Microsoft Surface, a multi-touch table display, has released a working demo of a German game called The Settlers of Catan. After watching the video above, you may giggle as these three grown men play a magical fantasy game with cooky music, but take a quick peek- because there are some very cool features and developments hidden in the 9 minute video that only Catan fans would fully watch. You’ll get the idea in the first minute.

Most impressive, is Microsoft’s ability to merge real world interactions and objects with the multi-touch experience. This is done with its object recognition feature. This enables a digital board game to be played with actual analog dice and other physical objects. Each player also has his own plastic visor, that acts as an x-ray and allows the player to see what digital cards he is holding without showing other players. And if you are enjoying yourself so much that you need to use the restroom, bring your visor with you, because the Surface’s object recognition knows which visor is yours, and your bad cheating friends won’t be able to see your cards.

To better understand Microsoft’s vision, watch this video released in 2009 that showed what they think technology would look like in 2019. It is a must watch, check it out here.

via Kotaku

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