Published: Friday 6th November, 2009 | Author: Parm Mann
Companies: Microsoft (All Microsoft content)
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email to a friendMicrosoft has long been predicting the demise of the traditional keyboard and mouse, but despite the efforts of many in the industry, we don't seem to be any closer to the virtual interfaces depicted in Hollywood blockbusters such as 2002 sci-fi thriller, Minority Report.
Yet, whilst the likes of Apple have made touchscreen interaction a mainstream technology, Microsoft's efforts have largely remained hit or miss. The promise of voice activation in Windows Vista was never truly realised, and the usefulness of touch in Windows 7 remains a question mark.
That isn't stopping the Redmond-based software giant from trying to innovate, however, and Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, Craig Mundle, has this week been showing off a number of new "natural" user interfaces as part of the Microsoft College Tour.
Created at the hands of the Microsoft Research team - a division whose goals are "to enhance the user experience" and "invent novel computing technologies" - Microsoft's ideas for next-gen user interfaces include Star Trek-like voice controls, virtual gestures, transparent displays and eye tracking. Intrigued? Check out the video demonstrations below.
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It's fancy, but not amazing. The phone application is useless unless you have their software on your phone - so you can't just invite friends round to share photos. Some of the physics demos are pretty cool as is the one that shows you what it think is interacting with the table (it can recognise a lot of points!).
Otherwise photos get boring quite fast and aren't that easy to manipulate without practice.
It's a cool tech demo, but ultimately it's not going to replace consumer hardware any time soon.Quote
i ike the idea but can you imagine sat around in cubicle world talking to your computer... no freakin way.
Sounds like the (crappy) movie Gamer.
Maybe in 200 years time, people would be surprised that not every house came with a computer cubicle "back in the 21st century" ;)
Still, while I wouldn't look forward to speaking all the time (and imagine if you lost your voice due to a cold), the ideal user interface would be a plug on the back of my head a la 'Ghost in the Shell'. Too bad I won't live to see such tech.Quote
sure I'm going to do my First person shooter gaming on a touch screen. lol
MS = retarded
mouse and keyboard FTW
50 years ago people would have scoffed at the idea of virtual worlds where you run around with guns and pretend to be a hard-ass elite soldier whilst sat at your desk... now we have FPSs... there will be something better than a mouse and keys, it might not be touch screens but there is definitly something!
I personally dislike touch, I hate dirty screens... I want a glove or something that I just wave in the air - these are already coming with gyro mice etc, but are way way to expensive... If I could think instead of typing typing and/or issue voice commands when it was suitable then great ("computer, fire up car i'm off to work"). I'm sure all this will come in time, and mouse and keys will seem as backward as punch cards and 5" floppy disks.Quote
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