Microsoft Research

Computing

Microsoft Is Developing A Digital Holodeck

6:00PM October 20, 2011 | Andrew Tarantola

We’ve been waiting for Star Trek-style Holodeck technology since, what, 1966? Microsoft Research has finally taken up the challenge and developed this — it’s not quite a Holodeck, but it’s tantalisingly close. More »


Computing

The OmniTouch Makes Any Surface Interactive

2:30AM October 19, 2011 | Andrew Tarantola

For all the power and connectivity that modern mobile devices offer these days, why are we still typing on screens (or, God forbid, numerical pads) barely three fingers wide? A new wearable GUI system aims to turn any surface within arm’s reach into an input device. More »


Gadgets

Microsoft-Backed E-Reader Tablet Loves To Share With Others

12:00AM May 15, 2011 | Jack Loftus

Few e-readers are as intimate as this prototype from Nicholas Chen. Look how they communicate in that video! The only caveat it’s backed by Microsoft Research. We all know what happened the last time they teased something like this. More »


Software

Microsoft’s Realtime Translator We Assumed We’d Have By Now

5:00PM March 2, 2010 | Wilson Rothman

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Today in Redmond, Microsoft Research demoed the Translating Telephone. It does exactly what it says it does, and as you can see – well, hear – from this video, it was awesome. More »


Software

Project Gustav: Microsoft Research Updates MS Paint In A Huge Way

9:59AM March 2, 2010 | Wilson Rothman

MS Paint may be beloved but it’s also the butt of plenty of jokes about art skill. Project Gustav is Microsoft Research’s answer: A GPU-intense multitouch and Wacom-tablet-friendly natural painting program, giving artists a genuine old-school experience, in 3D. More »


Computing

Microsoft’s Bag-Based Computer Interface, For Poking

1:53AM November 19, 2009 | John Herrman

Bag-based? Sack-based? Balloon-based? Balloon-boy-based? There’s no shortage of ways to describe Microsoft Research’s new tactile interface concept, which lets people interact with prods, pokes, massages and squeezes instead of clicks or taps. More »


Science

The Circular Periodic Table Of Elements

3:40AM October 10, 2009 | Jesus Diaz

Researcher Mohd Abubakr says that his circular periodic table is better than Mendeleev’s. I’d have given him Nobel Prize in chemistry — if Obama hadn’t got it first for mixing himself a whiskey with Red Bull onboard Air Force One. More »