The company begain in 2006 as Perceptive Pixel, Inc., headquartered in New York City and maintaining offices in Mountain View, Portland, and Washington, D.C.[1] Prior to the company's establishment, founder Jeff Han[2] publicly demonstrated multitouch hardware and software technology at a TED conference in February 2006.[3] The company was founded later in the same year.[4] Subsequently, it shipped its first Multi-Touch Workstation and larger Multi-Touch Collaboration Wall in 2007.[5][6] The latter gained widespread recognition for transforming the way CNN covered the 2008 US Presidential elections.[7][8][9] In 2009, the Smithsonian awarded Perceptive Pixel the National Design Award in the inaugural category of Interaction Design.[10] 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.[11]
Microsoft acquisition
On July 9, 2012, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced that they would acquire Perceptive Pixel Inc. in a transaction that closed three weeks later on July 31.[12][better source needed] At that year's WPC conference, Ballmer stated the company hoped to use its newly acquired technology to enhance its Windows 8 operating system.[13] Han also stated that the sale could allow their products to be more broadly available.[11]
On January 21, 2015, Microsoft announced the Surface Hub during its Windows 10 launch.[14] The new product was described as a next-generation device under the Surface brand and was developed by members of the Perceptive Pixel team.[15]
