Microsoft Surface has got a competition now, from Sony which just unveiled the Sony atracTable 35-inch, touchscreen, full-HD screen device. The touch interaction technology that is used in the Sony atracTable is developed by a swiss company named Atracsys. The fully functional atracTable is going to be launched in June.
The prototype of the device is ready, and it was done by Atracsys. They revealed the info that the screen is going to be full HD with high contrast. And this has not been clear to everyone whether its official or just a leak, because Sony has not made any announcement but the company Atracsys made the announcement after the technology was sold to Sony.
The Sony atracTable is going to be gesture-controllable, i.e. it will recognize the movements made by the body. And according to what Sony claims, the device will be able to predict the user’s age, sex and the emotional status. And similar to what Microsoft Surface has had, the device will be able to interact with any other device like mobile phone that is placed on the screen.
As Pocket-Lint says, the device has two Sony ISS XCD-V60 cameras which would create 3D images, and another camera would control the cursor etc. The atracTable is said to be useful in presenting demos of products and services in large markets, when it is launched. Sony has a good touch sensing background at least in the mobile world (with Sony Ericsson mobiles), and with the gesture controlling features provided by Atracsys, the atracTable seems to be a perfect competition to the Microsoft Surface that is here since quite long time, nearly a couple years.
The concept looks superb. But why did Microsoft get a competition, when both the companies are pretty late with launching their touch device products?