Microsoft promises exciting new technology

Microsoft is pioneering new technology, which it hopes to bring into the mainstream consumer market.

Ken Wood, deputy managing director of Microsoft Research told Windows Vista: The Official Magazine about some exclusive developments. Many of these products focus around the home, and are being developed in Cambridge in the UK.

“We are working on new concepts of the home, which include a visual answering machine and a clock which tells you where members of the family are,” he said.

Microsoft Research recently displayed a number of developing technologies at the annual Techfest event in Redmond, Washington. Amongst the hundreds of ideas on show was a video camera which maps real life surfaces for use in games, and post-it notes which can be written on, then sent via email and SMS.

Cats like this could soon appear on every web site

One of the most useful products on show was a new system to validate human data entered on websites. Instead of typing in those scrawled and crooked numbers used to stop evil spammers, pictures of dogs and cats from homeless shelters were used to make the process easier.

However, true to the pioneering nature of Microsoft Research, this may not be a viable option for long.

“The dogs and cats thing is absolutely going to come in, as will elements of all the research we undertake. However, other work we are doing could hamper that. We are working on some pretty advanced recognition software that could counteract the effectiveness of that software,” said Ken Wood.