You've seen (and probably drooled over) Microsoft's Surface touchscreen tabletop. Well, some intern over at Microsoft Research accidentally knocked it on its side and — voilà! — the Microsoft TouchWall was born.

The new TouchWall features the same multi-touch technology behind the Surface, meaning it will be able to pick up inputs from as many fingers as you want to press into it. Better yet, it's relatively inexpensive, as it uses cheap infrared sensors and a rear-mounted camera, which will certainly help Microsoft bill the TouchWall to a variety of business interests (CNN, for instance, has been using a similar system during its presidential campaign coverage).

To put things in perspective, the unit CNN uses is the multi-touch wall unit pioneered by Jeff Han, which goes for $100,000 through Neiman Marcus. Microsoft may have been beaten to the punch, but if it can create a viable, inexpensive wall, the company will be able to reach out to retailers already interested in the Surface table.

Click Continue to check out a video of the Microsoft TouchWall in action.

Engadget, via CNET