Its technology is now used in fields including broadcast, defense, geo-intelligence, energy exploration, industrial design and medical imaging.

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.

[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.

[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.

[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.