NYT R&D wanted to create an experience on the Microsoft surface that would complement their living room of the future. Their vision was a reading experience on the digital coffee table that would replace the physical newspaper in a family’s morning routine. Using The New York Times Reader API, originally designed for Windows, Mac and Linux, our application  gives readers a NUI based experience to scroll through their favorite topics: i.e., sports, weather, politics etc. Each topic is represented by a “card” featuring an image related to each subject. On choosing the topic, the user can then select a story of interest and browse through the content using natural user interface multi-touch controls.

It’s not exactly “the last kitchen table you will ever need”, but reading the morning news just got a heck of a lot easier.

Watch the video below for a quick demo.

 

Highlight Number 1. Google, Nexus S and NFC

We got hands-on with 50 Nexus S Devices, which were donated to the program by Google. Our team worked with Lance and Mark Harris of Desperate Comfort and created an integrated mobile experience for Pandemic 1.0 to let players retrieve hidden story artifacts, unlock secret media and create a crowd-sourced video travelogue of the entire experience. The highlight of this highlight was flexing our near field communication (NFC) skills. We love the promise and potential of NFC, and Pandemic 1.0 let us get hands-on with 600 NFC tags provided by NXP Semiconductors who also supplied the NFC technology in the Nexus S. So excited. Love new tech. Can’t wait to do it again!

Highlight Number 2. Fan mail!
We love Gizmodo
We are huge fans of Softpedia
We read DITII
We’ve been web-stalking Steve Clayton at Next @Microsoft since it launched
And we dig Filmmaker Magazine, too!

Nice to know the feeling is mutual.

Highlight Number 3. Amazing work, and amazing people.

Any work day that starts with a call from Anita Ondine and Lance Weiler is one for the record books. From the moment we said, “we’re in” to the moment we said, “that’s a wrap” Pandemic 1.0 truly was “The most experimental story told at this year’s Sundance Film Festival…” (Gizmodo). From our buddy Chris Wojahn at Microsoft Surface, to the amazing Nick Childs, to photographer and friend extraordinaire Mike Hedge, we collaborated with some of the best. Just check out the work being done by Medic Mobile and Hope Phones, a real-world nonprofit group featured within the Pandemic 1.0 story. Their 4636 Project, which used crowd-sourced translation, categorization, and geo-tagging to facilitate emergency response in the wake of the 2010 Earthquake in Haiti was inspirational to our effort. If you are as inspired as we were you can donate to their good works here.

Highlight Number 4. Mark Harris, Desperate Comfort

This highlight is cross-filed under Number Three: Amazing Work, and Amazing People. But this guy deserves a number all his own. Mark Harris of Desperate Comfort created software to turn NUI, mobile, and social media interactions into a weeklong story told through data that spreads to various screens within the festival, and online. If we ever fight off the zombie apocalypse, we want this guy in our side.

Highlight Number 5. Vectorform Seattle, Suite 3230

It’s fun to go down the rabbit hole sometimes. But when a trip takes you from Seattle, to Michigan, to Utah, and back again—
with a pit stop in the Park City Police Precinct—it is also very nice to come home. The Vectorform road show continues this week, when we head to South by Southwest for our “next big thing.” Check back here for more!

Check out the video below for a preview of the Apps.

Galactic Alliance is a multi-platform title, available on Microsoft Surface and iPad, through the iTunes App Store. Galactic Alliance HD will be available for Samsung SUR40 for Microsoft Surface upon its commercial launch.

Seattle, WA and Detroit, MI, August 2, 2010—The Settlers of Catan is a classic multiplayer board game, combining economics, strategy and chance, as colonists compete to build settlements from raw commodities. Created in Germany in 1995, and now available in 30 languages, The Settlers of Catan has achieved icon status. Over 15 million copies have been sold worldwide, and an estimated 20 million people play regularly, through a diverse set of traditional and digital game forms.

In partnership with Microsoft, Catan LLC, and Mayfair Games, Vectorform has created Catan for Microsoft Surface. Microsoft Surface is an innovative computing platform that responds to touch, natural hand gestures and real-world objects placed on the display. With a large, 360-degree, horizontal user interface, Microsoft Surface offers a unique gathering place where multiple users can come together to interact with content and each other–making it an ideal platform for games like Catan.

Working to maintain an authentic, interpersonal experience of board game play, Vectorform leveraged the social nature of Microsoft Surface. This functionality, defined by Microsoft as “together computing,” provides a distinct advantage and authenticity over games played on traditional PCs or personal devices. “Where a computer game is a solo computing affair, board games are connected experiences. Together computing has its place now, and will be more prominent in the future.” Vectorform Game Studio Executive Director Joe Engalan says.

Vectorform used the artistry of Mayfair Games’ analog version of The Settlers of Catan to illustrate the game elements, including resources, land, and evolving civilization. The digital board is complimented with real-world elements, including an acrylic die set which is seen and recognized by Surface’s built-in cameras. Additionally, an x-ray visor, fabricated specifically for the game, reveals a player’s cards to the player, while shielding the cards from competing colonists. “I’ve never seen real die used in a digital game,” Mollie Harms, Game Producer for Vectorform Game Studios, says. “I think the visors could revolutionize digital card playing. This is a new way to maintain secrecy that doesn’t hinder game play.” The visors, the dice, and the game-play experience on Surface were wildly popular with fans of the board game, who were involved in the design and development process, loaning time and feedback to informal focus groups.

Catan was first shown on Surface at Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio, in July of 2010. The extensive media coverage generated over 15,000 views of a promotional video for the game, within 72 hours of publishing it to YouTube. Vectorform will also show the game at Gen Con Indy, taking place August 5 through August 8, 2010, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Additionally, on September 3 through September 5, 2010, Vectorform will demonstrate Catan at PAXWest, the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, Washington.

Vectorform will continue to promote Catan at conferences and private events through the summer, and is offering customized, branded versions of the game to a network of clients and partners for use on Microsoft Surface. In the future, Catan will be available for purchase through Vectorform’s App Store. Additionally, the Vectorform App Store will sell other titles, including titles for iPhone, iPad, and other platforms. “The future for Catan is very bright, and we are going to push that experience to new markets and communities. But we’ve got quite a few more titles in the queue, and they are all very exciting. Keep watching, because this is just the start of the empire,” Joe Engalan says.

Press Release

Now Vectorform Game Studio brings you Catan as presented by Mayfair for the Microsoft Surface. This multi-touch, multi-player experience captures the authentic experience provided by the popular board game.  Featuring 3 or 4 player modes, a beautifully animated and interactive board, and a free-form interface which keeps play flowing as smoothly as possible, this experience is sure to be a defining element in the legacy of Catan.

 Features:
• Full multi-touch from the Microsoft Surface allows all players to interact with their elements of the board at once.
• A digital playing surface breathes new life into the Catan experience through graphics and animations.
• “State-free-trade” allow players to swap cards without entering modes or pressing buttons, keeping the experience as pure as possible.
• Customized art unifies the multi-touch interface with Mayfair’s 4th Edition release of The Settlers of Catan to create a seamless play experience.
• Integration with real-world objects to maintain the original Settlers of Catan board game feel.