Microsoft might not seem like an innovator any more, but their research team comes up with some wacky ideas every now and then. The latest is a new smart cover, known as FlexSense, capable of manipulating what you see on the screen through a thin sheet of plastic.

The plastic sheet is fitted with 16 piezoelectric sensors. The Microsoft Research team has created the plastic sheet to be as flexible as paper. The sensors work in real-time with the Surface tablet, allowing the user to peel back the plastic cover in order to see what is underneath.

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The main features available on the Surface involve image manipulation. Putting the plastic cover over the top, the user could set a filter and then peel back the sheet to see the original image, to get a better look at what the filter does to an image.

Users could also use the manipulation technique on Photoshop, expanding on the original image and being able to peel back the plastic to see the original. Same with animation, the user will be able to peel back to see the key-frame and work frame-by-frame.

The amount of tools available to enhance productivity is pretty impressive, but don't get your hopes up on FlexSense coming to Surface tablets any time soon. Microsoft's research group in London tend to do a lot of experiments, but very few get implemented into real products.

The concept behind FlexSense works well, but programming this for different types of applications will be harder than it looks. Combine that with the potential costs to create FlexSense, it might end up being out of  reach for most artists and animators.

TagsMicrosoft Research, FlexSense, Surface covers, animation