Microsoft’s multitouch Surface table looked like an improved iPhone display last year. The latest smartphones all come with something similar, but Microsoft took the design and further developed it, inspiring a bit from some existent technologies that don’t seem to get implemented anywhere.

MS has recently announced and demoed another multitouch platform, apparently much cheaper than the original $10k Surface. Dubbed TouchWall, the interactive screen is integrating three infrared lasers that scan the surface of a plexiglass board, and an infrared camera to account for anything that touches it. The MS demo you’re about to see shows a rear-projector, 4 x 6 foot plexiglass screen, and a basic Vista PC running the software application called Plex.



Although it’s considerably bigger than the Surface table, the TouchWall lacks the ability to recognize objects. However, it still allows you to scroll, zoom in and out, control different functions and draw on the display as if it were a whiteboard. MS estimates a total hardware cost coming in at just “hundreds of dollars”.

Strange enough, MS seem to have miscalculated something, and decided that the TouchWall is not to be turned into a commercial product in the near future. Considering this could end up way cheaper than current touch-sensitive technologies, it looks like a missed opportunity.