What is the “user interface of tomorrow”? In the past I have chronicled some cool Microsoft Research prototypes of flexible touchscreen interfaces – and even touchless interfaces! And now this month one of my friends in MSR, Mary Czerwinski, has written in Venture Beat that “those types of interfaces could be the tip of the iceberg”:
A whole new set of interfaces are in the works at various stages of research and development… I have colleagues working on tongue-based interaction, bionic contacts lenses, a muscle-computer interface, and brain-computer interaction.” – Mary Czerwinski
Not bad! But working devices along those lines are several years away, so for now we’re stuck with the tablet form-factor as the primary basis for natural input. I’ve used a tablet PC on and off for the past five years, happily. My wife now uses an HP tablet.
So I’ve been eagerly following the blogosphere’s hyperventilation about the much-rumored, still-unseen Apple tablet computer, which has been variously described as being close to launch, far from launch, and non-existent.
Filed under: innovation, Microsoft, R&D, Technology | Tagged: Apple, Apple Tablet, bionic, blogosphere, brain-computer, camera, computer, Courier, enGadget, Gizmodo, GUI, HP, inductive, info-viz, information visualization, infoviz, interface, Mary Czerwinski, Microsoft, Microsoft Courier, Microsoft Research, MSR, multi-touch, multitouch, muscle-somputer, natural user interface, NUI, Palm, Palm Pre, Palm Touchstone, Pre, prototype, R&D, research, secret, skunkworks, tablet, tech, Technology, touch, Touchless, UI, video, visualization, web, youTube | 2 Comments »
Shepherd's Pi 