Sony atracTable vs Microsoft Surface?

The Sony atracTable: What Sony wants to do with it, we have no idea.

Photo: atracTable from atracsys

The Microsoft Surface has been around for – how long – a couple of years? We are yet to see any commercial or large scale implementations of the amazing touch tech that Microsoft occasionally shows in the Surface.

atracTable video from Stuttgart

Now a competing product is going to be launched by Sony according to Pocket-Lint. The Sony atracTable uses the touch interaction technology developed by Atracsys, a Swiss company. There are no clear details available about what Sony plans to achieve its Microsoft Surface competitor, but it is going ahead with it according to Atracsys. The company’s touch tech was purchased by Sony recently, and according to what they told Pocket-Lint, a 35-inch commercial product will be launched.

Photo: The touch-sensitive surface reacts to objects placed on it. Sony's interface will possibly be different from what you see here.

The prototype of the Sony atracTable was developed by Atracsys, who revealed that it would have a full HD screen and high contrast. It was not clear whether Atracsys jumped the gun on this one – so whether this qualifies as an official statement or a leak is not very clear to us.

The atracsys website has some information about the atracTable. We do not know if it would apply to the Sony Atractable, however.

In the photo of the atracTable we have here from their website, you can see a mobile phone placed on the surface of the product. According to the company, by simply laying the object on the sirface, the Atractable reacts and creates a menu system around it. The system can generate a variety of content depending on the object, such as “contexttual information, videos, games and more” according to Atracsys.

According to Pocket-Lint, the sony atracTable has two Sony ISS XCD-V60 cameras that build a 3D image, and the cameras then control a cursor, avatar, or robot.

The Microsoft Surface, many had said, would be a good fit for restaurants or for certain kinds of games. What Sony plans to do with the Atractable is not clear: but then Sony has its fingers in so many pies, there would find a way!

According to Atracsys, the Atractable could be used for product or service demoes in shops, presentations, high-tech information desks, interactive ads or internet kiosks and for gaming.

There has to be some kind of embedded operating system to run the entire show – and applications have to be created to use the entire touch interactivity. We guess that till Sony officialy talks about it, the target audience won’t be clear.

We have a couple of photos of the atracsys atracTable here for you. They do not look like renders, so might be the real thing.