Gaming on Microsoft surface

[karohemd]

This looks vaguely interesting:

Surfacescapes Demo Walkthrough from Surfacescapes on Vimeo.

More on this project

It goes a bit far for me, though. I'd rather still use my own dice but it would be great for displaying maps, player handouts (which wouldn't get lost) and the like but for that purpose you could just integrate an LCD screen into a table which would be a lot cheaper than $15,000, even if you had to make the table yourself.
Big question, though: Is it spill-proof?

Comments

[raggedhalo.livejournal.com]

I am so hot right now.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Yes and no - those screens are used for exhibitions etc., they're designed specifically for this sort of work. Object detection works by IR cameras working through the glass top, so provided it stays clean it ought to be OK. Might have to wipe it off after a spill, and that might do odd things to the game if there isn't a suspend button, but otherwise it ought to be OK.

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/Pages/Product/WhatIs.aspx

But I agree, for most GMs a passive display would be just as useful, and you could build something like that with e.g. a 32" LCD screen under a glass-topped table, provided there was some provision for keeping it cool.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

*nods*
Urk, it's huge (the control box underneath, I mean).

If you just slot in the LCD screen (i.e. cut out a whole section of the table) the air underneath the table should circulate relatively freely as long as there aren't that many people sitting around it. Routing the cables along the underside and down one leg shouldn't bee too tricky, either.

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

The one I saw years ago had an LCD projector mounted on the ceiling pointing straight down. No worries about spills, use any table etc. but you couldn't interact easily with it by moving things on the table (I'm sure there is software now that could handle this, possibly using Augmented Reality concepts, search YouTube if you aren't familiar with Augmented Reality) so you could put down a specially marked cube for your character and the video camera can tell where it is on the table and update the software to say where you've moved your character to.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

That sounds interesting.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Most big LCD screens output quite a bit of heat - when they're on a wall the construction of the casing supplies some ventilation by convection. Laid flat a lot of the heat would end up going upwards into the electronics and active part of the screen. It's probably easily soluble, e.g. by providing a couple of cooling fans, but something to bear in mind.

One other thought - are big screens (say 40") built to be used flat without eventually sagging?

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Ah, hadn't thought of possible overheating issues due to convection.

Probably not, but I guess you could build some sort of metal support cage for it?

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I was just thinking about this, and it occurs to me that you could build a non-interactive table quite easily with a glass table (with a sheet of thin parchment sandwiched under the glass), an old-style slide projector under the table by the GM's feet, and a mirror. Just make slides of the things you want to show the players - low res, but might sort of work. Wonder if anyone's tried it?

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

That's an interesting idea!

[djonma.livejournal.com]

It looks so awesome though... Like the beginning of the cool star trek consoles...
I so want one!