Microsoft’s 6 technologies for future

Microsoft's annual TechFest is on. The in-house fair is closed to everyone except employees. However, Chief Strategy and Research Officer Craig Mundie gave a small preview to media outlining broad trends in software and computing that researchers Microsoft's labs across the world are working on.

Microsoft OneAlbum

OneAlbum is a project under development by Microsoft Israel Innovation Labs that uses face-recognition technology to search for photos.

As for how it works, OneAlbum scans faces that regularly appear in a user's OneAlbum photo collection, then scours his social networks (Facebook, Flickr, Windows Live and others) for more photos of these people. It then automatically finds relevant photos in other albums on the Internet and brings them to the user's album, and shows them side-by-side with his photos.


Air guitar

Microsoft has been developing technology that operates games led by a user's wrist movements. The company has reportedly even developed several techniques for picking up gestures like finger twitches.

At TechFest, Microsoft showed wearable movement sensors with a researcher playing an air guitar. Another researcher demonstrated the use of skin as a computing interface using sensors that pick up tapping motions. He wore an arm-bandlike sensor that could process commands from his muscle movements. He could tap his thumb to his forefinger to start playing music on an MP3 device

Mobile Surface

Microsoft researchers have shrunk the company's Surface tabletop computer into a pocket-sized package which, with a few accessories, promises to compete with any touchscreen device. Called, Mobile Surface, it is primarily a mobile version of the company's Surface technology.

According to computerworld, hooked on to a small webcam and digital projector, the Mobile Surface computer can create touch interfaces on any nearby flat surface -- or even in thin air.

The prototype Mobile Surface device combines the features of Surface touchscreen computer along with the gesture-based interface of its coming Project Natal game control system for the Xbox 360.

Cloud Mouse

With Cloud Mouse, Microsoft gives a new twist to our age-old mouse. Cloud Mouse is designed to help people navigate displays of 3D data. This means instead of scrolling up and down on a Web page, a user can twist and turn through the pages. Think of a graphical representation of your Facebook network.

The Cloud Mouse looks much like any other mouse just that it lacks a flat bottom and has a six degrees of freedom and tactile feedback. Plus, Cloud Mouse would also serve as a key for personal cloud data on various online services.


Project Gustav

Here's software that turns a computer screen into a canvas. With the art-based programme, a user can paint on the screen with a stylus that copies a paint brush.

In other words, Project Gustav is an art-based programme that turns the experience of painting on computer real life. The software reinterprets the art of oil painting into a touch-sensitive application to give it a real-life experience.

For example, a user blend paints on a palette, wipe a brush across it and pick up the patterns of paint just as you would do in real life.



Translation Telephone

Microsoft also showcased a `Translating Telephone,' a software tool designed to let users have a real-time chat with someone in another language. The software translates from one language to another so that users on a phone call who do not speak the same language can successfully communicate.

Microsoft researchers demonstrated the software by showing a live phone call between two developers, one German speaking and the other English speaking.








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