Wednesday, February 20, 2008 . 7:43 AM

The Future is Now

Remember the futuristic 2005 movie "The Island"?

The Island is about two clones living in an Utopian colony and their escape out of the colony after they question the world they live in. The movie is set in 2019.

One of the scenes in the movie depicts an office environment where a traditional desk, equipment and documents are all replaced by a single interactive desk. In the movie, the desk is touch-sensitive. It responds to both hands and objects like a pen or a ‘control diamond’. The entire table is lit with information and one could open, close documents with the control object.

A similar prototype was depicted in the movie Minority Report, way back in 2002.

And now, the future as projected in those movies may be closer than we think.

Microsoft Surface is the latest revolutionary offering by Microsoft. In a world where we deem everything small to be "in" (read: the iPod, handphones, laptops), the Surface, with it's bulky exterior, certainly looks rather unappealing at first. It's like the total opposite of the cool new MacBook Air.

VERSUS ??

The Surface works by recognising finger movements, and also physical objects. Organizing and transferring photos becomes easier and smoother- so does planning, and ordering food and drinks at restaurants. Plus.. and most of all.. it's that futuristic, sci-fi touch that makes using the Surface appealing.

Initially, the Surface will likely be used in hospitality businesses, such as restaurants, hotels, retail, public entertainment venues and the military for tactical overviews.

In reality, may people may not like it. Already, people are raising a hue and cry about the various different shortcomings of the Surface - it's lack of leg room, lagging Internet connection, and of course, the exorbitant price ($5K-10K per unit). The fact is people are generally averse to new technology. But I predict that before we know it, it will be ubiquitous. It'll be like the next mobile phone revolution. As soon as it's commercially available (Microsoft predicts that it will be about 3 to 5 years before this becomes affordable to the public), we may as well have adapted to this new facet of technological evolution.