Microsoft Surface Studio

[Bricklyne Clarence]

I just came across and ad for this gorgeous piece of technology.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzMLA8YIgG0

I've seen bits and pieces of it in the news lately back and forth, but I guess this particular ad went viral and got onto my radar before I took a real interest in finding out more.

The question is, could there be any chance something like this could be integrated into an architect's ArchiCAD workflow.

On the one hand, for those of us old school architects who remember it, it seems like a nice nostalgic call back to the drafting table that a lot of us were trained with growing up before CAD took over.
And on the other hand there's the connection to modern touch-screen technology and interfaces that younger architects and designers are already familiar with (and which Graphisoft got ahead of the curve with their advent into BIMx and touchscreen interfaces).

This ad in particular seems like it's geared towards graphical designers and painters, but there others promoting it (also on Youtube) that showcase architects and interior designers using it like a digital sketch pad and tool for both presentation and conceptualization in a very powerful way.

And that dial,......(***drooool***)...... is just amazing.
Imagine navigating your 3D window with that, and zooming in and out by hand and editing walls with the stylus and changing settings on the fly with the dial as you do it.
I want!!!!

I know that GS have seemed less enthusiastic about adapting their stuff to Microsoft technology (still waiting for a Microsoft Surface Pro, or a SurfaceBook geared BIMx Pro version, GS. Are you listening?)
But having something like this that's ArchiCAD-friendly, would be the exact sort of thing that could tempt me to upgrade to this set-up (as expensive as it is) for my next computer, and indeed would do wonders for helping GS with brand awareness in the States and in North America in general.

I know that Microsoft wouldn't be against having such a powerful software to help market this product - especially in the AEC field - (they've been reduced to having to use architecture students showcasing Maya and Sketchup in their marketing campaigns for the Surface 4 Pro and Surface Book - rather than what people actually use in the profession) - and you would almost be guaranteed to see a demo of it in their Microsoft Stores all over the place. You can't really place a price on that sort of free advertising and marketing.


It would be nice to hear other people's thoughts on this.


P.S. : Shout out to a great childhood memory (and hero) from that ad in the song with the late (GREAT) Gene Wilder and the remixed song from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
The Young 'uns may not know about it/him.

Fiona Apple also did a great cover for it for that really moving Chipotle ad that went viral a few years ago (?)

[Bricklyne Clarence]

Here's a demo I was talking about with an architect (or an interior designer, I believe), showing her workflow with the Surface Studio and dial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BJisE80wAc

She's using a program called Mental Canvas, I believe, but it seems to take a lot of cues from the likes of programs like Sketchbook and Sketchup.

But the point being that that's how most of us learned how to design in the first place.

[DGSketcher]

A lay flat iMac with touch screen and the iPad Pro pen would pretty much do the job. Fingers crossed this is why there was no iMac upgrade announced last month.

[Bricklyne Clarence]

It's not really comparable in that sense since the iMac's not specifically designed to be used that way (nor do I imagine you'd be using it for long if you did use it that way)
Also, there's nothing like the dial, which is an entirely new piece of technology developed specifically for this rig.

A better comparison would be the Wacom Cintiq, which was partially the inspiration for this, but which is technology specific to graphic designers and digital sketch artists, whereas this seems to be aiming for a more broader and diverse user-base (even though the price-point might not suggest so).

[Dennis Lee]

I'm excited for this too, one of the key things about the surface studio is that it displays paper in 1:1 scale to real life paper size. That is one of the crucial aspects of architectural sketching, and no other computer has provided this yet. Imagine you can have your 1/8" plan or elevation right there on the screen, and you can have a scale - possibly controlled by the surface dial - and you can have layers and layers of trace on top to design!

Price is a little steep though.

[Anonymous]

"price is a little steep" are you kidding me ?
how about a decent monitor, half decent computer and an tablet,
but all combined.
This is the future, microsoft have hit back big time. Apple are now playing catchup.
The workflow benefits are huge. The dexterity we humans have in our hands, is second to none. And finally after so many years, we get to combine that power, with the digital age, albeit with a PEN! If I had the cash, i'd buy one of those Surface Studios tomorrow.

[gpowless]

I would be careful. The specs on the Mircrosoft Surface Studio suggest that the available processors are on only 6th generation I5 or I7 (latter being $5000US) - not the fastest processor out there. The I5 only offers 8GB - whoafully inadequate to run Archicad properly. Having a fast graphics card - at least until GRAPHISOFT gets its act together - is meaningless in an Archicad environment.

While it is important to keep the best technology in the design process for production the fastest is the most cost effective.

[Anonymous]

I still remember well my aching back after a long day hunched over a drafting table. If I couldn't lean on the 'drafting table/moniter' it wouldn't work for prolonged work. Still I like the idea of being able to grab something and move it directly on screen, but I think I would be using my mouse mostly with what looks like a nice computer.