Microsoft Research Blog

Research Blog

  1. Innovation in Software Research Recognized in 2012 SEIF Awards 

    March 28, 2012

    Today, research in software engineering encompasses a wide range of computer science and engineering disciplines. These include systems and networking technologies, hardware design, programming languages, security, and privacy, to name a few. Microsoft Research actively engages with researchers across these disciplines to advance the state…

  2. COSBI Researchers Hunt for Obesity Factors at the Molecular Level 

    March 26, 2012

    What do residents of rural Arkansas and researchers in Trento, Italy, have in common, aside, perhaps, from a love of good food? Well, in the case of an ongoing major research program, food is the common link. Well, not exactly food—the good folks in Arkansas…

  3. New Theory Blog Sets Sail 

    March 21, 2012

    Posted by Rob Knies As “news” increasingly has morphed into “conversation” over the past decade, the blog has become one of the pre-eminent platforms fostering that discussion. It’s undeniably true, whether you’re examining political dynamics in Syria, college basketball tournaments in the United States, or…

  4. Presenting the History of Everything 

    March 14, 2012

    Today, March 14—Einstein’s birthday no less—marks the release of the beta version of an incredible new tool for the study of history: ChronoZoom. This powerful open-source tool, a joint effort of the University of California, Berkeley; Moscow State University; the Outercurve Foundation; and Microsoft Research…

  5. Interacting Without Touching 

    March 8, 2012

    Posted by Kevin Schofield There is much discussion these days of the role of touch-based systems in interface design. But this week at Techfest, Helena Mentis and her teammates in the Socio-Digital Systems group in Microsoft Research Cambridge were showing two projects exploring interfaces where the intent…

  6. Teaching Computers to Speak in Tongues 

    March 8, 2012

    Posted by Kevin Schofield   Perhaps it’s just me, but I wince whenever my American phone or GPS tries to pronounce a French restaurant name or a Spanish street name, or the name of one of my non-American friends. While we’ve made much progress in creating…

  7. FetchClimate! Using Big Data to build a climate information service 

    March 7, 2012

    Posted by Steve Clayton  There are a lot of really cool projects at TechFest this year - if you pushed me to pick a personal favorite, I'd choose FetchClimate!. With amazing demonstrations such as Holoflector and Illumishare, this is one that you may notexpect...allow me to explain why I'm so…

  8. Making Classrooms Interactive Without Breaking the Bank 

    March 7, 2012

    Posted by Kevin Schofield One of the perennial challenges for teachers is to find new ways to keep students engaged and interacting in class. Some have embraced a new generation of in-classroom technology where each student has a pocket-sized wireless keypad. The teacher can “poll”…

  9. Microsoft Research Offers A Different Perspective on Internet Search 

    March 7, 2012

    Posted by Steve Clayton   We talk about Bing as a “decision engine” that anticipates your intent and surfaces search results to help you quickly make an informed decision. Built into this concept is the assumption that productivity is your chief goal. The Socio-Digital Systems group…

  10. Preserving the Language Heritage of the World 

    March 6, 2012

     Posted by Kevin Schofield Of the 6800 “living” languages in use around the world, close to half are spoken by fewer than 10,000 people. The historical and cultural heritage represented by those languages is in danger of being lost forever – in fact, some experts predict that…

  11. Cliplets Blur the Borders Between Video and Photography 

    March 6, 2012

    Posted by Steve Clayton With most digital cameras these days, you can shoot still photos or video. The critical question, then, is which one to use when you’re at your child’s soccer game or out with a group of friends: a picture often won’t do…

  12. Wearable Multitouch Projector from Microsoft Research 

    March 6, 2012

    Posted by Steve Clayton I’ve learned to track the work of Hrvoje Benko from Microsoft Research quite closely. He’s been involved in projects such as MirageTable, LightSpace, Pinch-the-Sky Dome and products such as the Microsoft Touch Mouse. This week at TechFest, he’s been showing his…