Interface-less Technology

Microsoft’s new Xbox frill, Kinect, uses detailed sensing technology that could enable a host of practical applications from improved home security systems to hands-free medical files. “‘Looking forward into the future, I expect to see it in other types of applications,’ says Jamie Shotton of Microsoft Research UK in Cambridge. ‘We’re starting to think hard about that now.’

While games provided the initial impetus for Kinect, Shotton is now interested in exploring other practical applications, such as hands-free access to patient files for surgeons, smoother presentation software, and intelligent monitoring systems.”