Microsoft Adds "Augmented Reality" to Bing Maps

At the TED conference this week, Microsoft announced a new, AR mapping feature.

The full article is here.

A new interface for next generation computing.

An interface and the interaction between human and machine have become big issues since the release of the iPhone, a mobile phone that has had a huge impact in the market. I believe that one of the reasons that the iPhone has been enjoying huge success is its new interface. This new interface is called "touch," or "haptic," and it was not very common before. Before the introduction of the iPhone, inputting commands through a touch interface was only possible on a simple bank machine. High-tech touch interfaces were only something we saw in movies like "The Minority Report." But now the iPhone has made such interfaces quite common in hand-held devices.
Since the implementation of next generation computing (also known as the ubiquitous environment or pervasive computing), we have seen that two issues have become very hot topics; namely new interfaces and the interaction between human and machines.
Here is an interesting video clip that shows a new interface and a new way of interacting between human and machine.
David Merrill from MIT presents a technology called Siftables at the TED conference.

Pattie Maes demos the Sixth Sense

This demo, from Pattie Maes' lab at MIT (and spearheaded by her student Pranav Mistry), was the buzz of TED2009. Sixth Sense is a wearable device with a projection screen that paves the way for profound, data-rich interaction with our environment. Imagine Minority Report and then some. (Recorded in February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 08:42.) (From TED website : http://www.ted.com/)