Microsoft Research Community

June 2009 - Technology Trends

  • Energy from heat

    Dyson Energy Bracelet Recharger For Mobile Phones “Thanks to the Seebeck effect, the temperature difference between the surface which touch the skin and the other which is in the ambient air allows to produce electricity that is stocked in a battery...
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  • Soft optics

    A Camera from a Sheet of Fiber “researchers at MIT have integrated a collection of light sensors into polymer fibers, creating a new type of camera. Yoel Fink, a professor of materials sciences and engineering and the lead researcher on the project...
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  • Low heat electronics

    Long sought-after material could revolutionize electronics “Spintronics is a new, very promising (although still in its infancy) technology in which the intrinsic spin of electrons, rather than the value of a voltage like in today’s electronics...
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  • Hand control

    AcceleGlove: The future of motion at your fingertips “A group of American soldiers is on patrol in hostile territory. Suddenly, the squad leader realizes they’ve stumbled onto the edge of what may be a minefield and quickly gives a hand signal to...
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  • Overlaying life

    Layar: First Mobile Augmented Reality Browser Is Your Real Life HUD “Layar combines GPS, camera, and compass to identify your surroundings and overlay information on screen, in real time. It is available for Android now and it will be available...
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  • Searching real-time activity

    Real-time search is the future of the Internet. Here’s why. “It’s important to note that CrowdEye and Collecta are not traditional search engines. Both utilize something called “real-time” search, which crawls data as soon as it hits the Internet...
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  • Karaoke for movies

    Big-name movies and shows, now starring you “Yoostar is a new technology that includes all the tools consumers need to digitally insert themselves in the place of original lead actors in famous movies and television shows. Included in the USD 170...
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  • Concentrated sound

    Sound laser could be the key to manipulating nanoparticles “A team of researchers has managed to build the first “saser” or sound laser, a device capable of generating a highly concentrated beam of sound waves at terahertz frequency...
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  • Exercise and role playing

    Pedometer Makes You a Character in a Samurai Storyline “This pedometer/calorie counter casts you as a 16th century Samurai hell-bent on controlling Japan. You can choose between three daimyo characters from the Sengoku, or Warring States. The more...
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  • Making music

    Visual Intonation “Different geometric shapes placed on a magnetic board are interpreted as sound. Each of 12 shapes activates its particular environmental or ambient sound. By placing figures on to the wall visitor built his own soundscape...
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  • Dynamic book

    The living book “Every time someone who is following the campaign’s Twitter profile tweets a phrase containing either the words ‘love’ or ‘hate’, that phrase is captured and linked to one of the QR codes in the book...
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  • Domestic robots (concept)

    Pushya and Pullya Robots by Paul Grader “Pushya and Pullya are a robotic set that that break away from the conventional norm of obedience. They are not the slaves we expect robots to be and are delightfully mischievous. Pushya is the radical sort...
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  • Pressure sensor

    eSoles Beam Workout Data to Smartphones “Utilizing 11 pressure senors and a Bluetooth transmitter, Arizona start-up eSoles‘ insoles will send exact data to your smartphone regarding balance, speed, distance, and a variety of other athletic criteria...
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  • File sharing

    FilesOverMiles Shares Files Browser-to-Browser without Limits (Sort of) “Like any other file-sharing site, you start by choosing the file you want to share. The difference is that rather than immediately starting to upload the file to a FilesOverMiles...
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  • Mobile visualizations

    5 Amazing iPhone Visualization Videos “RoamBi is a powerful tool that turns your data into dynamic visualizations on the iPhone. RoamBi works with several data sources, like Excel, Salesforce, Crystal Reports, WebIntelligence, and others; turn the...
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