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For the last four decades, using a computer meant sitting down, looking at a screen and using a keyboard and, sometimes, a mouse. Today, new technology enables much more intuitive ways of interacting with computers. If you think touch screens and Kinect-controlled video games were state of the art, think...

1. Safer heart surgery . Surgeons are using Kinect to access patient records from the operating room to avoid scrubbing in and out during complex procedures. 2. Assess motor skills. A specialist children’s hospital in Miami has developed interactive avatars to allow patients to become more familiar...

“People never wanted the kettle, they wanted hot water,” says Mat Hunter, Chief Design Officer at the Design Council. Disruptive design is not about incremental improvements. It’s about that moment of realisation, the lightning bolt that hits when you observe your customers and discover...

The Holodesk from Microsoft Research lets people interact with virtual objects in a uniquely real way – almost as if they were on Star Trek’s Holodeck. We talk to lead researcher Otmar Hilliges to find out how they did it. We’ve written about Microsoft Research’s HoloDesk before...

At a recent event at Microsoft Cambridge, we saw some amazing new user interfaces. Some used physical objects, some used large touch-enabled tables, others involved gesture recognition and there were even prototypes that allowed users to interact with virtual 3D objects projected into the real world...

Microsoft recently held an event at Microsoft Research Cambridge, inviting thought leaders and innovators from business and bringing them together with our own 100-strong team of researchers. Filling the labs auditorium and seminar rooms, it was in itself, an experiment in creative cross-pollination...

Microsoft spends a significant proportion of its revenue on research and development. It has more than 850 researchers operating in labs around the world . Investing in R&D can be very valuable. It can create sustainable competitive advantages, especially if backed by IP protection like patents...

I’m just on the train back to London after the ResearchNext event at Microsoft Research in Cambridge and I wanted to share some initial thoughts. The event brought together around 75 technology leaders from some of our largest clients. We wanted to reveal Microsoft’s world-leading research...

What do the California condor, the snow leopard, and the Wollemi pine have in common? They’ve all made the least desirable position on one of the nature’s most important lists: the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . Now, what do Microsoft and the Zoological Society of London have in common...