Microsoft is experimenting with touchscreens

For the fourth time, Microsoft organized the Innovation Day exhibition of innovations, where MS Research and friendly companies developed. The world's largest IT corporation spends billions on R & D.

One of the main areas of work of the Microsoft Research division is user interfaces. “Sitting with a keyboard in front of the screen is an outdated look at computers,” says Andrew Herbert of Microsoft Research. “The technology will be around us, it will be much easier to use.”

The exhibition showed large touchscreens with which several people can work simultaneously. Microsoft researchers are looking for ways to implement such screens not only for workplaces, but also for ordinary people’s apartments (work is being done within the framework of the “Living Tomorrow” project). Such a huge screen can be installed on the entire door of the refrigerator. Dozens of widgets are placed there: a collection of recipes, an organizer program, etc. On the screen, each family member can hang up a virtual “sheet” - a note via the Internet, so that even rarely encountered relatives will be as if all along. Such an idea of ​​family social networks via the Internet.

So far, such screens are not cheap, but Microsoft predicts a significant drop in prices for LCD panels, cameras and sensors over the coming years. Only software will remain expensive.
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Microsoft's other area of ​​research is technology for medicine and health. In the future, wireless sensors will constantly monitor blood pressure, pulse and body temperature (the “Living Well” project). An electronic toothbrush will take all the measurements and display information on the bathroom mirror while the person is brushing his teeth.

Technologies in the field of 3D modeling of crime scenes were also shown. The program Imasoft CrimeSceneNet allows police to accurately simulate a picture of a crime based on the available maps and photos. The program also provides special cooperation through the Internet.

Another major development sponsored by Microsoft is for concerned parents. The special “Family Timer” for the Xbox game console will limit the maximum time that this console can work per day and weekly, and also give parents complete statistics with the names of games, the number of hours and minutes during which each game was is running.

Indian employees at Microsoft have developed another technology that is very relevant to their region. In Indian cities it is very difficult to find an address by street and house name, because there may not be any buildings at all at this “address” - just a crowd of people. The software created by Hindus shows the address on a map according to the information about the landscape of the surrounding area.



Smart Technologies has designed an interactive whiteboard to be installed in schools and universities. During his presentation, the teacher interacts with interactive slides. For example, in the course of his story, he can place objects in their corresponding places on a geographic map.



via CNN , photo by Silicon.com