Surfacescapes - D&D on the Microsoft Surface (Touch-sensitive table)

vimeo.com/7132858

Pretty cool, although still a bit clunky... definitely not going to replace MMOs or LARPs any time soon.

On the old boards, this same tech and concept was used for WH40K table.  Put down the mini, and areas of effect/ranges were shown as well as die rolls.  Cool idea and tool for table top RPG's, but that's it.  I can't see this replacing LARP or MMO's, unless the touch table/screen becomes a lot smaller and lighter and can be fitted for every home.

With a little more work and hammering out the problems I think it'll be an awesome addition to the table

I've seen better usage of screens on a table with templates. This just looks like a tech demo more than anything viable.

The concept looks awesome, though, they are trying to accomplish more then what should be done with one screen, the DM should have its own screen In my opinion... along with the "action" area, so that way the attacks and moves can be selected and done while the players are doing what they want.  It does look promising though.

From the demo, it did look like the DM had his/her own screen on a separate machines (laptop/tabletop).

I think if the players had a remote controller instead of using the touch screen, it would create less clutter on the screen.  Or on each of the 4 sides, the users/players can use a stylus to hit a menu bar to choose their actions instead of hitting a rotating menu pop-up that appears with the twist/turns of the mini or tool tip.

My main dislike is that the system is D&D 4E, which is currently my most disliked version of D&D.  So that could be colouring my perspective on this...