Case Study:
Read Extensions 1 and 2 if you have not already done so. Meet with your team and build a collaboration IS that uses tools like Google Docs, SharePoint, or other collaboration tools. Do not forget the need for procedures and team training. Now, using that IS, answer the questions below. In the past few years, Microsoft has been promoting PixelSense, a new hardware–software product that enables people to interact with data on the surface of a table. PixelSense initiates a new product category, and the best way to understand it is to view one of Microsoft’s promotional videos at www.PixelSense.com. PixelSense paints the surface of the 30-inch table with invisible, near-infrared light to detect the presence of objects. It can respond to up to 52 different touches at the same time. According to Microsoft, this means that four people sitting around the PixelSense table could use all 10 of their fingers to manipulate up to 12 objects, simultaneously. PixelSense uses wireless and other communications technologies to connect to devices that are placed on it, such as cameras or cell phones. When a camera is placed on PixelSense, pictures “spill” out of it, and users can manipulate those pictures with their hands. Products can be placed on PixelSense, and their product specifications are displayed. Credit cards can be placed on PixelSense, and items to be purchased can be dragged or dropped onto the credit card. Currently, Microsoft PixelSense is marketed and sold to large-scale commercial organizations in the financial services, healthcare, hospitality, retail, and public service business sectors. Also, smaller organizations and individuals can purchase a PixelSense unit from Samsung (www.samsunglfd.com/ solution/sur40.do). One of the first implementers of PixelSense was the iBar lounge at Harrah’s Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The subtitle for the press release announcing iBar’s system read, “Harrah’s Reinvents Flirting and Offers New Uninhibited Fun and Play to iBar Patrons.”6 The potential uses for PixelSense are staggering. Maps can display local events, and consumers can purchase tickets to those events by just using their fingers. PixelSense can also be used for new computer games and gambling devices. Children can paint on PixelSense with virtual paintbrushes. Numerous other applications are possible. At the product’s announcement, Steve Ballmer, then CEO of Microsoft, said, “We see this as a multibillion dollar category, and we envision a time when surface computing technologies will be pervasive, from tabletops and counters to the hallway mirror. PixelSense is the first step in realizing that vision.”7 As you can see at the PixelSense Web site, this product can be used for many different purposes in many different places, such as restaurants, retail kiosks, and eventually at home. Probably most of the eventual applications for PixelSense have not yet been envisioned. One clear application, however, is in the gambling and gaming industry. Imagine placing your credit card on a PixelSense gambling device and gambling the night away. Every time you lose, a charge is made against your credit card. Soon, before you know it, you’ve run up $15,000 in debt, which you learn when PixelSense tells you you’ve reached the maximum credit limit on your card. Recall the RAND study cited that stated there will be increased worldwide demand for workers who can apply new technology and products to solve business problems in innovative ways. PixelSense is an excellent example of a new technology that will be applied innovatively.
Q1. Consider uses for PixelSense at your university. How might PixelSense be used in architecture, chemistry, law, medicine, business, geography, political science, art, music, or any other discipline in which your team has interest? Describe one potential application for PixelSense for five different disciplines.
Q2. List specific features and benefits for each of the five applications you selected in question 1.
Q3. Describe, in general terms, the work that needs to be accomplished to create the applications you identified in question 1.
Q4. Until June 2012, PixelSense was called Surface. At that time, Microsoft repurposed the name to use on its tablet devices. Surface was changed to PixelSense. What conclusions do you draw from these naming decisions?
Q5. You will sometimes hear the expression, “Emerging technology is constantly leveling the playing field,” meaning that technology eliminates competitive advantages of existing companies and enables opportunities for new companies. How does this statement pertain to Surface, Windows 8, and Apple?
Your answer must be typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman font (size 12), one-inch margins on all sides, APA format.