Perceptive Pixel was a developer and producer of

multi-touch In computing, multi-touch is technology that enables a surface (a touchpad or touchscreen) to recognize the presence of more than one somatosensory system, point of contact with the surface at the same time. The origins of multitouch began at CE ...

interfaces Interface or interfacing may refer to: Academic journals * ''Interface'' (journal), by the Electrochemical Society * '' Interface, Journal of Applied Linguistics'', now merged with ''ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics'' * '' Inter ...

. It was purchased by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

in 2012. Its technology is now used in fields including

broadcast Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

, geo-intelligence, energy exploration,

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in adva ...

and

medical imaging Medical imaging is the technique and process of imaging the interior of a body for clinical analysis and medical intervention, as well as visual representation of the function of some organs or tissues (physiology). Medical imaging seeks to revea ...

Background

The company begain in 2006 as Perceptive Pixel, Inc., headquartered in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and maintaining offices in Mountain View, Portland, and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Prior to the company's establishment, founder Jeff Han publicly demonstrated multitouch hardware and software technology at a TED conference in February 2006. The company was founded later in the same year. Subsequently, it shipped its first Multi-Touch Workstation and larger Multi-Touch Collaboration Wall in 2007. The latter gained widespread recognition for transforming the way CNN covered the 2008 US Presidential elections. In 2009, the Smithsonian awarded Perceptive Pixel the National Design Award in the inaugural category of

Interaction Design Interaction design, often abbreviated as IxD, is "the practice of designing interactive digital products, environments, systems, and services." While interaction design has an interest in form (similar to other design fields), its main area of foc ...

. Throughout its history as a startup company, Perceptive Pixel had focused on ultra-high-end touch displays that were sold to large businesses in key niches.

Microsoft acquisition

On July 9, 2012, Microsoft CEO

Steve Ballmer Steven Anthony Ballmer (; March 24, 1956) is an American businessman and investor who served as chief executive officer of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. He is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He i ...

announced that they would acquire Perceptive Pixel Inc. in a transaction that closed three weeks later on July 31. At that year's WPC conference, Ballmer stated the company hoped to use its newly acquired technology to enhance its

Windows 8 Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012, made available for download via Microsoft ...

operating system. Han also stated that the sale could allow their products to be more broadly available. On January 21, 2015, Microsoft announced the Surface Hub during its Windows 10 launch. The new product was described as a next-generation device under the

Surface A surface, as the term is most generally used, is the outermost or uppermost layer of a physical object or space. It is the portion or region of the object that can first be perceived by an observer using the senses of sight and touch, and is ...

brand and was developed by members of the Perceptive Pixel team.

References

External links

Perceptive Pixel
{{Microsoft Electronics companies established in 2006 Defunct companies based in New York City Defunct computer companies of the United States Defunct computer hardware companies Display technology companies Microsoft acquisitions 2012 mergers and acquisitions Electronics companies disestablished in 2012 2006 establishments in New York City 2012 disestablishments in New York (state)