REDMOND, Wash. – March 8, 2011 – For Craig Mundie, the goal of research is simple: “You peer ahead just beyond our headlights and try to figure out what’s going to happen, to improve our understanding of how technology is likely to evolve and how we can apply it to our business.“
For two decades, Mundie and the company’s Microsoft Research team of nearly 900 have been gazing into computing’s future to inspire and help the company advance the development of new products. Most recently, their work has helped introduce natural user interfaces (NUI) to a wider audience through technologies like Kinect for Xbox 360 and Microsoft Surface.
“Microsoft is in a truly unique position,” Mundie says. “We have a robust level of global research and collaboration that can make truly exciting technologies possible and bring some to bear on solving the world’s hardest problems. I’m excited to see the momentum building across the company for natural user interfaces as we rethink how we interact with computers and what they can do for us.”
Microsoft Research’s work will be on display this week in Redmond at TechFest 2011, the company’s annual celebration of its research efforts. This year’s employee-only event will feature more than 150 demos and 24 lectures from labs around the world.
Below is one example of Microsoft Research’s work currently on display at TechFest:
See Craig Mundie discuss the emerging transformative shift in how we will use computers, what they can do for us, and who is able to use them.
See the blog post and infographic about transforming research breakthroughs into products.
Visit Mundie’s Rethinking Computing site.
Watch a slide show about natural user interfaces (NUI).
