Microsoft's Craig Mundie talks 'man and machine' future

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Wednesday, 30 March 2011 17:29

Your IT - Home IT

Microsoft's Craig Mundie looks after the company's long-term strategy, overseeing one of the largest computer science research organisations in the world - and he sees a future of invisible technology using natural user interfaces delivering much more immersive interactive experiences.

When you read Isaac Asimov's science fiction novels, you come across his robot novels. Earth had colonised 50 planets called the Spacer Worlds with the help of robots, with the lead planet being Aurora, which had 200 million humans and 10 billion robots.

In this world, people rarely saw each other in person - robots attended to every need and telepresence was how most maintained actual communication. While the over-reliance on robots ultimately led to the Spacers' failure, the depiction of telepresence has remained in my mind ever since.

Now a form of immersive, avatar based telepresence is on its way through Microsoft's new Kinect technology later this year, something that was already announced, but which is a precursor to even better and more lifelike graphics and technology fading into the background as it responds to us on a much more human level.

Kinect is the phenomenon for the Xbox 360 that turns your entire body as a controller, using your own voice to control a range of capabilities, even telling the Xbox to stop playing a movie during an explosive scene, because the Kinect knows to listen to where your head is at in time and space.

It's the first mass-market example of a 'natural user interface' that doesn't even need a controller, relying instead on its highly sophisticated camera and microphone to determine where you are, what you are doing and when applicable, what you are saying.

As we know, Microsoft sold 10 million Kinect units within the first 60 days of availability, gaining a 'Guinness World Records' title as 'the world's fastest-selling consumer electronics device'.

It took Apple nine months to sell 15 million iPads, although it's iPad 2 seems to be selling at a far faster rate this time around, even though at the same time there are stock shortages.

In today's CEDA (Committee for Economic Development of Australia) talk, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer, Craig Mundie was interviewed by renowned futurologist, Mark Pesce.  

The two spoke for over an hour on the future of technology, talking through the Kinect and how it works, to how it will evolve in the future.

As technology improves and becomes more invisible in our lives, as it interacts with us in a more human way, Craig Mundie believes the future computing technologies will be highly advanced smartphones through to intelligent rooms in workplaces and offices, where walls and surfaces are interactive screens integrate or seamlessly connect to a powerful computer or computers which can detect our presence and interact on an individual level, even when multiple people are in that smart room.

To make this a reality, Mr Mundie says computers will become highly capable personal assistants. On his Microsoft profile page he says 'Today, we find ourselves embarking on one of the biggest transformations in computing ever, where the computer shifts from being a tool to being a helper, and the computing interface evolves from something we drive to something that's more like us.'

The future continues on page two, including a link to a must-see video that encapsulates part of today's talk - please read on!