North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan and Microsoft's Kyle Warnick demonstrated Microsoft's new Surface technology at the ninth annual Great Plains Technology Conference at the Fargodome Tuesday.
Surface looks like a table with a hidden series of cameras, a projector and personal computer attached below.
It uses a touch screen with multiple touch points, unlike traditional single-point touch screens and more than one person can use it at a time.
Microsoft has been working on the technology for four years. The company created Surface to break down sometimes intimidating technology barriers, Warnick said.
It is planned for commercial release and should be in some retail stores and hotels by the end of this year. It will likely be available for home use in three to five years, Warnick said.
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Devices with wireless capabilities or credit cards with radio frequency identification readers can be set on Surface and information transferred to or from Surface.
Tuesday's Surface demonstration was one of a dozen public demonstrations Microsoft has given since it launched in May. It was the first public demonstration in North Dakota.
For more details, see Wednesday's Forum. Microsoft demonstrates new Surface technology at Tech Conference Tracy Frank 20071009
