Software that lets a number of people work on the same document has been growing in popularity. However, problems can arise when two people are editing one piece of work at the same – how do you know what the other person is doing?
Microsoft's idea is to generate an on–screen shadow behind each person's document to show the work currently being done by the other editor.
"A 'write shadow' may be used to indicate a position in a document being modified by a user. A 'read shadow' may be used to indicate a position being viewed by a user. A 'shadowbar' may be used to indicate areas of overlap among users with shading and colouring indicative of a degree of overlap," the company says.
Providing it doesn't make things more confusing, the approach could allow more effective collaboration by ensuring that both editors know just what the other is doing.
Read the full shadow editor patent application.
Justin Mullins, New Scientist contributor
Archive for the ‘microsoft’ Category
Shadow editing
Friday, October 19th, 2007Foot-based computing
Thursday, October 18th, 2007
Lack of exercise causes numerous health problems, and the personal computer particularly discourages exercise, admits the software giant Microsoft.PC use encourages people to sit motionless for hours at a time, which may result in chronic back pain. Constant tapping on a keyboard and use of a mouse can also cause repetitive strain injuries. What's needed, Microsoft says, is a different form of interaction that encourages more vigorous movement.
The company thinks it has developed one in the form of a foot-based interface that asks users to tap their feet on an interactive mat to perform basic tasks such as browsing the web and reading text. The mat below a user's feet would feature the commands needed to open and close documents and click on different web links.
Information could then be beamed onto a large screen, Microsoft says, so that it can be seen easily while standing up. This "can transform tedious tasks, such as reading through email messages or managing photos, into a more fun and enjoyable experience," the company reckons.
Read the full foot-based computing patent application
Justin Mullins, New Scientist contributor
Microsoft mind reading
Monday, October 15th, 2007
Not content with running your computer, Microsoft now wants to read your mind too.The company says that it is hard to properly evaluate the way people interact with computers since questioning them at the time is distracting and asking questions later may not produce reliable answers. "Human beings are often poor reporters of their own actions," the company says.
Instead, Microsoft wants to read the data straight from the user's brain as he or she works away. They plan to do this using electroencephalograms (EEGs) to record electrical signals within the brain. The trouble is that EEG data is filled with artefacts caused, for example, by blinking or involuntary actions, and this is hard to tease apart from the cognitive data that Microsoft would like to study.
So the company has come up with a method for filtering EEG data in such a way that it separates useful cognitive information from the not-so-useful non-cognitive stuff. The company hopes that the data will better enable to them to design user interfaces that people find easy to use. Whether users will want Microsoft reading their brain waves is another matter altogether.
Read the full Microsoft mind reading patent application
Justin Mullins, New Scientist contributor