible speakers brought a step closer: Architects rejoice!

23 February 2010

Researchers over at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing, Engineering and Automation (IPA) in Germany have prototyped a new loudspeaker made using carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The concept was demonstrated last week at the Nano Tech 2010 show in Tokyo, Japan. Using CNTs, a simple and slim loudspeaker can be made without the need for components such as magnets and piezoelectric devices, enabling speakers to be placed in a variety of different locations.

Images from TechOn


The demonstration model measured 8cm x 6cm and was made simply by applying a conductive coating onto a PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) film, which contained CNTs. When a 12V direct voltage is applied to it, and the current is switched on and off rapidly, it generates an audio signal corresponding to the frequency of the switching.


“The principle of the sound generation is based on the thermoacoustic effect,” said a Fraunhofer IPA spokesperson. “The CNTs generate heat and expand when the current is on, and they cool down and shrink when the current is off.”


It is this expansion and contraction of the film that moves the air molecules and creates the resulting sound. The demo model is said to have a frequency response of 200Hz – 20kHz, so not really a sub woofer (yet).

Close-up of the panel


The major benefit of the speaker is its extraordinary thinness. The demonstrated device was only 200 microns thick (about twice as thick as a human hair).This allows to be mounted on a number of flat surfaces such as wallpaper or advertising boards.


However researchers at the institute have also speculated that if fewer nanotubes could used in the film, it would be possible to make it completely transparent. Maybe the invisible loudspeaker is possible after