SurfaceWare

We spend a lot of time thinking about how the unique optical capabilities of Microsoft Surface can be used to create magical experiences with everyday objects.  A couple folks from the Applied Sciences team and the Surface SDK team got together a while ago to prototype one such concept that we call "SurfaceWare".  Paul Dietz explains the concept really well in a video he just uploaded so I'll just let that speak for itself:

On a personal note... this was one of my favorite prototype projects to work on even though my contribution was just the demo UI. Not only is it a fascinating concept that inspires creativity and innovation, it also got me an opportunity to mark "give a demo to BillG" off the list of things I've always wanted to do. At the 2007 Hardware Science Fair that Microsoft Hardware hosts annually for employees, I was granted 45 seconds to walk Bill through the SurfaceWare concept and demo. He smiled, nodded, and then was promptly escorted to the next booth to see another really cool prototype of future hardware concepts. My mom tries to brag by telling this story to her friends and co-workers - she leaves out the details of it being a 45-second, one-way conversation though :)

We'd love to have a two-way conversation with you about SurfaceWare.  What do you think of the concept?  Can you think of other types of objects where similar techniques could be used to create magical experiences?

-Robert