The hospitality and gaming industries are a perfect avenue for applications of Surface technology. I led a team of 3 developers and 2 designers who had zero Surface experience before the project to build a application that I think is not just smoke and mirrors (as a lot of Surface demos tend to be) but definitely potentially shippable software. This application ended up being a demo in the Microsoft booth at G2E 2008 in Las Vegas.

Anatomy of the application:

1. Information Cards
2. Playing Cards

The information cards allow users to explore various amenities at the hotel and provide them with vital information about features and availability. They are grouped into 4 categories: Gaming, Entertainment, Amenities, and Dining. The information cards stay attached to their respective category until they are pulled off by the user.

The information card can be flipped over to reveal more information about the specific topic.

While the users are sitting around the table they can occupy their time with a quick game of Texas Hold’em or Blackjack.

And at the end of the game, with only simple gesture and the deck can be reshuffled to play again.