techfest

Although it is not open to the press this year, Microsoft is using this week's TechFest internal science fair as an occasion to talk about some of the work it is doing to find new ways of connecting with computers.

Some products have already come to market, such as the multitouch features of Windows 7, while others are close, such as the Project Natal Xbox add-on. But Microsoft sees those as just the beginning of a world in which the way that we interact with computers is fundamentally altered.

"The transition to a natural user interface will change … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--At Microsoft's TechFest, it takes a little imagination to see how the research technologies might eventually come to market.

A new video from Microsoft shows in an elegant, if utopian way, what it might look like if all of those gadgets came together several years hence. Earlier on Friday, Microsoft Business Division President Stephen Elop showed the video in a speech at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business.

As I noted in my interview with Stephen Elop, the hardest thing for me to imagine wasn't that in several years time, all our walls … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--It takes a lot to get different parts of Microsoft to really work together. But the current economic turmoil might just be the thing to do it.

At least that's the working theory for Stephen Elop, the former Macromedia CEO who joined Microsoft a year ago to take Jeff Raikes' place running the software maker's business unit, which includes Office.

"It's remarkable how some of those hairiest issues or those longstanding sacred cows, in tough economic times all of a sudden you look at them and say, you know what, we've got to … Read more

REDMOND. Wash.--First, Microsoft showed off its tabletop Surface computer. Then it showed what that might be like as a sphere. At TechFest on Tuesday, Microsoft actually let the user get inside the sphere.

Microsoft's latest surface computing prototype uses a dome constructed from cardboard that serves as a giant display for all kinds of three-dimensional data. The main demo at TechFest featured the dome acting as a planetarium using data from Microsoft's Worldwide Telescope project. But, researcher Andy Wilson also showed the dome as a good backdrop for other things, such as video conferencing or mapping.

Since it operates in the dark, the new surface computer relies largely on speech commands and hand gestures for navigation. Although it is probably a good choice in general, it made for some laughs when the speech recognition proved less than perfect.

"Earth," Wilson said, prompting the computer to bring up a perfectly stunning image--of Mars.

Overall, though, the experience was quite impressive, with Wilson taking me through a rapid fire tour from Venus to the Crab Nebula before showing a 360-degree video image of the TechFest show floor. (I shot a couple of videos that I am working to upload now and will embed in the story once I have done so).

Beyond researchers, though, there is the question of who is going to have the space for their own dome. Although the cardboard dome wasn't that expensive to build, not everyone is going to want to carve out a separate dome room in their house. With a somewhat brighter projector, the same effect could be done in a fairly dark room, Wilson said. … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft has a lot of ideas on how Web searching could be better. The problem is figuring out which ideas are the good ones.

In an effort to help sort that out, Microsoft has created a second search site, aimed at testing out new ideas. Known as Viveri, the site is being made available this week to all Microsoft employees, and the company hopes to make it publicly available soon.

Viveri uses Microsoft's core search technology, but then acts as a sort of sandbox where researchers can try out new ideas. In its initial incarnation, the site … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft already has several tools that stitch together a bunch of smaller photos to create a larger representation. With Photosynth, Microsoft even uses a collection of still images to re-create a three-dimensional experience.

Now a team of researchers is trying to do the same thing with video, in real time. The idea is that, at any given event, there are lots of people with cell phones capable of recording video. But the resolution of any one of those videos is pretty limited.

At the company's annual TechFest internal science fair on Tuesday, Microsoft showed how, in real … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--Although some companies might see basic research as something to put on the chopping block in tough economic times, Microsoft's top strategy officer argued Tuesday that's the worst place to cut.

Craig Mundie, Microsoft chief research and strategy officer, said companies that slash research do so at their own peril.

"A great many companies have a fairly short lifespan," Mundie said, kicking off the company's annual TechFest internal science fair. Even many big, great companies only last 30 years or so, he said.

"The company would struggle I think to survive and … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--When Dan Morris and Sumit Basu helped create Songsmith, they had no idea that the project would generate the kind of feedback it did.

The program, which automatically generates musical accompaniment for a vocal track, got some immediate and vocal response. Some loved the product, but others criticized Microsoft for trying to be Apple while still others said that the program was devaluing musicians.

"The Internet is a wild beast," Basu said.

But, while they couldn't predict the exact impact, Morris said he expected it would get a lot of attention. "We knew it … Read more

A team of researchers at Microsoft is looking to beat Roget at his own game.

Aiming to build a better thesaurus, the Writing Assistance project within Microsoft's research unit is tapping techniques developed to translate from one language to another.

Although thesauri are good at finding lots and lots of synonyms, they require the user to pick the right one because they aren't very good at understanding the context of what is being said. That's where the experience from doing machine translations comes in.

"We've taken the actual translation tables...and what we've done … Read more