Microsoft Demos Touch-Sensitive Technology

New software under development by Microsoft Labs could change the PowerPoint presentation and other applications as businesses know it.LaserTouch, created by one of the designers behind Microsoft's Surface tabletop computer, uses low-cost components that make displays touch-sensitive and should keep implementation costs at bay. The technology involves an infrared camera and a laser mesh system that tracks how a user interacts with the display -- whether that's a flat-screen monitor or a projected image -- and then feeds that information into software that interprets the gestures for the applications. For a PowerPoint presentation, for example, a user would be able to run through slides by tapping on the wall.

"Our view is that all the surfaces -- horizontal surfaces, vertical surfaces -- will eventually have an inexpensive screen display capability, and software that sees what you're doing there, so it's completely interactive," Bill Gates told attendees at Microsoft's CEO summit on Thursday.

No word on when LaserTouch will make it to market.No word on when LaserTouch will make it to market. PC Pro, Computerworld