Look, no mice: a visit to Microsoft Research’s Cambridge lab

Microsoft Research is a worldwide network of labs and partnerships that is working on ideas to push forward the boundaries of computing science and change computing as we know it. When the UK lab in Cambridge organised a rare open day, Lyn Whitfield went along to see what it is up to.

It’s natural to think that behind the doors of Microsoft Research’s labs, coders are plugging away on the latest versions of the company’s operating systems, software and games packs.

Not so, says Andrew Herbert, managing director of the UK lab in Cambridge, which recently held a rare open day for the press, academics and other researchers.

Microsoft Research is interested in innovation; in developing the science of computing. Other companies, Herbert admitted, might tie their labs to their business units and use them to develop products. Microsoft doesn’t.

“We are centrally funded and we decide our own agenda. Obviously, we then look at how we can influence and impact on the company. But we are very much masters of our own destiny,” he said.

I have seen the future

This was evident from the demonstrations the researchers had set up in the atrium of the brick and glass-built lab building, which is sited in a research park on the edge of the famous university city.

While it was clear that some contained ideas with the potential to affect networks, office and home computing in the fairly near future, it was clear that others would take many years to come to fruition.

For example, in the health arena, Microsoft’s Cambridge researchers are building complex, four dimensional models of biological systems, such as organs and immune responses.

Its leader was trying to explain the complex science and maths behind a computer model of pancreas development, which builds up a three dimensional picture of the organ over time (the fourth dimension).

This, he explained, would allow researchers to test hypotheses about how the organ might change if its cells changed or developed in different environments, without having to conduct biological tests.

Eventually, he suggested, the same techniques might even be used to show how computer networks might develop and change in response to the introduction of different components. But the days of growing a computer network feel a long way off.

More immediately, Steve Hodges was showing a “sense cam” or digital camera that can be worn around the neck and take photographs without the user having to pose them.

Montages of snapshots taken over a day or significant event are being used to help people with memory loss – including those in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease – to recall events and build memories with partners and carers.

“At the moment, people suffering from memory loss might keep written diaries,” he told the Microsoft NHS Resource Centre. “However, we have shown that their recall is much better if they review the photographs from sense cam. Also, reviewing the diary can be a bit like taking an exam; reviewing the pictures seems to be much less stressful.”

 Space, the new frontier

Although the health related projects on show were so different, they did illustrate some of the other points of Dr Herbert’s keynote speech.

With Microsoft’s Windows Operating system, Office software and XBox gaming systems now well established, he argued that technical research and health – along with education and solutions for emerging economies – would be critical markets for the company in the future.

He also argued that with the days of mainframe computing behind it, and the era of personal and mobile computing well upon it, “space” was the next frontier for computer science.

“Mobiles know where they are, so in future they will be able to tell you things related to that,” he said. “Surface technologies generate more interactive experiences. These two things are coming together; computing is becoming more three dimensional.”

The trick, he added, would be to work out which applications needed to be handled by networked computers and which needed to be held locally, so people could benefit from global services through devices that felt personal to them.

Coming soon to a home or office near you

Back in the atrium, researchers were demonstrating ideas that could radically change the networks of the future. One project on show was Somniloqy (literally: sleep talking), a system that allows mains powered and mobile computers to remain responsive to network requests in while in sleep mode.

Microsoft argues this has the potential to save large amounts of power, since many computers now have to be left on for their users to share files, use voice communication services or take advantage of other network functions.

Another interesting project was SybilInfer. This aims to revolutionise the security of networks by plotting their nodes and connections between them, so members can work out the likely trustworthiness of other members – and spot intruders.

The most striking projects, though, were those taking forward surface computing: or computing using screens that respond to hand movements of various kinds and promise to consign keyboards and mice to history.

Phil Gossett was demonstrating a whole range of prototype products that can bring together the data captured by family and team members and display it in ways that can be understood at a glance – often by mimicking paper displays.

For example, he was showing an electronic “pin-board” onto which two sided electronic “postcards” could be sent, and a Home or Office Book screen onto which people could stream emails, texts, pictures and other information.

“People can send a text saying ‘I am at the football’ or whatever, but this lets them send a picture that also shows how cold and muddy it is,” Gossett said.

“We tried this with families and they loved it, but they pointed out that if dad sent a message it would soon vanish under a pile of texts from his teenage kids. So the other thing about the Home Book is that each member of the family controls their own section of the screen.”

Another prototype gave each family or team member a flower stem, and displayed their messages and pictures in petals that fell off over time, showing instantly who had not been in touch for a while. As well as being cutting edge, this was a reminder that computing can sometimes be really rather beautiful.