{"id":642759,"date":"2020-09-05T13:30:17","date_gmt":"2020-09-05T20:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-project&p=642759"},"modified":"2023-11-28T10:05:58","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T18:05:58","slug":"physical-computing","status":"publish","type":"msr-project","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/project\/physical-computing\/","title":{"rendered":"Physical Computing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Physical computing (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a> refers to the use of tangible, embedded microcontroller-based interactive systems that can sense the world around them and\/or control outputs such as lights, displays and motors. Assembling the hardware elements of a physical computer and programming it with the desired behavior provides a creative and educational experience. A variety of physical computing devices are established in the market, including: Arduino (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>, Raspberry Pi (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>, Circuit Playground (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>, and the BBC micro:bit (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Microsoft has been active in the physical computing arena for over a decade, developing a number of hardware and software solutions to empower students, educators, hobbyists, artists and designers with new tools and techniques. Perhaps most significant was Microsoft’s contribution to the development of the BBC micro:bit (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a> device and the associated MakeCode<\/a> programming environment, which have been used to teach programming concepts to around 40 million children – 1.5% of all the children in the world! Prior to our involvement with the micro:bit, we designed the .NET Gadgeteer<\/a> system, which also enjoyed much success in schools. Other physical computing tools we have developed and researched include circuit stickers and conductive inkjet printing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We work closely with organizations such as Lancaster University and the Micro:bit Educational Foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Physical computing refers to the use of tangible, embedded microcontroller-based interactive systems that can sense the world around them and\/or control outputs such as lights, displays and motors. Assembling the hardware elements of a physical computer and programming it with the desired behavior provides a creative and educational experience. A variety of physical computing devices […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"msr-url-field":"","msr-podcast-episode":"","msrModifiedDate":"","msrModifiedDateEnabled":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","footnotes":""},"research-area":[13552,13560],"msr-locale":[268875],"msr-impact-theme":[],"msr-pillar":[],"class_list":["post-642759","msr-project","type-msr-project","status-publish","hentry","msr-research-area-hardware-devices","msr-research-area-programming-languages-software-engineering","msr-locale-en_us","msr-archive-status-active"],"msr_project_start":"","related-publications":[162629,164426,164754,165809,166067,166068,168523,215400,238011,498287,504521,570141,611871,642384,644103,652632],"related-downloads":[],"related-videos":[264525,590323,643893],"related-groups":[],"related-events":[],"related-opportunities":[],"related-posts":[],"related-articles":[],"tab-content":[],"slides":[],"related-researchers":[{"type":"guest","display_name":"Steve Hodges","user_id":987591,"people_section":"Section name 0","alias":""},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Peli de Halleux","user_id":32253,"people_section":"Section name 0","alias":"jhalleux"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"Nicolas Villar","user_id":33139,"people_section":"Section name 0","alias":"nvillar"},{"type":"user_nicename","display_name":"James Devine","user_id":41632,"people_section":"Section name 0","alias":"devinejames"}],"msr_research_lab":[199561,199565],"msr_impact_theme":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-project\/642759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-project"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/msr-project"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-project\/642759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":987594,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-project\/642759\/revisions\/987594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"msr-research-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-area?post=642759"},{"taxonomy":"msr-locale","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-locale?post=642759"},{"taxonomy":"msr-impact-theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-impact-theme?post=642759"},{"taxonomy":"msr-pillar","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/msr-pillar?post=642759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}