Microsoft Research Showcase Explored 189
prostoalex writes "Every year Microsoft Research scientists show their achievements and developments at Redmond campus. Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports from Techfest, a number of other news resources and blogs are covering it. Read about network-enabled bear that allows parents to communicate with the kids, a mobile phone applications that not only checks, but predicts traffic conditions, and surface computing for digital homes." From the article: "The project isn't fully developed, but the ultimate vision is to have the stuffed animal interact with a child, doing such things as playing games and reading stories. Because the bear is on a network, a parent could also use it to interact with a child remotely -- communicating or even taking snapshots through an embedded camera."
A number of other news resources and blogs? (Score:2, Insightful)
Zonk, do you even read Slashdot? Or just when you cash the paycheck?
Timed to coincide with patent vote tomorrow? (Score:3, Insightful)
Lets see MSN Desktop search....
http://desktop.google.com/
Teddy bear running windows...
http://www.aibo-europe.com/
Navigating photo libraries....
http://www.flickr.com/ ?
TouchLight,
http://www.minorityreport.com/
http://www.its.berkeley.edu/confere
Re:Timed to coincide with patent vote tomorrow? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Timed to coincide with patent vote tomorrow? (Score:2)
Do you mean AI, the movie.
There is an older SF story, unfortunately I do not remember the title, nor the author, about a computerised teddy bear.
Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:5, Informative)
Among the products included a microwave, fridge, coffee maker, toaster, dishwater and washer drier. These all tied into a control panel which could be accessed from a household computer which showed the status of each item. So if you had a load of laundry going you could see how much longer it had till it was completed. Or you could set the intensity of your toaster, etc. The neatest was the implimentation of RFID with the fridge. Using RFID tags which they believe will be on all products in the next 5 - 10 years you can look up exactly what products are left and get a full inventory. You can also set up triggers which will text your phone, send you an email, or something of that nature which will tell when something is empty or near empty.
It appears that Redmond is looking at taking over not just your computer some day but your life as well.
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:2, Interesting)
Anyway, who really belives that this is where MS is headed? It's laughable when after all these years they still can't even get Windows right.
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:2)
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:1, Flamebait)
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:4, Interesting)
Lots of companies are working on that. The thought that it is all run by software from a single company is scary. It would be even scarier if that company were Microsoft, given their track record on reliability, safety, and security.
The neatest was the implimentation of RFID with the fridge. Using RFID tags which they believe will be on all products in the next 5 - 10 years you can look up exactly what products are left and get a full inventory.
Again, obvious idea that lots of people have been working on.
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:2)
AFAIK, RFID tags don't come with a built-in weighing machine. They won't be able to tell if a container is empty or near-empty. At the most they will be able to tell if a container is in the fridge or not.
I have the solution. (Score:2)
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:2)
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:2)
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:2)
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:3, Insightful)
Isn't it easier just to walk up to the washer and look at the time left? Or adjust your old fashioned toaster by twisting the little nob? What's the point of placing these guys on a network?
How much extra will this network-ability cost you?
Can you imagine the nightmare of configuring these devices to work with your computer? MS and the vendors will claim
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:2)
No.
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:2)
Most people I know just leave
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:2)
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:2)
When the toast is done, the toaster should just put it on a plate for you.
Also, when the wash is done, the dryer should take it, dry it, fold it and put it in your closet or whatever.
No need for computer monitoring...
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:2)
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:2)
Among the products included a microwave, fridge, coffee maker, toaster, dishwater and washer drier. These all tied into a control panel which could be accessed from a household computer which showed the status of each item.
Bad enough that your PC gets owned. With this it's going to be all your house are belong to us. Just think - spyware in your fridge tracking what products you buy and eat, the washer refuses to run because it is new and hasn't been authorized by Microsoft yet?
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:2)
Personally I'm not interested in having a script-kidie in latvia setting my toaster to "charcoal", my washer to "shred" and my fridge to "sauna".
Given the prevelance for removing hardware interlocks in place of software (THERAC-25 anyone?), a web-enabled microwave is just too stupid to contemplate.
(well, apparently it isn't....)
Re:Coolest stuff not mentioned... (Score:2)
Sorry, but I bet in twenty years the guy that came up with that concept will be sitting on a bench commiserating with the CEO of Pets.com about how "people just didn't understand the significance of their innovations." The fridge thing has useful applications. But I bet less than 1% of the population of the US has ever wanted to adjust the temperature of their toaster from a computer. Innovations have to solve a problem, otherwise they're just marketi
Scary... (Score:2, Insightful)
Troll (Score:2)
Re:Scary... (Score:2)
Yeah, cuz I never recovered from my Mother reading me fairy tales as a child.
Re:Scary... (Score:2)
Animals, non-beleivers respond to accupuncture (Score:3, Interesting)
Three rights make a left! (Score:2)
There's no science for acupuncture. (Score:2)
Google Accupuncture scientific studies (Score:2)
Please provide links! (Score:2)
Re: Scarry.... (Score:2)
Oh, man, am I glad that they use actual chemicals, whew! I thought for a second that they were using magic or something! That makes me feel so much better - chemicals!
Oh, oh, and I'm glad that homeopathic remedies take longer to work - I wouldn't want to have to take a sick day ever! This way, it feels much more like my body is naturally healing itself!
I'm sure glad you no longer have to use your two year old "asthama" inhaler that you still, for some reason, carry around...
Give me a break
Great, lets parents get more detached (Score:5, Insightful)
Great, allow parents to get even more detached from their kids. Instead of playing with their kids now a parent can sit at their computer while looking at internet porn and paying their taxes and watching their kid through the creepy bear.
We need products that are going to allow for a more personal connection then we are doing now, not a more remote one. Vidoe conferencing and all that is great but what kids need is real connection, they need to see and play with their parents, not the bear with a camera and potentially a detached voice in it.
Surveilance anyone? (Score:2, Insightful)
Do we even want a device that can take a picture of children from remote? First, shoudn't we trust our kids enough to leave them in a private situation, when they think they are? Trust is basic in inter-human relationships.
And then you can think what would happend if someone discovered a security hole in this. If it is accessible remotely, anyone could take that pic, without anyone knowing possibly. Think about kiddie porn. Would you like your kids to carry a network-enable camera all day? No? Thought s
Re:Surveilance anyone? (Score:4, Insightful)
Reports initially stated.. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Reports initially stated.. (Score:2)
Great news (Score:4, Funny)
"Don't steal software"
"Only communists use open source"
"Support software patents"
Re:Great news (Score:3, Funny)
"Your Cell Phone needs a camera"
"Upgrade your computer every 2 years. Buy a new car every 3 years"
Proposed product name (Score:5, Funny)
Proof that (Score:1)
Bleurgh (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Bleurgh (Score:2)
Was it Heinlein?
Re:Bleurgh (Score:3, Informative)
iirc, it was also the first robot story Asimov wrote.
Re:Bleurgh (Score:2)
Re:Bleurgh (Score:2)
Was it Heinlein?
No, Harry Harrison: "I Always Do What Teddy Says".
Re:Bleurgh (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Bleurgh (Score:2)
Re:Bleurgh (Score:2)
Forgot the author
Re:Bleurgh (Score:2)
I Always Do What Teddy Says
by Harry Harrison
Google is your friend
Crappy Idea #234506 (Score:2, Insightful)
Here's an idea: interact with your child in person. It works better.
I am so tired of crap like this being developed which will have absolutely no good impact on anyone. Don't you think a child can tell the difference between a stupid bear toy and his/her parents? Who is it that comes up with this crap?
Re:Crappy Idea #234506 (Score:2)
Who is it that comes up with this crap? People who don't have kids. People who don't realise that a kid wants parents and it's the parents job to read stories. Anything less and you may as well just dump your kid in a TV room with a bunch of Disney DVDs and a remote control. That's how to make storytelling interactive :-/
If anyone reading this article thinks that Creepy Ruxpin (good name BTW) is a good idea, remember that in the real world your kids want your time and they want you to read stories. If you
Re:Crappy Idea #234506 (Score:2)
The impetus for this may be general laziness, or people just being too caught up in their personal work and goals to want to bother with the broader personal issues in the world and the ongoing trivial dramas of their children's emotional lives. It's a bottom-line mentalit
Bear (Score:2)
Why would I trust a Microsoft fridge? (Score:2)
Re:Why would I trust a Microsoft fridge? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Why would I trust a Microsoft fridge? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Why would I trust a Microsoft fridge? (Score:2)
requisite asimov reference (Score:1)
The Wired Home (Score:4, Interesting)
The best implication I saw was being able to use it in conjunction with an oven that could refrigerate as well as cook, that way you could put whatever in it before you left for work, and then start it remotely from work so it'd be ready when you arrived home.
Re:The Wired Home (Score:2)
It wasn't a new concept even then. Microsoft has been working on this exact kind of thing for over 10 years now - p
Obligatory reply (Score:1, Redundant)
What could possibly go wrong?
network enabled bear?? (Score:2, Funny)
-------------
WrongPlanet.net [wrongplanet.net]
Re:network enabled bear?? (Score:2)
parenting (Score:5, Insightful)
When will parents stop relegating their childrens' upbringing to toys (including TV) and start giving the children what is rightfully theirs: a human touch? If you can't be bothered to play a central role in your child's life, then don't have a child!
Re:parenting (Score:2, Insightful)
What a load of shit. I'm speaking in generalities as that's how your painted with your righteous brush, rather than specifically about this rather dubious bear.
Perhaps I'm a little sensitive about this given that I actually have a child with another on the w
Actually, it was the standard. (Score:2)
The ability to produce offspring does not, in any way, make you more of an expert of raising them.
For proof, please see any of the thousands of cases of abused children.
Well that's good then. (Score:2)
Well, it's good you're not going to argue because that's the only part of that sentence that made any sense.
Re:parenting (Score:2)
You are missing the real point. The idea is that actually the stuffed bear will dynamically generate the pictures of the child, thus enabling parents to have a "virtual child", probably as part of Longhorn. Parents will turn the bear on, it will then ship the kid direct to Microsoft where it will form part of their child army which is set to take over the world.
The parents won't care because they will keep seeing the photos generated from the bear.
Re:parenting (Score:2)
Relax. Just because a toy has fancy gizmos you didn't have when you were a kid does
Stuffed Animal != Good Parent (Score:4, Insightful)
Anyone who thinks that a stuffed animal is a good substitute for the presence of a parent is bonkers. Imagine this scenario. The father is too obsessed with working at his startup company, so he buys one of these stuffed animals, say, a bear with network-control capability. He puts the bear in the kid's room and heads off to work. At the office, he activates his Web browser and remotely controls the bear with a Web form. Now, imagine the father acting in this way for a year.
Do you think that such behavior is good parenting? Such parenting is probably the first step to child abuse [childhelpusa.com].
Perhaps, I am the oddball in this forum. I think that technology should facilitate the human experience instead of replacing it.
Re:Stuffed Animal != Good Parent (Score:2)
What next, little boys for parents who can't have children?
Re:Stuffed Animal != Good Parent (Score:2)
I agree absolutely, but in this case I think it's more an issue of whether the bear is in the hands of good parents or bad parents. I certainly wouldn't advocate abandoning your children to a camera-equipped teddy bear all day -- to do so sounds more like child neglect than anything resembling good parenting. But most parents I know, even when at home with their children (which they hopefully are) ar
I think that's the core problem. (Score:2)
But the bear is linked to the computer.
What this is designed for is the parent who is in front of a computer for some reason. I don't think this would be at work, because that would mean the parent's work network is connected to their home network.
Which leaves, parents working at home or playing computer games.
If both parents are on the computer that much, there is a problem.
This is designed for parents who are too self absorbed a
Desktop computers have little to do with it (Score:2)
Exactly right, and the point I was trying to make in my final paragraph was that in the proposed Microsoft future, which I tend to like (despite not being a great fan of Microsoft), people won't be sitting in front of computers all the time when they're using them.
You're limiting your point of view by assuming that computers are restricted to rectangular boxes in fixed places that people have to be gone to in order to be us
I'd agree with you, except... (Score:2)
I'd agree except for the following ...
Re:I'd agree with you, except... (Score:2)
Well meaning no disrespect, it is a Techfest where research scientists get to show off everything they've been working on, mostly to other Microsoft employees plus a few journalists and academics. (As usual the slashdot summary is woefully inaccurate and misleading.)
I didn't read anything that implied that this bear was a product actually for sale, and I'd presume that it exists only as much as all of th
Now... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Now... (Score:3, Funny)
Microsoft "Ouch" (Score:2)
In other news... (Score:2, Flamebait)
Cheers,
Adolfo
What a stupid waste of money. (Score:2)
Paedophelia! (Score:2)
So hang on a minute... (Score:2)
Because there's nothing like increasing the range of technology available to peadophiles...
Windows, lans and stuffed animals? (Score:3, Funny)
Can you say "Chucky [imdb.com]"?????
I can't envision a more terrifying concept...
In the not-too-distant future (Score:5, Funny)
June 18, 2007
Threat Advisory from McAfee AVERT
Virus/Worm Identifier: W32/Bear.A
Threat Level: Critical
Threat Pathology
After being infected, MS-Snoogums(TM) performs one of the following four tasks, chosen apparently at random.
1) MS-Snoogums will attempt to strangle the nearest child.
2) MS-Snoogums will begin swearing and berating any child in the room.
3) If the child is identifiably female (using simple pattern-matching algorithms against three jpegs embedded in the code), MS-Snoogums will make choose lewd comments from a catalog of 47 built into its codebase.
4) MS-Snoogums will attempt to persuade the child to transport him to the nearest Wells Fargo branch. If successful, MS-Snoogums will use built-in IrDA port to hack Diebold Windows XP Embedded cash machines. Records are altered to show withdrawal from account of one "I. P. Nightly".
System Protection and Cure
McAfee AVERT is currently tracking the vendor response. Vendor recommends all children be provided with MS-My-First-Shotgun immediately as a protective measure.
Re:In the not-too-distant future (Score:2)
Marge lets the Krusty Co. repairman into the kitchen, to see Homer on the floor, the doll yanking at his tongue. Picking up the doll, the repairman identifies the problem.
Repairman: [pointing to a Good/Evil switch on the back of the doll]
Yup, here's your problem. Someone set this thing to ``Evil''.
In geek terms... (Score:3, Interesting)
IMO, once you're hooked into some huge dinosaur like MS office, you don't let go until you or it dies. And you don't do any fancy research on the side. Take for example Longhorn. That's looking more like Duke Nukem every day. And mark my words, when that appears, it won't be as revolutionary as the spin makes out. It will still have to run MS Office so it can't be that revolutionary or one of the only products that makes a profit for MS will die. Therein lies the catch.
I've heard the term roach motel applied to MS and this is it. All that expensive talent goes in and we get, what, a teddy-bear? Uh-uh. At least with google, expensive talent produces goods, things that make me go "ah". MSN makes stuff that makes me go "yuck". Amd I guess therein the difference lies.
h
Re:In geek terms... (Score:3, Informative)
here [bbc.co.uk] is a practical application of it, note the date on the article. Here [asiaweek.com] is another take. Note this was out in the field in 2000.
There was also a great telepresence robot bear pair, whereby moving one robot bear would move the resultant other robot bear at the other end of the phone line, but I can't seem to find a link to it.
Harry Potter patent (Score:2)
Obviously no one at Microsoft Research reads Harry Potter or they might have noticed the Weasley household has a clock that not only identifies the location of household members, but knows when they are in peril.
As for whether it can tell time of not, the Spy Kids movie had a watch that was so full of gadgets it coul
Teddy bear (Score:2)
Say what you want, but if you are so hopelessly blind to the future to not realise that toys WILL change as technology improves, then I have nothin
Re:Teddy bear (Score:2)
One that was filled with music (classical, folk, international, modern), absence of TV, a wide selection of books (fiction and non-fiction), a focus on creative toys (Legos etc.) and the imagination, a large amount of time spent in nature, family trips that emphasized the wonder of people and the world rather than the kitschy junk (D
Re:Teddy bear (Score:2)
A robotic teddy bear can take some of the burden from parents. It can do much more than simply console the kid. It can teach the child about the world, point him towards good books, give him ideas for creative projects, keep an eye on h
Re:If you don't want to spend time with your child (Score:2)
Re:Is Bill Gates the Antichrist? (Score:2)
Re:Is Bill Gates the Antichrist? (Score:2)
Re:Is Bill Gates the Antichrist? (Score:2)
I have often wondered about genesis being the literal truth, while the sermon on the mount is some sort of allegorical hippy ramblings.
I suppose you have to worry when even an atheist can spot the doublethink.
Here's hoping the surprise and bewilderment appears a bit faster than last time, they didn't have megaton nukes at Normandy.