Evoluce Two Undercuts Microsoft Surface Using Kinect [Video]

Microsoft's Surface may be the dream multitouch dining table of many geeks, but its hefty price tag puts it out of the reach of most. Evoluce has a more affordable – well, relatively speaking – option, the Evoluce Two, and ironically it relies not only on the Surface 2.0 SDK but Microsoft's Kinect sensor bar to deliver more than 60-point multitouch on a 46-inch display.

Rather than the Surface's clever touch-sensitive glass, Evoluce uses a regular 46-inch NEC digital signage LCD (as in the company's previous I-Voluce system) and suspends a Kinect a meter above. Thanks to the Surface 2.0 SDK you can do all of the usual photo and document manipulation, with multiple people zooming, rotating and flicking digital content around simultaneously; however, unlike Surface, Evoluce's system can spot how much water there is remaining in a glass placed on the table and other complex analysis.

Whereas the Surface 2 SUR40 is expected to start from $7,600 when it goes on sale later in the year, Evoluce Two will be priced from €4,995 ($7,111). That's not a vast difference, we have to say, but you do get some extra functionality and a slightly larger (46- versus 40-inches) screen.