What Will Our Future Look Like In Microsoft’s Eyes?

on March 2, 2015 at 10:02 am

Don’t tell people your dreams. Show them!

How could emerging technologies transform the way we get things done 5-10 years in the future? How will your day at work look like? Or how will your kids study at school? The technologies that will transform our lives decades from now are already taking shape in laboratories around the world. And today, Microsoft is going to show you how things will be happening in a highly interconnected and information-rich future. The video has two characters: Kat — a young independent marine biologist — and Lola — a corporate executive.

Collaborative: Bringing People Together

Welcome to your future’s office! Here we have a digital blackboard in the lab, which creates a smart multi-user space that allows team members to work on challenges together. It doesn’t matter if any of the team members are away, it is easy to interact, discuss, or manipulate the same content as if they were in the same room with the entire team.

Or in a class, the kids are watching a fantastic video sharing Kat’s live dive experience. The children can see what she sees, use real-time translation to communicate across languages, and annotate her view.

Intelligent: Living Smarter

In the future, every data will be visualized in real-time. As in the video, Lola discovers potential candidates by invoking actual-time data. It’s easy for her to drill-in, extend criteria, and change views to support her train of thought. And even her bracelet is a sort of Internet of Things. Lola can now use simple gestures to accept the invitation, rearrange her calendar, and book a space to prepare.

Natural: Friction-Free Creativity

Underwater, and later in the lab, 3D holograms augment Kat’s view of her tools and environment. She can see, move around, and interact naturally with information and virtual objects placed in her world. Using fluid combinations of touch, electronic ink, gesture, voice and gaze, her whole team interacts with content and services on their terms. In a cafe, Kat is assembling data, organizing her thoughts, and authoring across formats on her canvas. Her work is then automatically composed into a beautiful modern document, full of live data and interactive content.

Fluid: Mobility

There is no limit of moving your experiences fluidly and securely into your environment. With just one touch, Kat securely transfers her cloud-based project work to a touchdown desk. The desk takes on her settings and provides a rich, multimodal work surface for her to prepare for her meeting. In another experience, Lola spontaneously extends her phone call from her earpiece to a wall. She seamlessly moves into a richer mode of interaction as her digital assistant visually augments the conversation with relevant information. In the lab, the blackboard recognizes Kat’s team entering the space. They quickly “rehydrate” the room with their project and resume where they left off.

The future is NOW!