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Chances are, your PC is pretty tame--you have a beach-scene wallpaper, the default Windows 7 Aero theme, and a standard-issue Dell keyboard. But you don't have to settle for the ordinary. It's time to mix things up with a few easy ways to make everybody say "Wow."

Though we can't give you the oh-so-cool Minority Report interface, we can give you a few tips on how to spice up your tech life--with a widget here, a wallpaper there, maybe even a touchscreen or two--and impress your friends with a new look.

Update Your Interface With a DIY Surface

Your computer probably looks like, well, a computer. It has a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse--the basics.

Why not update your interface? Throw in a touchscreen. Heck, throw in a whole touchscreen table!

Microsoft Surface is a computer table--you may have seen it in your local AT&T store--that responds to multitouch gestures and can recognize real-world objects (such as phones) that people place on its surface. Because it can register multiple touches at once, it's also multiuser. Sounds cool, right? It's also expensive--it'll set you back $12,500 (not including $1000 in shipping and installation), and that's only if you're buying it for a business (currently it isn't available for home consumers).

Don't fret, though: You can make your own multitouch table, with an acrylic screen, infrared lights, an old Webcam, a projector, software, and some patience.

The key to making a multitouch panel is infrared light. To build your own Surface-style table, you need an acrylic panel that's lit around the edge with infrared LEDs. When your finger (or another object) touches the panel, it scatters the infrared light, which an infrared camera then reads. The camera is able to detect multiple fingers or objects. Some touch panels are pressure sensitive, too; basically, a pressure-sensitive coating is applied, and when a finger presses down on the panel, it flexes and changes the way the light scatters.

Computerworld has the rest of the articles HERE!