Microsoft’s recent TechFest event in Redmond, Washington has revealed a few research projects that could have a huge impact on mobility and navigation in the future. But first is the issue of sausage fingers.
As devices continue to decrease in size every year, a certain segment of the human population is struggling with a massive usability issue. You might be one of the unlikely people with fat fingers–and find touchscreens, Blackberry keys, netbook keyboards and other dwindling-in-size devices incompatible with your oversized anatomy.
One of Microsoft’s ongoing projects is dubbed Nanotouch. What it aims to do is create a way to manipulate, for example, the front screen of a mobile phone or PND, via sensors on the back of the device. That way fat-fingered folk won’t continually hit two icons at once or obstruct their vision of the display.
Another interesting Microsoft research project is Commute UX. It’s a software that could redefine the in-vehicle experience. Its voice recognition technology has the ability to interpret your response, so if you want your a certain song to play but only know the artist’s name, it can still interpret your response for what it is and bring up a list of relevant songs. You could also have a mechanical problem with your vehicle, tell Commute UX what it is, and you’ll be returned a how-to video showing you the steps needed to remedy the issue.
The potential of such technologies is obvious, and just goes to show that the Garmin’s and TomTom’s of the world better start pumping dollars into research and development before software makers like Microsoft penetrate the automotive industry and eliminate portable navigation devices altogether.
