Microsoft shows off cool media visualization demo (video)

Is this the rejuvenation of MyLifeBits from Microsoft Research? During the final minutes of Bill Gates’ CES 2008 keynote - just before it turned into a rock concert - he showed off a conceptual media visualization tool which in this case was organizing pictures and videos from his previous keynotes. It’s quite the eye candy.

At first glance, it looks like just another pre-rendered mockup that Microsoft can be so good at producing. Then the demo starts. Either Bill was flawless with his presentation timing, or he was actually controlling the demo. That means everything was rendered real-time. By the end of the demo, a clip from the same keynote an hour ago appears on the screen to indicate his most recent keynote gives almost certain evidence this was not just a far-fetched idea, but a real application.

Of course, just because it’s real code still doesn’t mean minions like ourselves can play with it anytime in the near future. However it clearly shows Microsoft’s trying to break free, in a big way, from the traditional visualization methods such as folders we’re all pretty much sick of.

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