Pictionaire takes Microsoft's Surface up a level

InternetNews | at | by Mike

First there was Microsoft "Surface," a multi-touch, multi-user tabletop computer that's controlled by users' hands.

Now, there's "Pictionaire," a collaboration between researchers from Microsoft and from the University of California at Berkeley, that aims to take that touch metaphor even further.

However, Microsoft does not plan on incorporating the experimental technology into an actual product.

Pictionaire is the name of a new type of collaborative worktable that uses overhead cameras to digitize images of items placed on the tabletop, allowing users to work together using the system's multi-touch features.