Partner Otaku

I came across this posting on “Fast Company” and thought it summarized a good list of exciting application on Microsoft Surface. Almost all the applications listed in the article are created by our partners.  It’s interesting to see how companies are at redefining the user experience by leveraging multi-touch.

Killer Surface Apps

The Windows 7 Touch Pack was recently announced.  It’s a show case of 6 sample touch applications. I haven’t had a chance to try these yet. Unfortunately, I don’t have the hardware .  However, I’ve been to various events with a Surface unit and I can say that it’s definitely a crowd magnet. Cool stuff and read the post at the Win 7 blog for more info.

I’ve embedded one of the examples below:

It’s interesting to see how Microsoft Surface and other technologies are helping provide a secure environment for attendees and visitors. Here’s a brief snippet from the article:

The company has collaborated with the City of Tampa and a host of technology partners to build a command and control platform powered by SharePoint, E-SPONDER, and the Microsoft Surface. The tabletop computer will display a Microsoft Virtual Earth map of the area with real-time information about events, incidents, and tasks for the Tampa Incident Command staff. In this way, the security staff will be able to more easily manage the nearly a quarter of a million people in Tampa for Super Bowl-related activities. They’ll be able to zoom in and display a 3D image of the city, including detailed views of buildings and streets and real-time resource tracking.

Here’s a video as well:

I always find “configurators” a more interesting and engaging way to purchase a product on line.  In some sense, it’s the ability to visualize and gain an emotional attachment to an item whether a car, guitar, or a greeting card.  Often, this is the only “personal” experience that you have before you purchase the product.  That “experience” is enough to part with your hard earned dollars.  However, as the price increases, those experiences become more important. 

In some cases visualizing the product you order is more a leap of faith. Guitars as an example are made of many components (i.e. mahogany, maple, rosewood etc.) each with their own individual characteristics.  I love guitars, I wish I could own more…Here’s an example where I haven’t been able to get a good enough feel or attachment to the product, because it requires more of a leap of faith than I am comfortable with:

I’ve heard great things about the company, but purchasing something like a guitar is a very personal experience. There is so much to the tactile feedback of picking up a guitar and actually playing it before you purchase it. I’ve certainly hemmed and hawed on this type of purchase although expensive, not nearly as much as buying a car.

The experience of buying a car has changed significantly over the past couple of decades.  It’s been said that the Internet is the great equalizer in purchasing a car.  The experience changed because we are now able to get information that was not as readily or easily available. However, our experience really isn’t that much different.  We can go to any number of web sites and get “configurators” as the example below, but then we drive down to the dealership to get the “real” experience.

Whether through more information or different way to visualize purchases on the web – technology has certainly played a role in providing a better experience.  However, let’s take a look how BMW is using Microsoft Surface to improve their customer experience. One can certainly look at the cars at a dealership, but at times it difficult to find or visual a precise model or set of options with the desired vehicle.  It is much simpler to attach emotion and visualization to products with these types of experiences. What do you think?

Ok if you’re as old as I am, you might remember MC Hammer – the guy with the big parachute pants singing “You Can’t Touch This”. Well it looks like he showed up at TechCrunch 50 checking out Surface.

My team mate Anand Iyer is attending TechCrunch 50 this week in the valley (little “t”, little “v” – not to be confused with “The Valley“.  I make this point since I’m referencing Ashton Kutcher of “That 70’s Show” and Demi Moore’s husband fame.  Apparently Ashton was impressed with Surface.  Here’s a quote from his blog on MySpace:

‘I’m at Tech Crunch 50 right now which is a big conference focusing on technology companies all striving to be the next big thing on the internet.  Tech Crunch is a blog that is to Silicon Valley what Variety is to Hollywood.  Or what ESPN is to sports. The coolest thing I’ve seen so far is Microsoft Surfce. Its a coffee table thats like a giant iphone…’

It’s nice to see Surface getting some public exposure. Apple has certainly done a great job evangelizing the touch interface of the iPhone.  I’ve been at Microsoft for over 17 years and I think Surface has that “cool” factor that we need to appeal to the broad consumer audience.

MSNBC will use Microsoft Surface for election coverage and analysis. Chuck Todd, NBC’s on-air political commentator and director, will use Surface applications to help him predict electoral votes, review issues by state, play campaign videos, and more. Surface will also enable Todd to annotate directly on the display, use natural gestures to move content, and place “tagged” physical objects that are recognized by the display.

Check out the Surface Blog for more info.

Surface allows you to interact with images and other data interactively through touch. Recently, Surface has been spotted at select Sheraton Hotels and at The Rio ibar in Las Vegas. Here is really interesting application created by Vectorform.  I’ve always wanted a drum set, but didn’t quite know where to put it.