Colm Brophy

iTable - better only on the Surface

Apparently one of the more popular booths at the CES expo was for PQ Labs where they were showing off their product the iTable. It was featured on Cruchgear as a surface killer.

I’m not convinced since I think they’re aiming at different markets. The iTable is a low cost, small (though for the version that fits over a HD TV I imagine there is a box running XP sitting somewhere behind it), multitouch device. It’s a big iPhone.

The surface isn’t. It’s a multi-touch table yes, but the touch is picked up by multiple near-infrared cameras and the screen is projected onto the surface. The fact that these cameras are used allows the cameras to pick up when your hand is an inch above the surface rather than only when you touch it. This means that when you touch the surface can know roughly where your hand is and know where you are positioned around the table (and then orient objects to face you). It also means the surface can pick up different coloured objects and recognise domino tags placed on its surface.

The surface price structure is certainly more expensive though it comes down rapidly if you are buying in bulk so favours large enterprises.

Finally the surface is a table. The iTable is not. The iTable is not designed for 360 degree interaction, there is a very clear up-down-left-right. You also can’t put things on it so it doesn’t interact with objects in it’s environment (it could potentially recognise a shape but little more). I’ve also seen people pour liquid over a surface machine, I’m not sure I’d like to tip a hot cup of coffee over the iTable.

While this may end up come across as an indictment of the iTable it shouln’t be seen that way. It should be seen as an indictment of the linkbaiting crunchgear headline “Look out, Microsoft Surface - the iTable might just trump you in every way“. The iTable is probably the best option for homes, small businesses or kiosks (if you’re only choosing between those two options) but it is a far less interesting piece of technology than the Microsoft product.

Tags: Crunchgear, iTable. CES, multitouch, PQ Labs, surface

6 Tips for Building a Great Microsoft Surface Application

So since Microsoft have released the Surface SDK at their Professional Developers Conference. At Conchango where I work we’ve got some developer units in the U.S. and have had the SDK for a while now. I thought I should offer some thoughts on building surface applications having looked at quite a few recently.

1. It’s not just multi-touch it’s multi-user too. The surface is something that you get people together standing around. With traditional computing you detach from the world around you and immerse yourself in the terminal. The surface is part of the world, so think about the fact that even when one person is using the device there are probably going to be other people watching them (the surface has a gravitational pull that draws people in to watch). The best applications consider and even take advantage of that social element and the possibilities for collaboration as many people interact at the same time.
   
2. Drop the dropdowns. There is a subtle shift going on at the moment. It’s probably not unfair to say the iPhone was the butterfly flapping its wings that initiated it (albeit that the iPhone launch was a pretty huge butterfly). This is the change from the GUI (Graphical User Interface) to what is being dubbed by some the NUI (Natural User Interface). This has the potential to be a change on the scale as the change from punch cards to the command line or from the command line to the GUI. This means we need to think beyond the traditional componants we used to make up our interfaces. Where we might have classified an item into a group before by using a drop down control or a radio button, now we’re moving the item (or some representation of that item) into a space  which represents the group.
3. Go beyond the interface. I said before that the surface is part of the world in a way that a computer screen, mouse and keyboard is not. The great thing about surface is that you can really take advantage of that. By using domino tags (these are stickers which you can put on an object to let the surface identify it, like a barcode but smaller and looking slightly like a domino) the surface can identify objects that are placed on it. This could be you’re work ID card which you pop on the table so the surface knows that it’s “you” who’s using it. Maybe it then switches to your personal settings or knows where to save the output of your session. Or you could put them on the bottom of your salt and pepper shakers and your ketchup bottle to record those football tactics you came up with over dinner come to life.
4. Come at it from every direction. At a monitor there is a very definite up, down, left and right. Some phones and laptops do some clever things with accelerometers but they always need to know which way they are facing. The surface doesn’t need to know which way it’s facing cause it’s facing in every way (that said I don’t recommend putting a surface in the ceiling even if you want to spice up your love life). People should not have to be stand on a certain side of the surface to use your app. The best applications use the surface technology to work out where people are and if there is text or controls it spins the text, images or video to face them.
5. Make it feel right. This is one of the most important aspects and at the same time one of the hardest to explain in words. But you know it when you see it or interact with it. Some things feel good to use (Donald Norman calls it the visceral aspect of design); it could be the satisfying click of a marker pen when you put the lid on, or how the shape, weight and handle on your favourite mug feel just right. Nature tends to be really good at this.  What makes up good visceral design? The harmonious combination of interaction and feedback. When I hit the bottom of the menu on my iPod Touch it bounces softly. If I flick the menu so it’s moving faster when it hits the bottom it bounces higher than if i slowly scroll down. It feels right.
6. Think BIG. This is a paradigm shift and there are no rules. My tips here are observations from seeing what’s been done so far and looking at what works and what doesn’t. But this is something genuinely novel to most people so you have the opportunity to create something really great and ground-breaking that’s never been done before. Take that opportunity.

Update: Bonus Point (thanks to my colleague Christian)

• Look and Listen. Don’t just restrict yourself to thinking visually, suond design is a hugely important feature in creating engaging experiences. Part making it feel right is making it sound right too. Remember how the old iPods had a light clicking sound as you spun the wheel, or the example of the click when the lid goes on the marker. Auditory feedback can be just as important as visual.