After reading months of web speculation and watching a couple of sneak peek videos floating around, Microsoft have finally shed a little extra 'light' (if you pardon our pun) on their worst kept secret: the dual projecting surface device known officially as Secondlight or otherwise known as Microsoft Surface 2.0.
According to the BBC, Secondlight works on the principle that what you see, isn't necessarily what you get. Dual projection devices within the screen allow hidden images to exist underneath photographs, which can be rotated and zoomed to show the hidden information in context.
The 'hidden' images can either be pictorial or text-based, or a mixture of both in order to support the nature of the graphic.
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| A transparent piece of paper is waved over an image on Microsoft's Secondlight device, revealing hidden information in the picture |
The possibilities appear limitless: street directories could benefit from having photo realistic satellite pictures that show public transport information in any part of the map selected. Budding astronomers could probe the universe and identify constellations with the advantage of hidden statistical data available by swiping over a particular star.
The way to reveal the hidden image or text data is to wave a transparent material over the SecondLight surface. In a Minority Report moment, secondary images that support the primary image can be visualised on the transparency media - and by the looks of the demonstrations, any form of transparent media (such as ordinary tracing paper) seems to do the trick.
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| A transparent piece of paper is waved over an image on Microosft's Secondlight device, revealing hidden information in the picture |
The SecondLight product follows Microsoft's other budding touch products in the pipeline including the Touch Wall and Microsoft Surface.
Microsoft recently showed off their touch technology in a futuristic video at a recent business developer's conference, which showed what the world could look like in 2019.
For more information on Searchlight, the official 10-page PDF document from Microsoft can be found here. As much as we want one now, don't expect anything for at least 2-3 years, says Microsoft.
Watching Secondlight in action