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Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Microsoft. Show all posts

Thursday 4 July 2013

Microsoft shows Amazing 3D monitor that responds to touch

Presenting tomorrow's touchscreen displays. Microsoft has shown off a 3D monitor that, thanks to some sorcery, is able to give real haptic feedback to whoever touches it. The haptic feedback on the monitor isn't a simple vibration that lets you know you've touched it. Instead, it mimics the feedback you would get when touching the object in the real world. Microsoft demonstrated this with cubes made of different materials on the monitor. Touching the stone cube would result in the same hardness as a real stone, while touching a sponge cube made the monitor softer. 

Microsoft has explained this on its Research blog. According to the blog, haptic technology doesfor the sense of touch what computer graphics does for vision.”
The monitor makes use of haptic technology to let users
The monitor makes use of haptic technology to let users "feel" the hardness of objects


This is done through the use of a robotic arm that "pushes" back from inside wherever users touch it. The force of these pushes vary according to the object on the screen. "The force-feedback monitor responds to convey the sensation of different materials:  The stone block “feels” hard to the touch and requires more force to push, while the sponge block is soft and easy to push,"reads the blog post.

Along with haptic technology, Microsoft is using 3D technology that tracks the user and automatically adjusts the angle and size of the object being displayed. This gives it the illusion of depth. According to Microsoft Engineer Michel Pahud, this combined with haptic technology is enough “for your brain to accept the virtual world as real.”

Pahud goes on to describe the possible uses of this technology, such as in medicine. “I could see an image of the front of a brain,” says Pahud, “and pushing a finger through the layers of the brain to travel through the data. I could imagine receiving haptic feedback when you encountered an anomaly, such as a tumor, because we can change the haptic response based on what you touch.”

You could have different responses for when you touch soft tissue versus hard tissue, which makes for a very rich experience.

Wednesday 23 January 2013

Microsoft's New Secret Phone Project


Windows Phone 8 just came out in November, but it's not a huge shock to learn that Microsoft is already working on the next major version of its mobile OS. On Wednesday, a job recruiter for the company, Ashley Zenner, posted up a note on her Twitter account.
The Microsoft Careers link that was placed inside Zenner's Twitter post is for a Senior Software Engineer Post, but oddly the job description says nothing about working with the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface mentioned in her post. Here's what it does say: "The role will expose you to multiple subsystems across Windows Phone and requires an ability to ramp to new hardware and software technologies quickly."
So the big question is, "How does this new job involve UEFI?" It's possible that this position at Microsoft could be for improving security for the next version of Windows Phone, or perhaps a way to boost performance or maybe something that is totally new and unexpected. In any case, it's likely that we won't learn about this new mystery tech for months, or even years.
Source: Microsoft Careers via WPCentral.com

Friday 4 January 2013

Microsoft Buys StartUp R2 Studios Home Entertainment Technology


In an effort to beef up its popular gaming unit the Xbox, Microsoft has acquired Silicon Valley based id8 Group R2 Studios Inc., a small home-entertainment technology startup, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. Microsoft has also acquired some patents owned by the startup related to controlling electronic devices as part of the deal.
Xbox
While continuing to transform its Xbox console from a video game machine to a hub connecting TV with Web video, Microsoft has also struck deals with companies such as Netflix, Comcast Corp, HBO and YouTube. Xbox Live Gold service subscribers can watch on-demand TV programming or Web video on TV via their Xbox consoles.
The company, known as R2 Studios, has been working on technology related to distributing and displaying digital media on TVs, a big new battleground for technology giants. The Silicon Valley-based business also talked to Google Inc. and Apple about a possible deal, people familiar with the matter have said. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that the company was in acquisition talks.
The price of the deal couldn’t be learned.
R2 Studios was created by entrepreneur Blake Krikorian in May 2011, who reportedly will be joining Microsoft with a small team.