This video demonstrates a fascinating opportunity for using Kinect's augmented reality to help neurosurgeons perform complex brain surgeries. It's an exciting idea for these doctors, who face the challenging task of taking 2-D information and applying it to ... well, a human head.
Now, just imagine these capabilities with Google Glass? Oh, the places medicine will go!
Microsoft announced just a few weeks ago that Kinect for Windows will be finalized in 2012; since then, there's been a lot of speculation about what that means for desktop PCs. Now, the company is confirming that it's working on Kinect for PCs.
New developments will enable Kinect to detect movements as close as 50 cm to the PC screen--instead of across the living room.
While the possibilities are great, we're most excited about the prospect of a mouse- and keyboard-free future. Bring it, Microsoft!
Imagine a world in which nearly everything is a computer: your eyeglasses, that passing cab, books, chalkboards. Now, try to envision what your life would be like if all the computerized elements of your life were connected. So your glasses translate foreign languages, and your cab syncs to your smartphone to bring you up to speed on the city you're visiting.
In a new series of videos, Microsoft invites you to "watch how future technology will help people make better use of their time, focus their attention, and strengthen relationships while getting things done at work, home, and on the go."
Though the video is intriguing, the technology seems so distant that it's almost like magic. ("Hover" texting? Come on.) Of course, much of today's advanced technology would seem magical to people in the 1950s.
So maybe this future world isn't too far off. But part of me shudders at the idea of being even more reliant on computers. "Strengthen relationships"? Sure. And just think of how mushy our brains will be then.
AR brings boardgames to life: A recent Kickstarter project, called the OggBoard, aims to give board game fans a 3D experience with the use of Augmented Reality. If the project is funded, the physical ‘board’ upon which games are played will be simple in design, yet provide physical cues for smartphones to populate AR game content – be it a chess piece, user-created characters for specialty games, or perhaps a battleship. See the video above, via CNET.
Microsoft’s own ‘Locationgate’: We recently covered the discovery that Microsoft, alongside Apple, has been collecting locations of smartphones and other Wi-Fi enable devices, so it comes to no surprise that a recent class action law suit has been filed around Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 tracking of data. TechCrunch reports that a Seattle district court is handling the case, which centers on the idea that WP7 users, regardless of whether or not they opt out of location tracking, have their location and data harvested. While this location tracking is purportedly only for marketing and advertising purposes, the fact that they keeping tabs on people unawares is quite sketchy.
Holograms could make microscopes more accessible in the medical field: UCLA researchers are developing a microscope that trades traditional (and heavy) lens with lightweight hologram technology. The technology works by shining light on a sensor chip with the object, which then collects in a cloud-based software program that recreates the image. What’s amazing is that this breakthrough could mean the ability to a) carry in microscopes to remote areas (Engadget reports that the new model could be the size of a banana) and b) access and analyze the image remotely via computers, tablets and smartphones.
Microsoft is helping to digitally map the world -- one app at a time.
With Photosynth, your digital photos are incorporated into a 3-D environment that can be linked to Facebook or Bing Maps. If the app catches on, users could create a virtual world of their favorite places and experiences.
Here's how it works: Take a series of photos of, say, a new museum display. Photosynth pieces them together and seamlessly stitches them into Bing Maps. Other users who search for information on that artwork or museum can view your panorama.
"After capturing a great panorama of a museum you love or a beautiful garden, choose to publish to Bing Maps and it could be seen by the world," the Bing team wrote in a blog post. "From the map, 'dive in' and see your panorama next to that museum. Or, experience it seamlessly alongside the museum's listing in Bing (if tagged with the location name)."
Tuesday, March 12, 2013 at 10:38AM 
