There’s no doubt about it: Microsoft Surface-type computing interfaces are compelling. The idea of taking graphics and data and then moving them, bumping them, merging them — it’s a way of interacting with computers that we have only been able to picture in movies.

But so far, we’ve mostly seen lightweight applications of the medium. Brochureware (yawn). Interactive restaurant menus. Video, image and music file managment (not boring, but not life-changing either).

Late last year, Marley Gray, Microsoft’s point man on banking, had this to say about the potential role of Surface computing in financial services:

While Microsoft Surface isn’t currently deployed in any retail banking scenarios, we envision Surface as a platform that could potentially enable a shift in the way customers learn, service, and buy products in a retail banking environment. In addition, it can be used as a way for customers to browse product information by financial scenario or direct product comparisons as well as in private banker meetings for things like financial planning and account opening.

Is there a serious application for surface computing in the bank environment? The above video about virtual autopsies shows how gestural computing can let users manipulate complex and layered information. And isn’t that a good way to describe finances – complex and layered?

Whether it’s a consumer considering at different investment options or a business owner considering cash-flow scenarios, the structure of financial instruments and services can be mind-numbingly complex. Or boring. Either of which results in prospects not paying attention and not comprehending the full value of what the bank has to offer.

What if…bankers could conduct “what if” scenarios with customers by moving and sliding visuals, rather than pointing to data tables? Would financial planning be a more compelling offering if budgeting was an object-oriented exercise? Could bankers themselves benefit from seeing their accounts (and the risk therein) displayed more visually?

You could also look at TacTable’s Smart Table. No idea if it retails for less or more than Microsoft’s product, but it has been around longer. In the demo video below, which shows how a Smart Table was implemented at Sprint’s Kansas City, Mo., store, you can see that the interactivity is as sophisticated and elegant as anything that’s been done in the Surface realm, if not more so. Besides using one’s fingers to interact with the surface, one can place coasters (called “fiducials”) on the table and then use them as controls. Each fiducial can have its own properties and behaviors. A fiducial that looks like a TV-set dial can actually be turned to change channels on the TV set being shown.

This kind of interactivity opens up all kinds of possibilities. It’s no surprise that a number of TacTable’s installs have been in museums. The richness of the UI demands an equal richness of supporting content — and an environment where visitors have the time and motivaton to explore. But, no doubt over time we’ll start to see multi-touch experiences incorporated into more and more task-intensive retail environments

Not sure who has the budget for this kind of implementation, but it certainly does impress. So does Barclays’ new, futuristic branch in Piccadilly Circus (good coverage here).

Incidentally, Barclays’ branch of the future is the first EU bank to implement Microsoft Surface, a technology that has been getting some attention in digital signage and other technology circles. This demo of Surface, recorded at CES in 2008, provides a decent glimpse of how the platform might work in a retail environment:

While fantasies of a seamlessly wired world and seamless, GUI customer experiences are enticing, are they realistic? Heck, customers are still plagued by malfunctioning ATMs.

A good number of these technologies — mobile payments, biometric scanning or the integration of interactivity on all manner of surfaces — could very well become part of the branch experience in the near future. Or they could go the way of the flying car. It all depends on context.

The context for any technology investment, whether it’s a digital signage network or a mobile banking system, is the customer. What do they need out of a banking relationship in general? How are their needs changing in the current economy? What are their ever-evolving shopping habits and how does banking fit into the mix? Of course, the tricky thing about customers is that they can’t tell you what they need or want.

Bottom line, unless banks are able to understand their customers and create experiences they actually want to have, then no amount of amazing technology will bring customers into the bank.