Entries tagged with microsoft research - Channel 10

Techfest 2010: Mobile Surface

Larry Larsen — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:17:00 GMT

Every year at TechFest, Microsoft employees (and a few invited guests) get to take a look at some of the projects out of Microsoft Research. These aren't finished products--you'll see a lot of exposed wires and tape--and in fact, they may never become completed products at all, but each project shows what we're thinking--and maybe where we're going.

This year I met with a team from MSR Asia who have constructed what they hope will eventually be a pico-projector portable computer, and in this project you can see inspiration from Microsoft Surface and Second Light. The possibility I like best about this is the ability to touch your games while still seeing what is there. Additionally, if you use physical controls on apps, such as knobs, you can actually paint labels on the controls themselves.

Using Xbox 360s in Hospitals

Sarah Perez — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:28:00 GMT

We’ve already heard about some less-than-typical use cases for the Xbox 360 when New York state announced they would test the units for use as emergency alert systems. Now, here comes another bold idea: Xbox as a tool to feed medical records to in-room displays. Microsoft Researchers are looking into the devices’ potential for use in this area, with senior researcher Desney Tan leading the way. The gaming machines could be used by patients for entertainment purposes (as they already are sometimes today), but they could also be used in lieu of PCs when doctors needed to access the medical records of the patient. Imagine: the doctor walks in the room and pulls up a patient’s scans using the Xbox 360! The benefit to using the Xbox instead of a PC is primarily cost – at $199 per unit, the machine is cheaper than a netbook and definitely cheaper than a standard PC such those used in hospitals and doctors offices today.

Merlion Lets You Run Desktop Apps on Mobile Phones

Sarah Perez — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:07:00 GMT

I just came across an interesting Microsoft Research Project called Merlion which lets you run desktop applications on a mobile phone. The way the system works is that it allows a mobile phone user (on any mobile OS) access to a remote server running some sort of remote desktop software like VNC. Then, without any modifications to the desktop app itself, the user can interact with the original application from their mobile phone using a specially created mobile interface.

End users can create their own Merlion-enabled apps themselves, too, using the Merlion Designer. With this tool, you select the visual portion of the original app you want available on your mobile device and then create an alternative layout designed with your phone’s dimensions in mind. Once the new interface has been created, the Merlion runtime is used to access the desktop app on the server via the new mobile GUI.

In addition, Merlion can increase productivity by automating repetitive actions like logging in or tasks that require multiple interactions. It also can make applications available across different mobile form factors and can allow applications that work on different OS platforms to operate in concert.

Merlion’s ability to create alternative interfaces to applications works for web-based applications, too. Also, it’s not limited to smartphones alone. It could be used to create apps that run on platforms that weren’t originally intended to run apps. For example, Merlion works on basic “feature phones” and handheld gaming devices like the Nintendo DS which supports Wi-Fi.

Pictured is an example of a modified version of the Windows Calculator app, redesigned using Merlin for use on Windows Mobile phone. More screenshots and other details about this project are available in the whitepaper here.

Kodu Tips Available

Larry Larsen — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:53:00 GMT

A couple weeks ago I wrote about Kodu being available on the PC. If you'd like to find out more about using Kodu, or you know a young potential dev who needs help getting ramped up, the Microsoft Research Blog has posted some tutorials on using Kodu. Tutorial #1 covers Basic Navigation, tutorial #2 covers the Edit Mode Tools, #3 goes over the features on the Load Level menu, and tutorial #4 goes over the Main Menu Options.

Pictionaire, a new Multitouch Table from Microsoft Research

Sarah Perez — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:07:00 GMT

A joint project from Microsoft Research and the University of California brings us another touchscreen, mutitouch table-top computing experience. Like a larger version of Surface, the Pictionaire, as it’s called, is also operated via human touch using gestures made on the table’s surface. However, unlike Surface, the camera used features a higher resolution - and it’s positioned above the computer’s screen, via a mount on the ceiling. With this setup, the camera can “see” the items placed on the table and when the item is removed, it can be replaced with a digital version. For example, if you place a keyboard on the table, the Pictionaire will pull up a text-entry box. If you place a sketchbook on the table, a digital version of the page soon appears. You can even do this process in reverse – the Pictionaire can project a digitized image onto the real life object, like the digital sketchpad image projected onto a piece of paper so you can trace it back onto the physical page.

To see the Pictionaire in action, check out the videos posted over on Slashgear. The Pictionaire will be demonstrated at the Computer Supported Cooperative Work conference in Savannah, Georgia, next month.

(via New Scientist)

Microsoft Research Works on "Mental Tagging" of Images

Sarah Perez — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:20:00 GMT

One of the most tedious things to do when uploading a collection of photos to the web is tag them. Although doing so ensures they can be easily found later either by yourself or the online community at large, the process is often time-consuming and cumbersome. A number of technologies have been developed to improve on image tagging, including things like Amazon’s Mechanical Turk which pays people small amounts to tag online photos to online games which attempt to make tagging fun.

However, Microsoft Research is working on a process that sounds like it would be the best yet – if it works. The researchers are developing technology that reads your mind in order to tag the photos for you. According to an article on singularityhub.com, this mind-reading machine uses an EEG to measure the brain activity created by looking at an image. Although EEGs only provide general guidelines (as opposed to exact object names), says the article, the researchers were able to tell whether a person was looking at a picture of a face, an inanimate object, or an animal. Amazing!

You can read more about this project headed by researcher Desney Tan here (PDF).

Microsoft's Mobicast: Stiched Cell Streams

Larry Larsen — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:51:00 GMT

NewScientist.com has an article about a group at Microsoft Innovation Lab in Cairo. Amazingly, they have created a server-client system for Windows Mobile phones that allows two or more people to stream a live event from their phones while stiching them all together for a live web broadcast.

It's called Mobicast, and while right now it's a concept project, I like the idea. When you consider what people did with still pictures at the inauguration, think what they could do with video.

EntityCube Ready to Define and Connect Entities

Larry Larsen — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:03:00 GMT

MSR recently released an "entity search and summarization engine" that in short builds a dynamic wikipedia page for the entity or person you search for. The types of information you'll find include biographies, a social-network graph, relationships between people (mouse over the link to see how they are connected), and titles of people.

You can give it a try at http://entitycube.research.microsoft.com/

A Camera that Records your Whole Life

Sarah Perez — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:10:00 GMT

Originally a Microsoft Research project designed to help those with Alzheimer’s disease, the wearable SenseCam camera is now going into production. This small camera, created by researchers at the Cambridge Lab, is worn on a lanyard around the neck and takes photos whenever movement is spotted or a person approaches. To do so, the camera uses its built-in sensors that can detect changes in light, movement, temperature, and proximity to others.

Now a company called Vicon has licensed the production rights from Microsoft and plan to launch the camera as the “Vicon Revue.” No longer just for Alzheimer’s patients looking to jog their memory (remarkably, that actually works!), the Revue will soon be marketed to “lifebloggers” who want to document their everyday activity.

The camera has 1 GB of storage which is enough to hold around 30,000 of its geo-tagged low-res images. To see the prototype in action, check out this video here.

A Look at VPlay on Microsoft Surface

Larry Larsen — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:20:00 GMT

Stuart Taylor is a researcher at MSR Cambridge and in his spare time he likes to mix bits as a VJ. He created an application called VPlay that allows him to mix video on a Surface like you would records on a DJ turntable. He stopped by the Channel 9 studio on his way to dinner last week and took a few minutes to show us how VPlay works.

You can see more about the project here.

WWT and Photosynth Make Best Websites of 2009 List

Sarah Perez — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:41:00 GMT

Although the year isn’t over yet, TIME Magazine has already put out their list of the best websites of 2009. Among the obvious choices on the list (Twitter, YouTube, Hulu, Wikipedia), there are also some rarer gems like musical mood site Musicovery, streaming music up-and-comer Spotify, and online finance manager Mint. A couple of Microsoft properties made the cut, too, and we couldn’t agree more with the choices. WorldWide Telescope and Photosynth are listed, both of which are products originally developed by Microsoft Research.

You may remember hearing about WorldWide Telescope (WWT) when it launched back in May 2008 thanks to a little hype from Robert Scoble, but since that time the once Windows-only desktop software has been updated with new features, went 3D, was integrated into Virtual Earth, and finally came to the web for everyone to use thanks to Silverlight technology.

Photosynth has also seen a number of improvements since its launch in March of this year. It was integrated into Virtual Earth, Live Maps, and Windows Live Photo Gallery, arrived on the iPhone and Facebook, and someone even figured out how to navigate synths using gestures. Cool! If you haven’t tried out Photosynth yourself just yet, you can learn how to do it here.

Microsoft Researchers Develop "White-Fi" Technology

Sarah Perez — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:13:00 GMT

Microsoft Researchers working in conjunction with researchers from Harvard University have developed a breakthrough technology which would allow the use of the “whitespace” spectrum for wireless broadband networking. White spaces are the portions of the unlicensed spectrum that’s between the parts previously used to broadcast analog TV channels. The FCC hasn’t allowed this portion of the spectrum to be used in the past because it would interfere with other users, most notably the TV broadcasters. Since the analog to digital TV transition, however, parts of the spectrum are now being made available for public safety communications (such as police, fire departments, and rescue squads) while other parts are being auctioned off for wireless services like wireless broadband.

Microsoft was one of the first companies to receive a license from the FCC to create prototype white space devices. In order for these devices to locate other spectrum users and not interfere with their signals (wireless microphones are often used in this space, for example), the researchers developed a special algorithm which measures the spectrum and locates available frequencies. If interference occurs, the white space devices switch to another channel quickly. In Microsoft’s experiments, the transition took 3 seconds.

The resulting set of protocols used for wireless internet networking using these methods are collectively being called “White-Fi” technology because of their similarities to the Wi-Fi systems used today. With “White-Fi,” the long-range wireless broadband necessary to cover rural areas, could soon become a reality. It could even allow you to connect to your home’s router from up to a mile away, noted Ranveer Chandra, a researcher working on this project.

Although White-Fi technology won’t provide as much bandwidth as other wireless technologies like WiMAX or LTE, it would at least provide broadband comparable to Wi-Fi networks but at longer distances.

Anandan Talks About Digital Heritage Project

Larry Larsen — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:23:00 GMT

P. Anandan, who leads Microsoft Research in India, stopped by to show us a project they worked on called the India Digital Heritage Project. This was a very cool attempt to recreate the experience of visiting historic sites around India through the combined use of Photosynth, HD View, video, and ambient sound. While much of the presentation is 'on rails' like a theme park tour, just like with World Wide Telescope you can stop the tour at any time and wander off clicking and zooming and looking at the sites, and then click to jump right back into the tour. It's a very interesting example of what's possible with tools available today.

U Rank Update: No Login Required

Sarah Perez — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:26:00 GMT

Remember U Rank? Microsoft Research’s experimental search engine? The service is still around although it has probably been overshadowed by the much slicker Bing as of late. With U Rank, searchers can reorder search results, add notes, create lists of search results and share those lists with others. Although U Rank may not replace your everyday search engine, it’s still a good tool for doing web research projects where you want to record, save, and manage your results.

Recently, Chun-Kai Wang of Microsoft Research let us know that you can now use U Rank without first having to log in. (Previously you had to sign in with your Windows Live ID.) When using U Rank anonymously like this, your edits are only saved for that session. This actually makes it easier to use U Rank as an everyday engine for quick searches since it removes the extra steps involved with signing in. It also makes it easier for anyone who just wants to play with U Rank from time to time to give it a try. You can try the new U Rank homepage here: urank.viveri.com.

Page Hunt: This New Game Makes Bing Better

Sarah Perez — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:17:00 GMT

From the Microsoft Research Labs in Redmond, Washington, there comes a new online game whose goal is to improve the algorithms powering Microsoft’s search engine Bing. The game, called Page Hunt, shows you various pages from around the web and then asks you to guess what queries would make Bing display that page within its first five search results. If the query you enter returns the page as the number one result, you’ll get 100 points, if it’s the number two result, you get 90 points, and so on. But basically, if the page is in the top five results, you win.

To make the game fun, Page Hunt includes timed responses, score keeping, a top-scorers list, taboo queries, and bonus points…like those received for avoiding frequently-used categories.

Page Hunt was developed by Chris Quirk and Raman Chandrasekar at Microsoft along with colleagues from Georgia Tech and was debuted at the recent SIGIR09 conference in Boston. Their research paper describing the system can be found here.

Already, the researchers have discovered some interesting information from the data collected: the longer a web page’s URL, the harder it is for users to match the page to query words.

They don’t speculate as to why that happens, but it demonstrates how the game can provide data that will uncover interesting insights into how search works.

More Details on Gazelle, Microsoft Research's "Browser OS"

Sarah Perez — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:50:00 GMT

In February of this year, Microsoft Research released a paper (PDF) about a new web browser they’re calling “Gazelle,” which is really less of a browser and more like an operating system. According to the paper, what makes Gazelle different than any other browsers out there today is how it’s able to exclusively control and mange the system’s resources.

Now, in a new article on Microsoft Research’s site, we get a little more insight about what exactly Gazelle can do.

One of the features of Gazelle is its ability to manage devices. Unlike with other browsers, where device management takes place (like accessing a webcam for instance), it’s done via plugin. In the Gazelle model, the browser kernel itself “protects principals from one another and from the host machine by exclusively managing access to computer resources, enforcing policies, handling interprincipal communications, and providing consistent, systematic access to computing devices.”

The kernel also exclusively manages the principles by placing them in a separate protection domain using an OS process. That way, if misbehaving code arises it only affects its own protection domain, leaving everything else including the kernel and host system intact.

Sadly for us, though, Gazelle is not a project that will develop into a workable prototype - it’s just research. “I would like to see Web applications achieve function and quality parity with desktop apps,” says Helen J. Wang, senior researcher in he Systems and Networking group at Microsoft Research Redmond. “That’s the ultimate goal of this research.”

Advanced Image Editing in Windows Live Photo Gallery

Sarah Perez — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 14:18:00 GMT

The Microsoft Image Composite Editor (ICE) is a tool created by Microsoft Research which can be used to create panoramic images. It’s essentially the same technology that Windows Live Photo Gallery uses “under the hood” when you create panoramic photos in the software (just like Alexa does in the latest commercial – and lest you think these kids are far more tech savvy than you – I can assure you that the process is dead simple).

But unlike the panoramic technology that runs in WLPG, the ICE software provides a few extra features, too. The most important one is the orientation tool. With this, you can change the orientation of a photo to give the impression that a tilt/shift lens was used. For example:

You could also use a perspective projection instead of a cylindrical one with the tool. Example:

Or you could set the mid-point of a 360-degree panorama:

ICE also adds a variety of export options including Deep Zoom and HD View. Use ICE to export to either of these two options and it will generate a web page that handles viewing these images in a much more efficient manner (they tend to be very large images by default). For Deep Zoom photos, the web page will use Silverlight to allow for interactivity with the image. HD View is like Deep Zoom but also adds some extra affects – it can rewarp the panorama on the fly using a fish-eye lens, auto-exposure adjust for looking into those deep shadows of the panorama, and it will support wide-color-gamut monitors. HD View is still more experimental technology and will require a special plugin. You can get it here.

Add to Photo Gallery!

Now you can take this advanced ICE photo manipulation technology and integrate it into Windows Live Photo Gallery. Just download it and install it. You’ll then see a new menu item in the WLPG “Extras” menu:

To use ICE, simply select a group of images and then launch it using the new menu item.

(via Windows Live Photo & Video Blog)

How to Get an Invite for the New Microsoft Translator Widget

Sarah Perez — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 05:41:00 GMT

At MIX09, Microsoft Research unveiled a new translation widget for web sites. The widget lets you offer your website in multiple languages, without having to set up separate pages for each different language. And unlike other solutions out there (like Microsoft’s own translator add-in for example), using the widget does not take visitors away from your site. Translations are done in place, on the fly, and - believe it or not - instantly. All that’s needed to put the widget into use is a small bit of code which you paste into your page. You don’t need to be web developer to know how to do this, either. The widget itself can also be customized to fit in with your site’s color and design, too.

Attendees to MIX09 got a special invitation to try out the the widget, but Microsoft Research is also accepting registrations for others who are interested as well: just click here. They will be sending out more invites as they become available.

At the moment, the team is working on making the widget even more polished and customizable. They’re also adding new features like “Automatic” translations on page load, multiple layouts/views (bringing in the well received views feature of the bi-lingual viewer) and some other “surprises.”

The widget will be made available to both individuals and commercial organizations for free.

Currently the following language are supported:

· Arabic

· Chinese (Simplified & Traditional)

· Dutch

· French

· German

· Italian

· Japanese

· Korean

· Polish

· Portuguese

· Russian

· Spanish

And more will be added in the future.

TechFest:Core Tools For Augmented Reality

Laura Foy — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 15:58:00 GMT

This demo will explain the development of a new kind of image feature that can be used within a variety of applications, ranging from image stitching to augmented reality. The features are already finding their way into Microsoft products and are being considered for many new applications. The demo shows a fun example application: A treasure hunt! By using the posters and other graphics on display during TechFest, the users then borrow a device that augments the workd wih virtual clues to find the hidden treasure.

TechFest: GeoLife 2.0

Laura Foy — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:35:00 GMT

The increasing availability of GPS-enabled devices is changing the way people interact with the web and brings a large # of GPS trajectories representing peoples location histories. GeoLife 2.0 is a location based social-networking service on Virtual Earth that enables people to build connections with each other using their location histories. By mining the similarity between peoples locatoin histories, this system can help a user automatically discover potential friends in a community with similar interests. This system also enables travel experts who can help plot the ideal sight-seeing locations for you to visit in any part of the world. Brought to you by Microsoft Research Asia.

Microsoft Research Reveals “Social Desktop” Prototype

Sarah Perez — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:04:00 GMT

[Stay tuned, Laura Foy is meeting with these folks and will have a video soon.] Microsoft Research will be debuting a prototype called Social Desktop at the annual TechFest event being held next week. This software offers a new take on cloud computing, blending the PC and the web in a completely new way. It does this by giving every document living on your computer a URL that points to its location on the web – and without having to copy, move, or upload the file in any way.

In addition, the URL provides a way to build in social experiences around the file by enabling comments, tags, and related items to appear on the file’s “homepage.” As friends comment on the file in their web browser, the conversation becomes available in Windows, too. The file links that you want to share can also be distributed via Digg, Twitter, and Windows Live Messenger.

How it Works

Social Desktop runs as a local service that maps the user’s local data into a .NET service bus service, enabling local data to be accessible through firewalls. It also provides a web service view with built-in RSS event streams for any container. New data sources can be mapped into the URL hierarchy, enabling a distributed view to be built.

The preview of this application uses Silverlight web pages while the backend previews and files are stored on the web using Windows Azure. The software application runs on Windows 7 Beta where it takes advantage of the new OS’s file-preview functions.

Do You Want This? I Do!

The benefits to a system like this would be universal access as URLs can work on any device anywhere in the world. It also could radically simplify want still remains a difficulty even today – file sharing. But the social element is what’s most unique about the software. We already know that files can be socialized – we’ve seen this taking place today on sites like Slideshare (social slideshows) and video sharing sites, too. But imagine a platform where any file on your computer could become a social experience with little effort on your part (except, I hope, to mark some as private!).

Social Desktop goes far beyond any of today’s sync/file-sharing platforms that I’ve ever heard of as it truly meshes the machine to the web in a way that’s never been done before.

Unfortunately, the project is still in very early stages and is more of a “proof of concept.” That means it may or may not ever be released publically. Nooooo! Seriously? The web in your desktop? I want this now!

What the Recession Sounds Like with Songsmith

Sarah Perez — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:28:00 GMT

We’ve already seen Microsoft Research’s Songsmith tool being used to create some rather hilarious mashups of music – in fact, those sorts of crazy mixed-up tracks have become their own genre on YouTube it seems (Loving the metal Rick Astley, by the way!).

But now, a German composer by the name of Johannes Kreidler has figured out a way to do something completely different with the Songsmith software. He has derived music from stock-price charts belonging to “Lehman Brothers, Bank of America, GM and other major global companies and market indexes, as well as unemployment rates and other indicators,” reports the Seattle Times.

Kreidler first created the melodies for the charts by hand by drawing points on the graphs and then interpreting them as pitches to write the melodies. The creation is a work of art/political statement called “Charts Music”…and it just goes to show you that Songsmith can certainly be used for something beyond just silly mashups.

Hands On With Microsoft TAG - Barcode 2.0

Nic Fillingham — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:23:00 GMT

Announced at CES 2009, Microsoft Tag lets people use the camera in their internet-capable mobile phone to snap a tag, which will quickly and easily connect them to mobile content such as videos, music, product information, ring tones, free text and other promotions.

Designed with ease of use in mind, it enables users to easily bring information such as business card contact details to their cell phone, without having to type anything.

Learn More: microsoft.com/tag
Create Your Tag: tag.microsoft.com
Download The Mobile App: gettag.mobi

Hilarious Songsmith Mashup

Sarah Perez — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:24:00 GMT

On MetaFilter’s Music page, someone posted a link to an MP3 created using Microsoft Research’s Songsmith– a new tool which lets anyone write and record music. Although Songsmith was designed to allow non-musicians a way to create music of their own, some other people are apparently discovering some pretty silly uses for it instead. The hilarious mashup on MeFi Music features the vocal track from David Lee Roth’s “Runnin’ with the Devil” overlaid on top of, well let’s be honest, pretty poorly composed synth music. With Roth’s screeching and yeeaaaahhh’s, the end result is quite frankly the most ridiculous thing we’ve seen in a long time. Just try not to laugh when you hear it.

CES 2009: Record your own hit songs with Songsmith

Nic Fillingham — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 01:09:00 GMT

How often do you get out of the shower and think,.. that song I just made up whilst washing my hair was AWESOME!! ...I wish I has some way to record it on my PC so that I can launch my music career on Myspace and get my own reality TV show on MTV2!?!@? Ahem,..
Well now you can write and record your own songs without the need to play an instrument thanks to Microsoft Research's Songsmith.
All you need is a PC, a microphone (the built in mic on your laptop will work), a melody and some lyrics. Songsmith will record what you sing into the microphone, analyze what you've sung and then assign the rhythm section and chords. You can adjust the style (genre) and tone until you find something you like and then output the track as a WMA file, movie maker project or backing track.
Check out the video for a full demo from the guys behind the software plus the worldwide debut of MY latest hit single "Room with Max".
Link: Microsoft Research Songsmith