Microsoft Research Lab – Redmond
News & features
In the news | IT World
Microsoft turns jazz hands into gesture commands using sound waves
Microsoft Research and the University of Washington develop a new gesture-sensing system that uses sound alone.
A Better Way to Store Data
By Douglas Gantenbein, Senior Writer, Microsoft News Center These days, nearly everyone stores things in the “cloud”—business-critical documents, personal photos, e-mail accounts … everything. Microsoft introduced Windows Azure Storage in 2008. Since then, that cloud offering has gained widespread use,…
In the news | American Scientist
Alice and Bob in Cipherspace
Alice and Bob, fondly known as the first couple of cryptography, are really more interested in computational suitcases than physical ones. Suppose Alice gives Bob a securely encrypted computer file and asks him to sum a list of numbers she…
In the news | CNN
Control your laptop with a wave of your hand
Microsoft researchers have developed software that allows a user to control their PC with a wave of the hand.
In the news | ProPublica
Does Cybercrime Really Cost $1 Trillion?
As the Senate considers a bill to strengthen the nation’s cybersecurity, some questionable numbers keep creeping into the discussion.
In the news | The Economist
Why internet scams seem so obvious
In faulty English, the e-mail describes vast riches in search of an owner. Your new pen pal just needs your bank account to park the moneyâand will pay richly for the favour.
In the Mood for Social Media
By Janie Chang, Writer, Microsoft Research When an oil spill happens, are we annoyed, angry, or furious? When the jobless rate drops, are we relieved, happy, or ecstatic? If these topics are being discussed on Twitter, a new study from…
In the news | The Economist
The roar of the crowd
Crowdsourcing is transforming the science of psychology.
In the news | Popular Mechanics
Next Up in Kinect-Style Motion Sensing: Ultrasound?
Microsoft researchers have been developing a system called SoundWave that emits pulses in ultrasound ranges and detects Doppler-based changes to track human movements. Its creators hope their accidental discovery could improve gesture-based controls.