DON'T MISS A HACK. CONNECT WITH ME.

Monday, August 06, 2007

microsoft surface started as an ikea hack

chris tipped me on this piece of trivia.

do you know that microsoft surface originated from an ikea hack?

a microsoft what? in short, it's a surface computer that turns a table top into an interactive surface. so you and your team can use objects, touch and gestures to collaborate easily, moving beyond the mouse and keyboard.

the interesting thing is that when bill gave the idea the nod in 2003, the team made the first prototype with an ikea table. i don't recognise the table though. any idea, any one? they cut a hole through its top and added a sheet of architect vellum as diffuser.

microsoft surfacethe prototype

it's not a great looking hack but i guess it did a good enough job. and because of its humble ikea beginnings, the world can now have the shiny one below.

microsoft surfacethe upgrade

anyone tried it?

2 comments:

  1. Hi, I guess the first one who intregrated a monitor into a table has been Atari with the very first video game that has been commercial availlable called 'PONG'. For each game you had to spend a coin.

    This is what it looked like:
    http://www.flippers.com/images/PONG-Octagonal.JPG

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've played with it... pretty amazing! The top is now 1" thick lucite. Feels pretty quality.

    ReplyDelete

Everyone is free to comment but IKEAHackers.net reserves the right to remove comments that do not contribute constructively to the discussion, contain profanity, personal attacks or seek to promote a personal or unrelated business. SPAM will be deleted.

If you have a Blogger profile, you can click on the SUBSCRIBE BY EMAIL link that will show up below and receive all follow up comments on the hack via email.

Don't have a Blogger profile? Create one for free here so you won't have to be be listed as "anonymous".