Microsoft and Harrah's make the casino interactive

The tables, presented Wednesday, offer Harrah’s a new way to track its customers’ habits and behaviors, adding to its sophisticated costumer rewards program that tracks users’ gambling habits. "Of all the goodies up our sleeves lately, this is one of the most dramatic," said Tim Stanley, chief information officer of Harrah’s. "The range of opportunities is fairly limitless."

The six rectangular tables with built-in 30-inch, or 76-centimeter, flat screens using Microsoft Surface technology were installed in a lounge at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, with custom applications built for Harrah’s. A spokeswoman for Microsoft said the units sold for a base price of us$ 10,000.

A program called Mixologists lets patrons play bartender by creating and ordering concoctions of whatever cocktails and mixers they click on. The system is able to remember users’ drink orders and, one day, may be able to offer customers the same drink at other Harrah’s locations, such as when they play a slot machine.

Another program lets users watch YouTube videos, either by searching or choosing from a list. Harrah’s officials said they reached a licensing deal with YouTube on Wednesday. The table also includes a program called Flirt, which lets customers sitting at any such table in the lounge see and chat with one another, take and e-mail pictures and even trade cell phone numbers.

Other programs let users play video games or get information about restaurants, shows, nightclubs and other Harrah’s attractions. Pete Thompson, Microsoft’s general manager of surface computing, said the table’s computer was designed so businesses can customize it to meet their needs. "This is very open," he said. "There’s no scripting. People feel a sense of freedom."

The computer, Thompson said, uses a camera behind the screen to detect hand movements, which become visible to the camera like silhouettes once users press their fingers on the table. That lets the table display high-resolution images but still function as a table, he said.

Surface was first put into use in April by AT&T at its wireless stores. The 22 tables at a handful of stores are programmed to recognize eight wireless phones - but not the iPhone - and give information about features. Stanley, the Harrah’s executive, said the Surface computers could eventually be tied to the Total Rewards program and possibly offer new ways gamble.

Thompson said tables for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and T-Mobile USA were in development. He said he expected other companies to begin using the tables by next year.