2009. Technology Review: Bendable Magnetic Interface. Computer users have been typing on keyboards and clicking on mice for more than 20 years.
An experimental new interface under development at Microsoft could give them a completely new way to use their system. Multi-touch and motion-sensing devices have recently emerged from research labs, offering new ways to operate computers. Microsoft’s experimental tactile interface takes things further still, letting users interact by squashing, stretching, rolling, or rubbing. At the base of the new device a “sensor tile” produces magnetic multiple fields above its surface. By detecting disturbances to these fields, the system can track the movement of a metal object across its surface, or the manipulation of a bladder filled with iron filings or a magnetic fluid.
Learn More about Pivot. Microsoft Office Labs vision 2019 (montage + video) [flv:officelabsmontage.flv 600 400] When Microsoft decides to imagine the future, it never fails to impress.
Not only do you have some of the smartest people envisioning what’s possible, but they also invest so much into communicating these ideas through sights and sounds which the production value can be compared to most blockbuster sci-fi films.