THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING

http://= link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1185071465http://= www.brightcove.com/channel.jsp?channel=3D16988910

Innovation Economy

=20

What a start-up brings to table

Massachusetts firm goes head-to-head with Microsoft in a nascent = niche=20 market

Email|Print|Single=20 Page| Text size =96 = + By Scott=20 Kirsner

April 13, 2008 =

Adam Bogue has a vision for the future of computing: a = touch-sensitive=20 tabletop called DiamondTouch. "My vision is that this becomes standard = office=20 equipment," says Bogue, founder of the Framingham start-up Circle Twelve = Inc.=20 "The circular table in every executive's office should be a DiamondTouch = table."

Four users can sit at one of Bogue's tables and use their fingers to=20 manipulate digital images of maps, blueprints, or product drawings - = sort of=20 like operating a giant iPhone. But the DiamondTouch table understands = which user=20 is doing what, so that one might mark a prospective site for the = company's new=20 headquarters in green, while another uses blue.

Bogue's only problem is that a slightly larger company in Washington = state is=20 pursuing a similar vision. "Every desk can be a computer," says Mark = Bolger,=20 director of marketing for Microsoft Corp.'s surface computing group. "We see = surface=20 computing becoming pervasive, allowing you to interact with technology = in a very=20 natural way."

This week, AT&T will install the first few Microsoft Surface = computers in=20 a handful of stores, allowing customers to compare mobile phones and = plans.=20 Bogue is hitting the funding trail, trying to raise about $2 million to = grow his=20 nascent company and market the technology. The question is whether the=20 tabletop-computing market is big enough for both start-ups and = behemoths.

Bogue's technology was developed over the last seven years at the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories in Kendall = Square, a=20 research and development arm of Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Corp.

The rectangular DiamondTouch table relies on a projector hung from = the=20 ceiling, pointing down, to create images. Hundreds of tiny = radio-frequency=20 transmitters embedded in the table surface send a low-energy signal = through a=20 person's body when he touches the surface, and a receiver pad hidden = under his=20 seat completes the circuit (allowing the table to know which user is = touching=20 where). A PC connected to the table processes the touch input, and = instructs the=20 projector how to respond. Different kinds of touches can draw boxes on = the=20 screen, zoom in, or tag particular objects. A DiamondTouch table with a = 32-inch=20 diagonal surface costs $9,500, not including the PC or projector.

Bogue previously worked for Mitsubishi as a vice president of business = development, and one=20 of his jobs was to find a Mitsubishi unit that might want to make = DiamondTouch=20 tables. He struck out. But he did persuade the company to allow him to = start=20 selling the tables as a "business incubation project" within the = Cambridge lab=20 in 2006. He says he sold more than 100 tables before the parent company = ended=20 the project last year. (Around that time, an exodus of top researchers = from the=20 lab was beginning. Coincidentally, one of the inventors of the = DiamondTouch=20 table, Paul Dietz, was hired away by Microsoft to work on developing the = Surface.)

In January, Bogue signed a deal that would allow him to create an = independent=20 company, Circle Twelve, to market DiamondTouch. Mitsubishi holds a = minority=20 stake and is paid a royalty on every table sold.

Microsoft's Surface product uses a digital projector underneath the = table to=20 produce images, and five infrared cameras to determine where users are = moving=20 their fingers. The projection from below seems to produce a crisper = image than=20 DiamondTouch, at least in a room with ambient light. The initial price = will be=20 $10,000 (which includes all the Surface components), but Bolger says he = expects=20 that to come down within five years.

There are three big differences between the products Circle Twelve = and=20 Microsoft are offering. First, DiamondTouch is for sale now, while = Surface is=20 being rolled out more slowly through a small number of Microsoft = partners.=20 Second, DiamondTouch can discern between different users, thanks to = those=20 sensors hidden beneath chairs. Surface will respond to touches from = multiple=20 users, but it can't yet tell who's who.

The third difference could prove a significant one: Part of the idea = behind=20 Surface is to recognize objects placed on the table, something = DiamondTouch=20 doesn't do. Objects need to be labeled with a special barcode which, for = example, allows Surface to "recognize" a mobile phone and display = information=20 about its features. In the future, a digital camera placed on the table = might=20 wirelessly transfer its images to the table, allowing users to organize = albums=20 by shuffling the photos around with their hands.

Initially, Microsoft will try to sell Surface to companies in the = leisure,=20 entertainment, and retail industries; the tables could show up soon in = Sheraton=20 hotels, serving as a digital concierge. Bogue says he's focusing on=20 organizations that use maps - like the military and government agencies = - as=20 well as design groups that might use the table to review new product=20 concepts.

Bolger says Microsoft is "very enthusiastic about seeing other = players come=20 into this category - that's good for everybody." In addition to Circle = Twelve, a=20 California company called TouchTable Inc. is also selling touch- enabled = tables.

No one knows yet whether there's a "killer app" that will cause = tabletop=20 computers to take off. Even AT&T describes its roll-out as a test; = it hasn't=20 decided yet whether Surface will become a fixture in all 2,200 of its US = stores.

Analyst Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates says Surface = will=20 certainly give Microsoft a splash of coolness, referring to it as "a = halo=20 product." But unlike the finger-friendly iPhone, he isn't convinced that = touch-enabled tables will ignite a frenzy. "This is a larger device, = with a=20 higher price, and as a result I see it as a lower-volume market," Kay = says,=20 comparing the table to mobile devices.

Markets that are slower to develop can sometimes favor highly = motivated=20 start-ups over big companies, which get distracted if things don't take = off=20 quickly. (Remember Microsoft's toy division, or its "smart personal = object=20 technology?" Didn't think so.)

But it's hard to count out a company that has $21 billion in cash and = short-term investments on hand, and several hundred people working to = turn=20 Surface into a real business. Even Bogue is impressed. "Wow, that's a = lot of=20 resources," he says.

But he also can't help boasting, "I sold two tables last Friday." To = a lone=20 entrepreneur trying to build momentum, that's a big deal.

Scott Kirsner can be reached at kirsner@pobox.com. 3D""=20

1=20
2=20
=20
=

SURFACE | Microsoft

Price: $10,000 (not currently available for sale)

How it works: A digital projector under the table produces images, = and=20 infrared cameras track user's finger movement across the table.

How it differs: The Surface is able to recognize objects placed on = the table=20 if they're labeled with a special optical barcode.

DIAMONDTOUCH | Circle Twelve Inc.

Price: $9,500 (not including computer or projector)

How it works: An overhead projector produces images while tiny=20 radio-frequency transmitters on the table's surface send low-energy = signals=20 through a user's body when they touch the screen.

How it differs: The DiamondTouch is able to distinguish between = individual=20 users.