(Via Andrew Bragdon and Microsoft)
"It's true, Apple caught us all napping. It launched something that was very iconic, new and unseen with a very good user interface." - Microsoft UK Head of Mobility Phil Moore (December 2009)
Only a few years later Microsoft (MS) returns and innovates past the small screen with Microsoft Surface, Windows Phone, Windows 8, and into the third dimension with Kinect. The potential of all their innovations is still anchored in research. Surface is not in everyone's coffee table. Windows 8 is not out yet. Windows Phone's market share is still low. Kinect is isolated to gaming on the XBOX at the moment, with a Windows SDK out for those who wish to develop.
However, MS wants to bring all their new inventions into the business space with another research venture, Code Space. The effort combines touch, devices, and skeletal tracking in a conglomeration that appears quite useful. The goal is to literally get everyone on the same page, allows for interaction by all the parties, and brings synergy to new heights.
Depiction of all the devices at play. (Via Code Space)
The main screen is a touch interface, similar to Surface. A Windows Phone can be used as an input device, able to manipulate data on the main screen. The best part is the ability to move content to and from the phone itself. Laptops and computers can be used in the same way. The Kinect interface is the most clumsy looking (at the moment) of all the input options. If anyone has used the Kinect, they will know how slow the interactions can feel. However, a full range of gestures can be used by a presenter or even an audience member to control the main content.
The level of connectivity is what we all have wanted for as long as there was Science Fiction. I only wish development could go faster.
Cabe
More interaction research with Microsoft technology:
Microsoft Surface and robotics control
Holodesk, the virtual 3D desktop
The superficial human machine interface, Windows 8
Robotic shopping cart, follows its user around
Advanced robot tech for the masses