Microsoft Surface faces GestureTek’s Illuminate Table!

With the unveiling of Microsoft Surface, people got curious about similar systems. There are many products already in use, however, as the market leader, Microsoft gets the attention and has the power of reaching billions of people worldwide. One such similar product is Illuminate Table from GestureTek of Sunnyvale CA.

GestureTek has developed its own GestPoint^TM as its core technology to power their line of interactive products. GestPoint^TM utilizes real-time computer vision techniques to track your hand and convert simple gestures into mouse control. GestPoint^TM is protected under the patent #7,058,204 in US. GestureTek designed and installed many state-of-the-art Illuminate Tables at various client premises already, while Microsoft Surface is yet to be installed for public use.

GestureTek designed and installed many state-of-the-art Illuminate Tables at various client premises already, while Microsoft Surface is yet to be installed for public use.

Microsoft Surface has a display of 30 inches and is 22 inches high X 21 inches deep X 84 inches wide. It has a projector and five cameras. GestureTek’s Illuminate table is 32 inch high and has a 50 inch screen, a computer, a projector and an IR camera. These are suggested for use in Hotels, cafes, retail stores, corporate board rooms, restaurants, showrooms, location-based entertainment facilities etc.

Unlike Microsoft Surface, Gesture Tek offers Illuminate series in three variations – Illumnate Display, Illuminate Kiosk and Illuminate Table. The technology behind all the three is same, but the applications differ.

Microsoft Surface enables users to manipulate images, videos on the surface. Illuminate also allows similar functions. One can drag the images across the table top, rotate, resize etc. However Microsoft Surface claims to read the images in the digital camera when placed on the Microsoft Surface. Gesture Tek’s Illuminate Table has no such feature.

One advantage with Geture Tek is its capability to build custom tables and deliver NOW, as against the waiting period of Microsoft Surface. GestureTek has already installed an 18 by 5-foot table at Australia’s new tallest building, the Eureka Tower project in Melbourne, Australia. This is reported as the world’s largest multi-touch surface computing table.