The inventive minds at Microsoft Research and the company’s Applied Sciences Group are experimenting with advanced technologies to come up with new ways of computing and communicating for the future.
First up is “IllumiShare”, a camera-projector pair that enables remote people to share any physical or digital object on any surface. As you can see in the demonstration embedded above, with IllumiShare a simple Skype conversation can be transformed into an interactive workspace that can be manipulated by one or more persons. The applications for this are endless; this tech can allow for remote gameplay, as well as introduce new methods of remote teaching.
Jump after the break for more!
Next is an interactive transparent OLED display that’s paired with a Kinect camera. This setup allows users to manipulate objects on screen from behind the see-through screen. Headtracking ensures that no matter your angle the on-screen objects will appear in 3D with proper depth and perspective. The researchers called it a “view-dependent, depth-corrected gaze.”
This video demonstrates the “Holoflector,” a mirror that’s paired with an LCD and Kinect camera. It tracks your body and allows for new kinds of augmented reality experiences.
Lastly there’s Microsoft’s experimentation with high performance touch displays. If you’ve ever played with an iPhone or iPad surely you’ve noticed a lag between when your finger moves and the display responds. Microsoft reports that most tablets today suffer from a 100ms delay and they’ve discovered a way to significantly decrease that number to an impressive 1ms. It’s something you have to see to believe so click play above to witness the magic.
It goes without saying (but I’ll see it anyway) that all of the experiments described here are merely prototypes and that are being tinkered away behind closed doors. There’s no telling when Microsoft or some other company will integrate these futuristic advancements in marketplace products. All we can do is sit, drool, and wait.