You have to hand it to the tireless folks toiling away within Microsoft’s Research department. They’re hard at the task of making tomorrowland today’s province. Perhaps spurred on by the rapturous response to their HoloDesk, the Cambridge gang’s previewing yet another virtual reality, and this time it’s a handheld trio. The palm-friendly devices, split up into camera, room and SLAM models, incorporate pico projectors, coaxial IR cameras, inertial measurement units (IMUs) and the company’s Kinect (for the latter two only) to project augmented visions onto surrounding surfaces. If you’ve been honing your shadow puppetry game over the years, that oft-used skill’s about to get very useful. The environmentally aware (no, not the Go Green! kind) systems allow for shadow- and touch-based interaction with the CG overlays, offering pinch functionality, icon selection and even painting — don’t worry, it’s definitely removable. This neat tech hat trick could one day soon spare you a trip to IKEA, letting you test out potential decorative pieces from the comfort of your home. Unfortunately, we can’t get handsy with the futuristic projectors just yet, so the video after the break will have to suffice.
In the future, we’ll all be slaves to rectangles. No, really. Well, at least that’s the prognosis, albeit sanitized, Microsoft has slickly pieced together in its Productivity Future Vision concept video. It’s a mostly seamless world where all of our interactions are made to be mobile, virtual, efficient and white-washed, but it actually just reads as too darn fussy and overcomplicated. Sure, we could get behind contactless payment, tablets with holographic displays and eyeglasses that translate conversations when you’ve just stepped off a red eye into some foreign destination — that’s all incredibly useful. But car windows with agenda overlays and transparent refrigerator door displays? Some things are better left lo-tech. For Redmond’s part, the company’s merely aiming to project ways these various implementations of “real technology” will intersect and “actively assist” us with our harried lives. Take a peek at MS’ sanctioned tomorrow land and its sparse piano soundtrack after the break.
Just relaxing with a paper-thin tablet and smartphone, at some point in the theoretical future. Image: Microsoft
How do you see yourself living a decade from now? For many of us, it’s difficult to picture how technologies will change and evolve in that time span. But for some folks at Microsoft, it’s their job to figure out where technology is headed, and how to make it happen. And a recently released video shows just what they envision.
The video, titled Productivity Future Vision, shows us a world much like our own, but cooler. Microsoft sees touchscreens and holographic displays dominating our daily experiences. Flat surfaces of any kind are transformed into useful, interactive displays as well.
“The video explores what productivity experiences might plausibly look like five to ten years in the future,” David Jones, director of Microsoft’s Envisioning Team, told Wired.com in an interview. The concepts presented in the video don’t necessarily communicate plans for future Microsoft products, though.
In an interview with GeekWire, Microsoft GM of technical strategy Chris Pratley said, “It would be relatively trivial to do a kind of Hollywood thing, where you just say what would be cool, and you whip it up and put it on the screen. But everything in the video, we could footnote everything about where it’s coming from, who’s working on it, why we think it’s going to happen.” Essentially, Microsoft’s video isn’t just a bunch of hot air.
The video was produced by the Microsoft Office team, and is a follow-up to a “Microsoft 2019″ video that the company created in 2008. It builds on several themes established in the earlier video, even using a few of the same actors.
Microsoft heavily emphasizes how thin they think future displays will be. Smartphones, tablets and desktop monitors all measure in at wafer-like thicknesses, slabs of white, blank slates that images and video can be pawed, swiped and manipulated.
On-screen images can be holographic, so tilting the angle of your phone, for instance, could show you a 3-D rendition of a bar graph. And images aren’t confined to the dimensions of the touchscreen you’re using.
And the technology goes even further in the kitchen: A tap on the refrigerator door reveals its contents, and tapping on a food item can bring up recipes relating to that item.
“Many of the technologies in the video, such as stereoscopic-3D displays … speech recognition, real-time collaboration, and data visualization are already part of products available today,” Jones told Wired.com. The video just expands on their capabilities to where they could be sometime in the next decade.
There’s one big thing that’s missing from the piece: Paper. A woman peruses a magazine on a large legal-pad sized tablet. A child seated at a kitchen table draws and plays a game on another touchscreen device. A dad moves a virtual Post-It note from one spot to another on an interactive wall calendar. Hand gestures pass data from a slate to the countertop. For all intents and purposes, papyrus is virtually extinct.
There are also a number of user experience aspects in the video that would also make our computing experiences more comfortable. For example, around the 3:30 mark, a man at a desk opens up a video (or video chat) with a woman, and as he scoots his chair back, her image enlarges proportionately. This could feasibly be accomplished using facial recognition and some IR sensor technology to measure the distance of the face to the screen.
“In the future, productivity software will work to extend our human capabilities, transitioning from the role of a passive tool to that of an active assistant,” Jones said.
And Microsoft isn’t the only one who’s released conceptual videos of what the future could be like. In the late 80s, Apple famously released a set of videos illustrating a concept called Knowledge Navigator, a concept we’re moving closer to these days with Siri and touchscreen iOS devices.
“Microsoft understands the vision of what consumers need in the post-PC era. What they need to demonstrate is that they can execute this vision before their competitors do,” Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps said of the video via email.
The video is below if you want to check it out. Would you enjoy this world? Is there anything missing? Sound off in the comments.
Nokia’s latest “super” hydrophobic coating doesn’t take half-measures. This new technology binds a layer of nanotech magic to the surface of its devices that literally bounces liquids away. Although we’ve been told the nanotubes at work here are most effective with water, other liquids (and smudgy fingerprints) should also find the treated surface difficult to latch onto. Due to the thinness of this waterproofing solution, a spokesperson told us here at Nokia World that even the inner workings of a phone could be treated in the same way. No more incidents in the bathroom? Count us in. Check the video after the break for some slo-mo water slippage.
AT&T took to the stage to announce its LTE network will go live on Sunday, which means today’s the perfect day for its fiercest rival to one-up the news. Verizon’s director of network technology Praveen Atreya, dropped the rather unsurprising news that the next natural step in the company’s data evolution chain will be LTE-Advanced. Don’t get your hopes up so fast, though: Atreya says it’s still too early in the game to test the new tech or figure out its potential speeds (spoiler: they’ll be disgustingly fast), so we’re likely not going to see any widescale deployment for at least the next few years. Still, we’re always looking forward to the next best thing, so learning that Big Red is following Clearwire’s lead in adopting the technology is reassuring, to say the least.
Like slowly waking up from a sweet dream, the Nokia N9 is gradually slipping away from our conscious mind before it’s even released. We knew Stephen Elop & Co. didn’t have high interest in the one (and only) Meego smartphone in its repertoire, but it’s becoming very clear exactly how much the handset doesn’t matter to the company. Nokia’s confirmed with German site MobiFlip that the N9 will in fact not be making its way to Deutschland, just days after making it known that it has no plans to send the device to the US or the UK. Granted, those who can’t shake off their desire for the one-of-a-kind phone will still find alternative methods of procuring it, but this is still a solid indication that Espoo is only staring ahead to its future with Windows Phone, and the N9 is merely in its peripheral vision.
Ultra-portables like the 2011 MacBook Air shun bulky features like an optical drive in favor of a sleek frame. Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired
Our notebooks, ultrabooks and desktop PCs are all getting thinner — thin enough that Kate Moss in her heroin-chic heyday could have sported something like the 13-inch MacBook Air down the runway and it wouldn’t have overwhelmed her almost nonexistent frame.
It’s no surprise. We’ve been seeing computers slim down ever since those giant room-sized computers that spawned the digital age, and the introduction of the first PCs in the decades that followed.
But for a while, we were continually adding features such as hard drive space, optical drives, SD card slots to our notebooks and PCs. Now, as storage migrates toward online servers, and media is more likely to be streamed rather than viewed from a DVD or Blu-ray disc, many of those onboard features are shrinking down, or getting nixed altogether.
Consumers are favoring size and portability over a heftier ‘do-it-all’ type machine.
“Size will most certainly be an important driver when consumers look for their next PC or notebook,” especially with tablets at the forefront of consumers’ minds todays, says Desiree Davis, Senior Manager with Resolve Market Research.
The skinny: In recent years, we’ve been seeing ultra-portable notebooks like Apple’s MacBook Airs ditch the optical drive so they can achieve a slim silhouette. The Mac Mini desktop also lost the optical drive in its latest iteration. And now, both MacRumors and TUAW are reporting that Apple is working on ultra-thin 15- and 17-inch notebooks as well, likely to fall under the MacBook Pro umbrella and hit the market around the holiday season. If this is true (and it definitely seems in line with Apple’s current product trends and general philosophy) and they’re as thin as the Airs, they likely won’t have an optical drive either.
We’re also seeing PCs begin to favor flash storage, typically in the form of SSDs that incorporate NAND-based flash memory, rather than thicker, weightier HDDs.
“There are simply fewer devices on the market that consumers want to carry that have room for hard disk drives. Their value to the on-the-go consumer is simply nonexistent,” says Davis.
Although SSDs are currently more expensive than comparable capacity HDDs, they offer more benefits than just their smaller form factor: they are quieter, less vulnerable to physical shock, have less latency, and quicker access time. We’re probably going to see them become more and more prevalent in notebooks and PCs.
The materials used to create modern computers and laptops also lends itself towards thinner design, especially in Apple’s case.
“The aluminum unibody structures of the new MacBooks (whether Air or non-Air) are significantly stronger than what manufacturers could make out of plastic. So Apple is able to create a super-thin product while still preserving the strength of a plastic counterpart,” Miroslav Djuric of iFixit.
Cloud storage is another factor that will allow computers to shed some pounds. There are a variety of cloud storage solutions that customers can use instead of loading up on files on their actual gadget.
With our music, photos, and documents fed into the cloud, the need for onboard storage becomes increasingly irrelevant and unnecessary. Google’s Chromebook, which takes that to the extreme, eliminates almost everything but your ability to connect to the Internet. Although a device like that isn’t quite ready for the mainstream yet, it’s clear that’s the direction we’re headed.
But is a thin computer always a good thing?
“The best way to have thin devices is to integrate as many components as possible on one single board,” says Djuric. “That really keeps the thickness as minimal as possible, but also affects the upgradeability, repairability, and features of the device.”
“These thinner devices also make for excellent throw-way devices,” Djuric added. That means consumers are more likely to toss it out when it gets old, rather than trying to fix or upgrade it. This could lead to environmental problems in the future, as these products build up in landfills, he said.
Ultra-portables like the 2011 MacBook Air shun bulky features like an optical drive in favor of a sleek frame. Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired
Our notebooks, ultra-books and desktop PCs are all getting thinner — thin enough that Kate Moss in her heroin-chic heyday could have sported something like the 13-inch MacBook Air down the runway and it wouldn’t have overwhelmed her almost nonexistent frame.
It’s no surprise. We’ve been seeing computers slim down ever since those giant room-sized computers that spawned the digital age, and the introduction of the first PCs in the decades that followed.
But for a while, we were continually adding features such as hard drive space, optical drives, SD card slots to our notebooks and PCs. Now, as storage migrates toward online servers, and media is more likely to be streamed rather than viewed from a DVD or Blu-ray disc, many of those onboard features are shrinking down, or getting nixed altogether.
Consumers are favoring size and portability over a heftier ‘do-it-all’ type machine.
“Size will most certainly be an important driver when consumers look for their next PC or notebook,” especially with tablets at the forefront of consumers’ minds todays, says Desiree Davis, Senior Manager with Resolve Market Research.
The skinny: In recent years, we’ve been seeing ultra-portable notebooks like Apple’s MacBook Airs ditch the optical drive so they can achieve a slim silhouette. The Mac Mini desktop also lost the optical drive in its latest iteration. And now, both MacRumors and TUAW are reporting that Apple is working on ultra-thin 15- and 17-inch notebooks as well, likely to fall under the MacBook Pro umbrella and hit the market around the holiday season. If this is true (and it definitely seems in line with Apple’s current product trends and general philosophy) and they’re as thin as the Airs, they likely won’t have an optical drive either.
We’re also seeing PCs begin to favor flash storage, typically in the form of SSDs that incorporate NAND-based flash memory, rather than thicker, weightier HDDs.
“There are simply fewer devices on the market that consumers want to carry that have room for hard disk drives. Their value to the on-the-go consumer is simply nonexistent,” says Davis.
Although SSDs are currently more expensive than comparable capacity HDDs, they offer more benefits than just their smaller form factor: they are quieter, less vulnerable to physical shock, have less latency, and quicker access time. We’re probably going to see them become more and more prevalent in notebooks and PCs.
The materials used to create modern computers and laptops also lends itself towards thinner design, especially in Apple’s case.
“The aluminum unibody structures of the new MacBooks (whether Air or non-Air) are significantly stronger than what manufacturers could make out of plastic. So Apple is able to create a super-thin product while still preserving the strength of a plastic counterpart,” Miroslav Djuric of iFixit.
Cloud storage is another factor that will allow computers to shed some pounds. There are a variety of cloud storage solutions that customers can use instead of loading up on files on their actual gadget.
With our music, photos, and documents fed into the cloud, the need for onboard storage becomes increasingly irrelevant and unnecessary. Google’s Chromebook, which takes that to the extreme, eliminates almost everything but your ability to connect to the Internet. Although a device like that isn’t quite ready for the mainstream yet, it’s clear that’s the direction we’re headed.
But is a thin computer always a good thing?
“The best way to have thin devices is to integrate as many components as possible on one single board,” says Djuric. “That really keeps the thickness as minimal as possible, but also affects the upgradeability, repairability, and features of the device.”
“These thinner devices also make for excellent throw-way devices,” Djuric added. That means consumers are more likely to toss it out when it gets old, rather than trying to fix or upgrade it. This could lead to environmental problems in the future, as these products build up in landfills, he said.
I would never do my grocery shopping inside a subway station. The smells? The rats? The slime? Gross. But what about a virtual supermarket where you scan QR codes of items and have it delivered to you by the end of the day? More »
For most experimental aircraft, earning an airworthiness certificate is enough of a challenge. But the Terrafugia Transition is a unique type of flying machine, requiring approval not only from the FAA, but also from the USDOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), since this air / land hybrid is likely to spend just as much time cruising down the highway as it will flying 5,000 feet above. The Transition is now slightly closer to takeoff, with the NHTSA granting exemptions for absent airbags, a missing electronic stability system, and the plane’s lightweight polycarbonate windows (polycarbonate is lighter than automotive safety glass, and won’t shatter and obscure a pilot’s vision in the event of a bird strike). Unfortunately the Transition still has other hurdles to fly over — its cabin is limited to carrying 330 pounds when fully fueled, including passengers, and the price has jumped 41 percent, to $250,000. In the meantime, Terrafugia hopes to move forward with production later this year, bringing the ‘flying car’ slightly closer to a runway (and highway) near you.
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