Entries tagged with research - Channel 10

A visit with Microsoft Research: A look at tomorrow’s health solutions today

Laura — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:23:00 GMT

In this special two-part video edition of House Calls for Healthcare Professionals, Bill Crounse, MD, visits with researchers at Microsoft Research. Each program reviews three promising areas of research that may one day lead to solutions with a direct or indirect application to health and healthcare. Viewers will gain insight to advanced ideas and technologies now in the labs at Microsoft Research long before they find their way into future products, solutions, or applications.

A special thanks to Dr. Eric Horvitz, MSR Area Manager, for his assistance in the production of this program.

Part 1

Situated Interaction

The Situated Interaction project at Microsoft Research aims to enable a new generation of interactive systems that can reason about their surroundings and embed interaction deeply into the natural flow of everyday tasks, activities, and collaborations. As an initial sample challenge in this space, researchers are currently developing a situated conversational agent that can act as a Microsoft front-desk receptionist (for example, make shuttle reservations, register visitors, and provide campus information). The system integrates a large number of artificial intelligence technologies—such as speech recognition and language understanding, face detection and tracking, intention recognition, engagement, and behavioral modeling—in a conversational framework that allows it to engage in mixed-initiative, natural language interaction with one participant or multiple participants.

http://msrweb/adapt/SituatedInteraction

•Dan Bohus, Ph.D.

Researcher

Big Top

“FourBySix” is a large, 4-foot by 6-foot (standing height) surface computer that Microsoft researchers recently prototyped to explore productivity scenarios and applications involving small groups of users meeting face to face. For example, one use would be to support groups of designers who are combining and reviewing images, allowing them to sketch new designs in a collaborative setting.

•Andy Wilson

Researcher

Gaze Tracking

Eye-tracking technology can be used to understand how people interact with information—for instance, search results and Web pages and perform other information processing tasks. This information can then be used to design new ways of interacting with computers in which the machine recognizes what people look at and better understands what they pay attention to in order to respond accordingly.

http://research.microsoft.com/~cutrell/

Cutrell, E., and Z. Guan. 2007. “What are you looking for? An eye-tracking study of information usage in Web search.” In Proceedings of CHI'07, Human Factors in Computing Systems (San Jose, CA), ACM Press, 407-416.

Guan, Z., and E. Cutrell. 2007. “An eye-tracking study of the effect of target rank on Web search.” In Proceedings of CHI'07, Human Factors in Computing Systems (San Jose, CA), ACM Press, 417-420.

•Ed Cutrell

Researcher

EMIC - Information Overload and Crisis of Choice

lorigros — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:18:00 GMT

We are drowning in a sea of information overload. Every day, television channels, email, books and music assault our senses with far too much content. The volume of content on the internet and generated by applications is literally exploding. Not only traditional media but millions of individual users are putting their own content on the web. The massive popularity of YouTube is just one example of this phenomenon. In this flood, how do you distinguish between content that matters to you from all the rest? How can you easily discover information, multimedia content and entertainment that matches your interests or preferences? How do you deal with this crisis of choice?

Well, Software Engineers at the European Microsoft Innovation Center (EMIC) are working on a project that allows for the quick creation of prototype solutions that help people solve this crisis of choice.

In this video, Ron Mevissen, Lead Developer of the EMIC Home team, gives an introduction to the topic of information overload and the project that he and colleagues are working on. He also demonstrates the Media Center recommender prototype that helps you find interesting TV programs. After that, Stefan Hirtbach shows a recommender for Outlook that helps you decide the importance of email - which email should I read now, which one can wait. Rich Hanbidge shows a recommender for Xbox Live that helps you find interesting items such as downloadable videos, games, etc. offered by Xbox Live. Rene Hülswitt demos the Virtual Earth recommender that helps find interesting POI (points of interests) such as restaurants or tourist attractions near you.

The EMIC in Aachen, Germany was founded in 2003 and is a Microsoft Research & Development facility. The German lab is unique to Microsoft in its focus on collaborative applied research in Europe. EMIC works in the context of development programs sponsored by the European Commission and the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Its research is focused on enterprise, mobility, home, security, software verification and embedded systems.

For more information on EMIC research, projects and partners, visit:
http://www.microsoft.com/EMIC

To find out more about projects at EMIC, check out these videos over on Channel 9…
EMIC - Specialized Workflow Foundation Activity
http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Lori/EMIC-Specialized-Workflow-Foundation-Activity/
EMIC - Delegation Framework
http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Lori/EMIC-Delegation-Framework/

HD View Internet Plugin

sarahintampa — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:37:00 GMT

HD View is a technology developed by Microsoft Research specifically for the purpose of viewing and interacting with large scale images on the web. As the HD Team describes it, it’s a “camera for the web.” But really what it does is allow you to interact with large, panoramic images that don’t fit on your screen. You can move around the images and zoom in and out, all while still maintaining a high-definition view of what you’re seeing. The technology is still very much of a concept because sites have to be HD View-enabled in order for this to work, but there are still several sites that have done so if you want to check it out. Here’s the plugin for IE. Zooming in on photos reminds me a lot of the capabilities of Silverlight with its deep zoom, so it will be interesting to see how each are used.

European Microsoft Innovation Center

lorigros — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:19:00 GMT

Back in June I went to Aachen, Germany to visit the European Microsoft Innovation Center (EMIC). While I was there, I had the chance to speak with some of the Microsoft scientists and engineers working in Aachen and find out more about what kind of projects and research they are doing. At the beginning of this video, I chat with John Lefor, Director of EMIC. He fills me in on the Innovation Center and where it fits into the scheme of things at Microsoft.

In the second part of this video, I take a look at one of the projects at EMIC and speak with Zhou Wang, Software Design Engineer from the EMIC Mobility Team. He tells me about the Smart Radio Resource Management framework that he is working on. The purpose of the framework is to create a better user experience while using a wireless network.

Wireless access to data and services, especially streaming of data, is getting more and more important for the networking and multimedia experience for mobile and home users. Networking technology currently only uses a small area of the available radio spectrum at one time and is sensitive to interference by other stations. The project that Zhou is working on optimizes the radio spectrum usage and increases the available bandwidth. It withstands interference by dynamically adapting to changes in the radio environment. The demo in the video focuses on wireless streaming in a typical household scenario. Zhou simulates interference but it has no effect on the multimedia application. It creates a better user experience for the user as you don’t notice the interference and have better network bandwidth.

EMIC was founded in 2003 and is a Microsoft Research & Development facility. The German lab is unique to Microsoft in its focus on collaborative applied research in Europe. EMIC works in the context of development programs sponsored by the European Commission and the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Its research is focused on enterprise, mobility, home, security, software verification and embedded systems.

For more information on EMIC research, projects and partners, visit:
http://www.microsoft.com/EMIC

Wii on PC

Laura — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:43:00 GMT

The Microsoft Research Summit showed off some amazing new technology and also some REALLY fun games. The experts at the University of Central Florida have created multiple ways to incorporate the motion sensing device used with Nintendo's Wii, on the PC. Take a look at all the games...

Microsoft Research Unveils Tools For Knowledge-Sharing Researchers

sarahintampa — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:29:00 GMT

At the 9th annual Microsoft Research Faculty Summit, Tony Hey, corporate vice president of Microsoft's External Research Division, revealed some new tools for improving the process of doing research. The tools consist of a set of free software programs that let researchers and scholars seamlessly publish, preserve, and share data. Specifically, this tool set includes the following:

Add-ins
- The Article Authoring Add-in for Word 2007 enables authors and editors to open and save Microsoft Office Word files in the National Library of Medicine's NLM XML format, a file format that is used in the publishing and archiving of scientific and technical articles. It also enables additional metadata to be captured at the authoring stage and enables semantic information to be preserved through the publishing process, which is essential for enabling search and semantic analysis once the articles are archived at information repositories. The add-in also aims at simplifying the authoring, submission, and interaction process between authors and journals.
- The Creative Commons Add-in for Office 2007 is an add-in for Microsoft Office Word 2007, Office PowerPoint 2007, and Office Excel 2007 that enables individuals to embed a Creative Commons license directly into their Microsoft Office documents. The add-in allows an author of a Microsoft Office document to choose a Creative Commons license from those available on the Creative Commons Web site (by using the Creative Commons Web service). The embedded license links directly to its online representation on the Creative Commons Web site while a machine-readable representation is stored in the Office Open XML document. By using Creative Commons licenses, you can express your intentions regarding how others may use your work.
- The Microsoft Math Add-in enhances Microsoft Office Word 2007 with computational and graphing capabilities. With the add-in, you can perform the following: plot a function, equation, or inequality; solve an equation or inequality; calculate a numerical result, and simplify an algebraic expression.
The Microsoft e-Journal Service: The Microsoft eJournal Service will provide a hosted, full-service solution to support scholarly societies, small publishers, and medium-sized publishers in the production of online-only journals. It is designed to simplify the self-publishing of workshop and conference proceedings and smaller journals, as well as online collaboration between authors. The service supports managing the submission and review of articles in any format, and the deposit of final articles in information repositories by using the SWORD protocol. An alpha version, available now, is hosted via Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007—allowing organizations to utilize this functionality without provisioning or maintaining any infrastructure.
Research Output Repository Platform: This platform for building repositories takes advantage of the strengths of Microsoft SQL Server 2008, the Microsoft Entity Framework, and the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5. The technology, to be available through a free download, provides services that are based on open community protocols (such as the Open Archives Initiative–Object Reuse and Exchange [OAI-ORE], SWORD, and so on), which enables interoperability and integration with other tools and services. An included toolkit and code samples will allow developers to present data in original ways, demonstrating, for example, the relationships between a published paper, authors, research data, associated lectures, presentation slides, or PDFs. Currently in a limited alpha release, an open beta version will be available later in 2008. (Links: Community Forum, sample code).
The Research Information Centre: In close partnership with the British Library, this collaborative workspace will be hosted via Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and will allow researchers to collaborate throughout the entire research project workflow, from seeking research funding to searching and collecting information, as well as managing data, papers and other research objects throughout the research process.

Sphere multi-touch computing

Laura — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Just when you thought the Surface was the coolest thing since sliced bread... enter the Sphere! This product is still in proto-type mode but even at this stage, you can't help but be impressed. At the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit I grabbed some one on one time with Hrvoje Benko, the lead on this project and found out all the details. It's just so cool, enjoy.

Cool Microsoft Research Project: mPlatform

sarahintampa — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:15:00 GMT

mPlatform is a Microsoft Research project led by Feng Zhao, a principal researcher in the Networked Embedded Computing group within Microsoft Research Redmond. In 2006, he co-authored Bodhi Priyantha, a researcher in Zhao’s group on something called mPlatform, which is basically a proposal to build hardware out of Lego-like modules which would then function as reconfigurable, scalable, and modular sensors that could be used to track real-time developments in areas such as energy, environment, security, healthcare, and more.

A lot of times we forget that there’s really a lot more to computing than just the laptop you use to check your email and posts pictures to Facebook – there’s a whole world of computing that takes place on embedded devices, and that’s what this Microsoft Research group on embedded computing focuses on. Embedded computing through sensor networks has its challenges, though – there are energy and bandwidth resources to think of as well as uncertainty about the systems and the environment they operate in. Additionally, many of the tasks require collaboration among devices. The group is trying to discover new and better ways to do all of these things.

As far as mPlatform goes, Zhao says, “it’s all about tinkering. Instead of trying to write software to live with existing hardware limitations, researchers ought to be able to aggregate hardware to suit their software needs and debug the application logic before fabricating and deploying these devices at scale…People can start using these platforms to build interesting applications quickly. We take some of the common things out of these different applications, embedded application prototypes in the main, and let users focus more on thinking about the sort of applications they want to build.”

So far, Zhao has built 6 different types of modules, with 2 more radio modules and 1 more processor module on the way.

(Bodhi Priyantha is pictured holding one of the mPlatform modules).

Collaborative SearchTogether Plug-In Available

sarahintampa — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:46:00 GMT

Fresh from Microsoft’s Research Group comes a new IE7 plug-in called SearchTogether, which lets you browse the web with your friends. With SearchTogether, groups can chat while they search and annotate the results with comments and ratings via a thumbs up / thumbs down button. The plug-in can also be used to do “split searching,” which is when a set of search results is split among the team, with each user working on a subset of the results. All the activity – chat, queries, comments, and ratings – are saved so that group members can later return to the search session and view the results. If you want to try SearchTogether, you can download the plug-in from here.

MapCruncher: A Virtual Earth Mashup Tool

sarahintampa — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:12:00 GMT

MapCruncher is a Microsoft Research project which uses the Virtual Earth API to import entire supplemental maps into Virtual Earth. By supplemental maps, they mean any drawn-to-scale maps you can find, be they bicycle maps, transit maps, national park maps, university maps, or antique city maps, just to show a few examples. But not only that, you can use MapCruncher to add your very own, Do-It-Yourself Aerial Photography to Virtual Earth, too. Their Gallery has even more examples of this.

The process of importing your own maps they call "crunching," hence the name "MapCruncher." To use MapCruncher, you just import your map then find 5-10 corresponding landmarks on your map and VE. MapCruncher will then register your map to global coordinate system and generate a set of image tiles based on your map and mash them up with VE's road and aerial imagery.

MapCruncher support both vector formats (PDF, WMF, EMF) and raster formats (JPG, PNG, TIFF, GIF, BMP). To view a mashup, you'll need IE6, IE7, or Firefox version 1.5 or higher.

To download MapCruncher click here unless you need it for a commercial application, in which case you will need to visit this page instead.

Microsoft Research: “Innovations in Data Input and Navigation”

Laura — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 19:04:00 GMT

18 months ago, House Calls for Healthcare Professionals showed viewers something from Microsoft Research called “Play Anywhere”; a technology that allowed users to manipulate images projected on a table with nothing more than their hands. That technology has since been commercialized and is now called Surface Computing. It’s showing up in retail centers and casinos, and perhaps one day in your home or doctor’s office.

In this edition of House Calls, Dr. Bill Crounse revisits the creative geniuses at Microsoft Research to take a look at InkSeine and Lucidtouch, data input and screen navigation tools that might one day help clinicians and other people around the world work more efficiently.

Beatbots: An experiment in social development and interaction

Laura — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:49:00 GMT

Not only are these dancing robots adorable and fun to play with, but they are also a research tool. The BeatBots team joined forces with Hideki Kozima to study how children, specifically children with autism, interact and communicate. In a world with so much stimuli coming at us non-stop, the beatbots are non-threatening, simpler and easier for kids to relate to.

DonnyBrook: Real Massively Multi-Player Shooter Gaming

Laura — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 16:45:00 GMT

DonnyBrook is a project that Microsoft Research is working on to make games more epic. Imagine playing an FPS with hundreds of other players- not just 8 or 16. "How can that be possible?", you must be asking! "There would be so much LAG!", you must be saying! Well - Microsoft employs some pretty smart people who truly care about improving the gaming experience. Watch this clip and learn how they did it.

Where am I?

Laura — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:32:00 GMT

To tell you the truth, I prefer to keep my location undisclosed but apparently there is a great demand for human tracking. My co-worker, Nagi Babu Punyamurthula, took it upon himself to create a solution for this need and he called it the "Where Am I Project". After having him explain his application to me, I realized how great this could be for many family and business uses- and not to mention a badass game of hide-n-seek :) Enjoy!

Dr. Bill Crounse and Robertson Research

Laura — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 17:53:00 GMT

There’s never been a more compelling time for computers in the practice of medicine. There has been an explosion in the amount of information and scientific knowledge that physicians must know in order to practice medicine today. That task becomes even more challenging as genomics and personalized medicine enter the mix of care. In addition, in many developing countries there are severe shortages of qualified healthcare professionals. What medical care there is must often be provided by lesser-trained individuals.

In this special video edition of our on- going House Calls for Healthcare Professionals series, Microsoft's worldwide health director, Bill Crounse, MD, takes a look at computer software called NxOpinion. Using this software, physicians and other caregivers can more accurately assess a patient’s symptoms, arrive at the correct diagnosis, and deliver the safest and most appropriate treatment.

Bios:

Dr. Joel Robertson is the innovator and driving force behind the creation of NxOpinion. With more than 20 years of experience consulting with senior executives, companies and health care facilities to improve their performance and achieve better results, as CEO and Chairman of Robertson Institute, Dr. Robertson currently oversees several medically focused companies in the U.S. and abroad. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Ferris State University and a Doctor of Pharmacology from the University of Michigan.

Del. J. DeHart, M.D. is an infectious disease specialist in private practice. He also serves as Associate Professor of Medicine, College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University, where he obtained his medical degree. He serves as Medical Director for NxOpinion, Robertson Research.

M.U.R. Naidu, M.D. is the Dean of the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in Hyderabad, India, which is dedicated to providing medical care, educational and research facilities in the field of medical science. Dr. Naidu set up the clinical pharmacology research center at NIMS and is actively involved in research and education for the government of India with multiple publications. He has served as the coordinator of research and testing for NxOpinion, coordinating testing in rural health care workers as well as helping to improve usability and culture and language sensitivity issues.

D. Prasada Rao, M.D. is a cardiothoracic surgeon who serves as a Director at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad, India. He is also on the Rural Health Initiate Board for the Government of India and on the Board of Ayorgi Sri, which is their new Medicaid system. He is considered one of the highest ranking physicians in India.

Microsoft Research demos multi-touch laptop prototype

Jesse — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 20:05:00 GMT

Hot on the heels of the Microsoft Surface computer comes the Cambridge kids from Microsoft Research with their latest creation. Steve Hodges’ Dell laptop now sports multi-touch input, courtesy of a small collection of infrared sensors attached to the rear of the display. The video in Long Zheng’s post shows the usual pinching and sliding, along with some input from a traditional remote control.

It's Mash-Up time here at Microsoft and this time it's all about the ladies.

Laura — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 20:59:00 GMT

Another Mash-Up day where creative minds merge with technical minds and hopefully we all benefit from the pairing. If you DON'T know what a mash-up is then definitely watch this clip to find out- you might want to start attending an event like this near you. And if you DO know what a mash-up is, then you'll definitely want to watch this clip to see what our creative minds are up to and how a Women's mash-up day is different from your run of the mill mash-up. Basically, just watch this.

Directed Sound: The Personal Audio Space

Laura — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 19:22:00 GMT

We all need our personal space, and now MS Research is working on a way to give us our personal AUDIO space. I chatted with Jasha Droppo at TechFest '07 and he gave me the lowdown on how this speaker of the future works including the creation of constructive and destructive interference and high-end signal processing. It's pretty intense, and hopefully will be in our hands soon because I know a few people who could certainly use some dynamic noise reduction :)

Also-- check out another version of this technology in an earlier report I did.

TechFest '07: PlayAnywhere meets PlayTogether!

Laura — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 17:39:00 GMT

A few months ago Dr. Bill Crounse and I reported to you about PlayAnywhere. Well Microsoft research does not rest on its laurels, let me assure you. They've been hard at work incorporating multiple PlayAnywhere machines together for an experience they call PlayTogether. And beyond that thay have taken their projection technology from 2D to 3D and show it off with these badass video game trucks climbing over real life obstacles. THIS is interactive gaming.

Microsoft TechFest 2007 Wrap-up

Jesse — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 00:07:00 GMT

Microsoft’s Conference Center has been buzzing this week and we’re going to bring you up to speed for all of your weekend dinner party banter. The boffins from MS Research were on campus to peel back the curtain on all of their latest and greatest and they came nowhere near disappointing. Tuesday the show was also open to public press for the first time in the event’s 15 year history.

Rory Blyth published his videos to Channel 9, the first featuring DynaVis and FastDash and the second focusing on technology on the wall. Both videos give you a great idea of the vibe in the room, as well as Rory’s unique style if you haven’t ever sampled it.

Scott Beale of Laughing Squid shot gorgeous photos (as usual), featuring Lego workfolk, Windows Vista soda, and of course kittens. Brady Forrest came down from O’Reilly and was smitten by Asirra (a crowdsource service that helps cats and dogs find new homes) and how some Microsoft Researchers are able to move gigapixel images across the web with their HDView technology. Scoble experienced TechFest by viewing everything through the LCD on his PodTech camera. He also determined that using Twitter to publish updates of Rick Rashid’s keynote, available in webcast and transcript forms, was the right tool for the job--a decision probably best described as, “permalinks schmermalinks.”

Bre Pettis was reporting for Make Magazine and talked to MSR boffins about Personal Audio Spaces (think grooving to Sketches of Spain where you’re sitting, but the person next to you is rocking to Now Here Is Nowhere). And of course Engadget’s Ryan Block was there to photograph his fingers on everything.

All told it was quite a whirlwind tour. We here at the 10 HQ have certainly got ourselves a new list of people and projects to follow as we hunt for the cool inside of Microsoft, in this Year of our Bond.

Photo credit: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid.

Office RoundTable part three: LiveMeeting 2007 and final RoundTable hardware

Jesse — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 17:35:16 GMT

About a week after we aired our first pieces about Office RoundTable, the phone rang here at the 10 HQ. Our new best friend Rajiv Kapoor from the Microsoft Unified Communications group called out of the clear blue to say he'd love to show off the finished RoundTable alongside LiveMeeting 2007. Naturally we grabbed the camera and ran across campus.

Office RoundTable part two: Panoramic video conferencing

Jesse — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 17:39:52 GMT

Picking up where download the panoramic video.

Office RoundTable part one: The making of a great videoconference device

Jesse — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 18:59:09 GMT

One of the benefits of working on a small team is the low frequency of conference calls. Being on a 'call' as they're not-so-affectionately known typically means speaking once every fifteen minutes while sifting through email or catching up on that hilarious web comic.

The Office RoundTable stands to change the disconnected nature of the virtual meeting. Ross Cutler and his team inside Microsoft Research have built the ultimate videoconference device, and he's given us a look at how it came to be.

Stem cells: clumps, broth, and chick emryos

Laura — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 17:00:00 GMT

In the conclusion of our foray into the universe of stem cell research, we take a closer look at what grows out of stem cells. Dr. Murry's team brought us under the microscope to get a closer look at how different types of stem cells develop into particular components of our favorite rodents.

We also get a close look at what sort of mad science can be done with chick embryos. Our sunny side up order in the Microsoft Cafe 16 won't ever look the same again.

Links: Dr. Chuck Murry, Microsoft Cafe 16, Stem Cells - Part 1

Stem cells: Everything you ever wanted to know, but with rodents

Laura — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 21:30:00 GMT

In what has quickly become as hotly contested an issue as abortion, stem cell research is an area where it never hurts to go over the facts. Dr. Chuck Murry from UW Medicine handed out the latex gloves and layed out the stem cell crash course.

We here at 10 are always looking for ways to enhance your dinner table conversation, and after this two part series (they said it couldn't be done) you'll be able to impress your dining companions by appearing as though you looked at something other than the RSS tsunami today.

Links: Dr. Chuck Murry, Stem Cell Research, UW Medicine