DIY Multitouch Surface Computer
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Categories: Hardware, DIY, HowToPosted on Wednesday, April 8, 2009 by Tim Fehlman
We’ve all seen the Microsoft Surface video out there showing off the latest Microsoft technology. But what do you do if you just can’t wait for the slow wheels at Microsoft to turn on out? Simple! You build your own!
This is exactly what the good people at MaximumPC did. This is what their end results look like:
This was no small project but the end results are impressive. In the article, they cover a number of different aspects such as the theory of building such a table, configuring the LED array to detect when the screen is touched, configuring a Playstation camera to work with a PC, computer and projector selection and installation, and software used to make the whole thing run.
What really caught my attention was the list of open source software that was used to bring the whole project together:
I have to admit. I am very tempted to try this one out myself. But, the same old problem rears its ugly head: When would I have the time?
My youngest daughter is having an issue determining when it is appropriate for her to get out of bed in the morning. It is not uncommon for her to emerge from her bedroom at 2:00 AM and again at 5:00 AM. At 2 years old, she has no way of knowing when she should or should not get up for the morning.
that I could plug into a very low wattage night light. I then programmed the timer to turn on the light at 7:00 AM each morning as this is when my wife and I start our day.
I’ve run across this a few times and I have to admit, it makes me a bit nervous. Mind you, I’m always nervous about anything that can completely prevent me from making my hardware ever work again if something goes wrong!