By Michael Kanellos, 30 September 2002 08:50
NEWS Microsoft has opened a laboratory where customers can test prototypes still in the making to improve ways in which they will interact with the office environment. The Center For Information Work in the US will let technicians and other researchers explore ways to improve life at the office. The centre will match people with technological prototypes that are still years away from becoming products in order see what works. For example, the company is currently tinkering with RingCam, a video camera that captures a 360-degree view of a room. Potential applications include a videoconferencing situation where several people seated around a table need to be featured on the screen, a Microsoft representative said. Another experimental prototype is BroadBench, a giant, semicircular LCD display that features three independent viewing regions. By using all three screens, users can read email, annotate documents and access web pages simultaneously. Researchers will try to determine whether productivity and problem solving change in multi-monitor environments. While both of these projects remain in the experimental stage, Microsoft is also showing off its Tablet PC operating system at the centre. Tablet PC lets computer users control their machines with a stylus instead of a mouse and keyboard. Approximately 1,000 customers will visit the centre annually, according to Microsoft. Michael Kanellos writes for News.com
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