Microsoft asks students to imagine the limit of Surface - we learn there is none

Earlier this week, Microsoft introduced the next generation of their Surface tablet hybrid. The Surface Pro 2 and Surface 2 were announced alongside, the Surface Music Cover, a new “blade” which allows users to easily remix music on a special touch sensitive cover. The venture has shown us that Surface has many capabilities beyond a typical keyboard and the Surface team headed to the Art Center College of Design to find out exactly how far Surface can go.

Students at the college were simply asked, “What if you could click in something else to your Surface?” With this question, almost a dozen students set out to test the limits of industrial, graphic, and interaction design - The results, were outstanding.

After a video montage of pizza, dubstep music, and endless drafts, the question “what if” was posed. What if the blade could be a painting Surface… a solar panel… provide a new way to navigate through space… help to diagnose someone?

This is truly Microsoft’s original goal with Surface. When the project was originally announced, we knew they were looking to go farther than an iPad or a standard tablet – the company set out to create a device that could change the world of computing and interaction, as we know it. And of course, the backend is powered by Windows 8.

Microsoft’s idea to turn the cover into much more than just a standard keyboard starts with Surface 2 – the question for the future is to ask, how our interaction with modern day computers will be changed. What are the possibilities with Surface?

The video is inspiring and really shows how far Microsoft’s Surface product can be taken. Look at the video and let us know what your favorite possibility for Surface is. I found the fold up piano keyboard as a wild idea.

Source: Microsoft

Michael Archambault