Microsoft Thinks We'll All Have Wall-Sized Touchscreens In Our Homes

Microsoft opened up a new "Envisioning Lab" at its Redmond headquarters today.

It shows off Microsoft's view of what the post-PC world looks like in 5 to 10 years.

That vision involves a lot of giant, voice-command, wall-sized touchscreens like the 80-inch screen Bill Gates used last month during an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit.

It's a pretty cool thought but we're not sure if it's very practical.

Microsoft has been convinced that our home furnishings and/or walls will become giant computers for a while. Before the name "Microsoft Surface" was used to designate the company's Windows 8 PCs, "Surface" was the name of a 30-inch touchscreen table released in 2007. (It was the subject of a hilarious College Humor spoof video)

That table still exits, only now it's called the Microsoft PixelSense. We've yet to walk into someone's home and see one. Then again the device, made by Samsung, is pretty pricey, at $8,400. Most of what you'd use it for can be done on a tablet today.

But if voice-command, wall-sized computers ever become affordable, who knows?

Here's a video of the new Envisioning Lab which shows Microsoft's view of the post-PC world.