Microsoft bets that touch is not the future of wearable computing.

Originally published on Kapuno in the Technology community

🔗 Microsoft Research bets on a ‘no-touch’ future of wearable devices (Article)

Microsoft has invested over $30 billion dollars in three years for research and development in their Cambridge lab. This investment is based on a belief that, in the future, we replace touch interfaces with augmented reality.

They’ve been building on existing Kinect infrastructure that they hope to be in every household and have added a wrist-worn sensor device to help with hand tracking and find movement.

Is this the future?

Responses

Riaz Rahim

November 26, 2012

Interesting to compare Microsoft’s initiatives with Google’s. They both have projects to develop AR glasses, but the applications seem very different.

Microsoft’s entire R&D lab seems focused around innovations in gaming, where they’ve had their most success. This is in contrast to Google, where their AR initiatives around the glasses project target the “real world”. AR initiatives targeting the real world are going to be much more beneficial to society, and will therefore command the consumer’s attention and wallet.

There’s no doubt AR will be “the next big thing” at some point - the consumer is just waiting for the right piece of technology at the right price point. Timing may also be affected by how rapidly mobile is developing. Whether Microsoft or Google will deliver the revolutionary series of products that bring the benefits of AR to the world is another matter.

My bet is on Google at the moment.

Cyrus Radfar (November 26, 2012)

If I had to put money down; I’d bet on Google as well.

My old advisor, Thad Starner, is helping to guide the direction on Glass and nobody has more experience with wearables than him.

David Aidekman (November 28, 2012)

I concur that the key observation is the “real world” applicability of the technology. The closer it gets to normal day-to-day personal actions and interactions, the better adoption will be. Of course people can “learn” to use new technology but Google seems to be going in the best direction of just augmenting regular use more than creating something new to learn.