Microsoft Firefly: Hungry Hungry Hippos for Surface

Oh boy, if ever there was a worthy use case for a giant $10k multi-touch table, it's a serene port of Hungry Hungry Hippos called Firefly, which Microsoft developed as a proof of concept for Surface. Just gather them into your jar. Go on, gather 'em up, those 100,000 fireflies aren't going to gather themselves. Video after the break.

[canr @ Feb 28th 2008 8:14AM]

In before "big-ass table" jokes.

[fred @ Feb 28th 2008 8:23AM]

We get it, Engadget. You think this is sooooo stupid. And since it has something to do with Microsoft it gets posted.

Now can we get back to the Apple press releases? I'm sure you have several you have to post before noon.

[the_mikehall @ Feb 28th 2008 10:09AM]

Fred, it is stupid. Even if Engadget love the device, the application is ridiculously lame.

[Precision @ Feb 28th 2008 8:14AM]

this is the future..
$10K bug squashing machine. Yeah baby.. xD

[ScooterDe @ Feb 28th 2008 4:54PM]

yes, the future...of arcade games. In the home? Limited.

[sdh @ Feb 28th 2008 8:15AM]

Hobos™ Cancollecting in shoppingcarts. That would make me work harder cause what am I to do with fireflies?

[webon @ Feb 28th 2008 8:18AM]

So basically this 10k coffee table is for playing silly games, cool but silly non the less

[Mark @ Feb 28th 2008 2:49PM]

actually I think it's a $10k table that they partially tested using a silly game.

[Raheem @ Feb 28th 2008 8:18AM]

For God's sake let's see some Command and Conquer on that biznitch! :P

[DennisVR @ Feb 28th 2008 8:18AM]

nah, will wait for the holographics version

[Fred @ Feb 28th 2008 8:27AM]

Apparently the meaning of the words 'proof of concept' is lost on both the author of this article and some of the commenters.

[Mark @ Feb 28th 2008 2:52PM]

agreed since usually "testing application" isn't synonymous with "proof of concept"

[iptydafu @ Feb 28th 2008 8:27AM]

Dog-food, volvo, friggin' Radio Shack, and now Ryan Block. Fantastic.

[Jeff @ Feb 28th 2008 8:27AM]

Demonstrating that business and pleasure -can- in fact mix, the boys in Cupertino have developed an original new entry in the evermore popular casual gaming genre called iFly, which was developed as a cool proof of concept for Apple Multitouch devices. Check out the exciting video after the break!

[fred @ Feb 28th 2008 8:31AM]

First comment:

OMG This is so awesome. Steve-O and the boys have really broken ground. Glad I bought Apple stock! :))))

Drool!!!

My checkbook is at the ready!!!!

Apple FTW!!!!

[Andrew @ Feb 28th 2008 10:48AM]

That was the perfect comment.

[Aaron @ Feb 28th 2008 11:06AM]

Best comment ive seen on here all week

[Mark @ Feb 28th 2008 2:53PM]

Well done, Jeff. Well done.

[rfrr @ Feb 28th 2008 3:11PM]

Spot on exactly!!!

[eyurasian_destiny @ Feb 28th 2008 8:29AM]

Ill wait till it can run cnc3

[stuart @ Feb 28th 2008 12:54PM]

That is EXACTLY what I was thinking...

[Ben @ Feb 28th 2008 8:37AM]

God.. that thing's louder than an Xbox360...

[Jeff @ Feb 28th 2008 4:36PM]

... didn't it look incredibly dull and with a terrible viewing-angle range?

...or was it just a cheap camera or something?

this looked like the kind of fidelity i'd expect from a $300 proof-of-concept, not a $10,000 one... am i missing something?

[jetsaredim @ Feb 28th 2008 8:48AM]

Surface is really an awesome device. I'm on test panels and focus groups and I was able to get a really brief hands-on with Surface (20 min or so). They showed us how Surface would be able to recognize your phone when you put it down and you could grab your pics out and they would sorta spread out over the table - or you could go through your contacts or schedule. Was really, really cool.

[Alexander @ Feb 28th 2008 9:24AM]

Surface will only be cool when all of the bars have them installed in the tables/bar.

The demos of putting a camera on the table and having the pictures spill out--while nifty, are not really practical. I don't know about you, but looking down at a table is a lot harder to do than my LCD that is vertical.

Putting the cell phone down and having it list all my text messages with a virtual keyboard? Okay. That is cool. And useful.

Letting the waitress know my beer is almost empty? Again, cool and useful. Finally I won't have 3 rum and cokes on the table, because the 4 waitresses keep putting them on my table--and my tab--when I am still working on one.

Same with the credit card thing. Awesome, and very useful. Put my check card down. Sign, and input my PIN. Slider for the tip. Done.

I know this is just a tech demo, showing off multitouch input on a big table... but come on. When is this going to be in my dining room table? 5 years? 10? The ever-elusive 15 years?

[Fred @ Feb 28th 2008 9:35AM]

I sort of hear your complaint about looking down to the table instead of to your screen, but... I write, read the newspaper, play boardgames, eat and drink all while looking down at a table. When photo's weren't digital yet, I'd spread them out on the table to sort them.

That never gave anybody any neck/back problems, so I'm unsure why people are saying that this will be the case now.

[chris @ Feb 28th 2008 9:37AM]

actually they said they are moving ahead their timetables it was 5-10 years for consumer devices in kitchen tables and other surfaces... but they have said they are moving forward to get it to market sooner than that for lower costs... but they didnt say how soon "sooner" actually means

[Dan S. @ Feb 28th 2008 9:41AM]

Is it me, or did they have to move their fingers extremely slowly to ensure that the Surface would track properly? It's possible that it was due to a game limitation, but there are a couple of times that the dots don't appear where their fingers are; inaccuracy kind of defeats the purpose of a multi-touch interface.

[jinushaun @ Feb 28th 2008 11:50AM]

They're moving their fingers slowly because they're coraling the flies. Fast movements would squish them or scare them off. Just like real life.

[barrywoods @ Feb 28th 2008 10:07AM]

You know, maybe it's just my age, but this would make a kick ass D&D gaming table. No more paper maps! Just tag your figures. You could DM from a laptop, have real dice, or virtual ones on the table. That would be freaking cool.

[turn_self_off @ Feb 28th 2008 12:39PM]

someone should pitch that to wizards of the coast, they are currently working on a "digital game table" service to go along with the release of D&D4.

[LaughingMan @ Feb 28th 2008 10:07AM]

Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don't care, I'm still free
You can't take the sky from me

[Jeff @ Feb 28th 2008 4:37PM]

hahaha NERD!

:P

[JC @ Feb 28th 2008 10:20AM]

Replace "Microsoft" with "Apple" and "Surface" with "Multitouch" and you'll see how fast Engadget gets on their knees to blow Steve jobs. Hey Engadget, you guys need some kneepads?

[Chris @ Feb 28th 2008 11:13AM]

Sarcastic Gamer is the one who originally did the big ass table parody, aren't they?

[jinushaun @ Feb 28th 2008 11:59AM]

Yes. MS invited them to check out Surface for themselves and they left very impressed.

[RiggsFanPE @ Feb 28th 2008 11:39AM]

This is pretty cool, but I liked the old Firefly internet community better.

[OddyOh @ Feb 28th 2008 11:41AM]

Doesn't look very good for your back...all hunched over like that!

[engadget @ Feb 28th 2008 12:29PM]

Nice, Magnetic Fields.

[Mark @ Feb 28th 2008 2:57PM]

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure It'll still work if it's horizontal. Granted they need to cut down on the form factor significantly which probably goes completely with the effort to get it consumer ready.

[Mark @ Feb 28th 2008 3:05PM]

damn broken reply system... anyway I have to say I've been impressed with engadget's impartiality for about the last 2 weeks with microsoft until I read this. Seriously Ryan? Not only is this article horribly biased but it outright lies. If you actually try watching the video you'll see that he says it's a "game to test surface" which I know sounds a lot like "game as a proof of concept for surface" but you should pay closer attention to discern that out. Then from there acting like this testing application was made as a sole purpose for surface when it's pretty clear it's a small program they used in part of their testing is even more rediculous. Ryan, just a quick tip, between your, may we say, slanted review of the new zunes, to this article maybe you should try thinking a little before you actually write these.

[Andrew @ Feb 28th 2008 3:15PM]

I think the whole world knows about Ryan's bias now - Engadget "news" = pinch of salt methinks...

[Mark @ Feb 28th 2008 3:16PM]

ya, it's not even the bias that bothers me so much about this one as much as the complete fabrication of much of it.

[Jeff @ Feb 28th 2008 4:41PM]

oh boohoo. If it bothers you so much, read something else.

you sound like you're one of those people who writes the FCC because a radio host offends you. - change the channel.

[Mark @ Feb 28th 2008 9:27PM]

yep, cause telling the person who wrote the article that I don't appreciate the outright lying in it is exactly the same as going to the FCC and asking that they not be allowed to publish anymore. I usually like engadget and don't even mind the bias usually so I'm not going to "change the channel" and when there is a place to add comments, one function of which is to do exactly what I'm doing, I'm going to comment. You sound like one of those crazy pro-speech people who say other people shouldn't be allowed to disagree with anyone speaking.

[mrpaco @ Feb 28th 2008 3:23PM]

You can't stop the signal.