By Rob Knies, Managing Editor, Microsoft Research Bill Buxton is a man of many interests: composer, musician, outdoorsman. Most of all, though, he is a relentless advocate for innovative product design. “Ultimately,” he says, “we are deluding ourselves if we think that the products that…
By Rob Knies, Managing Editor, Microsoft Research Zhengyou Zhang has a vision: to bring people together. He also has a strategy to achieve that vision: by utilizing multimedia technology. His latest tactic to reach the goal is the Personal Telepresence Station. That’s the name of…
By Rob Knies, Managing Editor, Microsoft Research When you look in the mirror, do you see Leona Lewis? Do your shower walls reverberate each morning with “Womanizer”? Are you convinced that you just might be the next Taylor Swift? Let’s face it: We all fantasize…
By Rob Knies, Managing Editor, Microsoft Research In 1825, Michael Faraday, the great British physicist/chemist, had a brilliant idea: Let’s find a way to get children more interested in science. He proceeded to inaugurate the Christmas Lectures, hosted annually by the Royal Institution of Great…
By Rob Knies, Managing Editor, Microsoft Research Microsoft Research Asia, celebrating its 10th anniversary, recently presented its annual Computing in the 21st Century academic symposium, held over two days, Nov. 4 in Beijing and Nov. 7 in Singapore. For the second consecutive year, Baining Guo,…
By Rob Knies, Managing Editor, Microsoft Research You’ve got photos—lots and lots of photos. Everybody does these days, thanks to the digital-photography revolution. Hundreds, thousands, a veritable treasure trove of image-based memories. Sometimes, though, you don’t need thousands of photos. Sometimes, you just need that…
By Rob Knies, Managing Editor, Microsoft Research What’s the most powerful, untapped information repository on the Web today? If you said Wikipedia, please go stand in the corner. Actually, it’s people, the billion or so of you who are tapping your keyboards and clicking your…
By Rob Knies, Managing Editor, Microsoft Research In these days of nearly ubiquitous access to digital cameras, and the consequent explosion of images available via the Internet, it has become more important than ever to find ways to render those images efficiently. Unfortunately, the complex…
By Rob Knies, Managing Editor, Microsoft Research Considering the ubiquitous use of search engines to guide users through the Internet, one might be excused for thinking that search functionality has been perfected and there is nothing yet to refine. Far from it. Consider a few…
By Rob Knies That long-awaited vacation is almost here—just you, your spouse, and your teenage son, all eager to embark on a leisurely adventure to sunny climes for some much-needed R&R. But your planning has not kept pace with your anticipation. There is work to…
By Rob Knies, Managing Editor, Microsoft Research On March 15-16, 2007, a forum entitled HCI 2020: Human Values in a Digital Age, was held in Sanlúcar la Mayor, Spain, just outside Seville. Its purpose was to gather luminaries in computing, design, social sciences, and philosophy…
By Rob Knies, Managing Editor, Microsoft Research Life, a great man once said, is what happens while you’re busy making other plans. And sometimes, it appears, so is art. Three members of Microsoft Research can attest to that. The three, based on different continents and…
