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Microsoft provids funding for research of Pen-Centric Computing at Brown University March 20, 2006 [Pocket PC] | By Edward J. R. During press conference of Microsoft, where worldwide launch of Microsoft Origami took place, we asked Microsoft what is with "multi-touch user interface support" and they said they don't support it. Instead of releasing support for multi-touch UI for Tablet PC and Windows Mobile, Microsoft is squandering money on university research programs... and in meantime Apple is readying tablet Mac with multi-touch UI... Information from Microsoft follows. * * * * * Brown University, Microsoft Research Open Research Center on Pen-Centric Computing Alliance to explore pen-based computing. At a joint press conference later today, Brown University and Microsoft Research will unveil plans for the Microsoft Center for Research on Pen-Centric Computing, which will promote and fund research aimed at improving pen-based operation of Tablet PCs, Pocket PCs, Palm Pilot personal digital assistants, electronic whiteboards and conventional desktop computers. The center is the first academic research program in the nation dedicated to pen-centric computing innovation. Through the three-year joint research and education alliance, Microsoft Research and Brown University will explore and develop new ways to use pen-like styluses to operate computing devices. Under the alliance, Microsoft Research will invest $1.2 million (U.S.) over the next three years. “Pen-based computing has the potential to alter the way students and teachers interact,” said Rick Rashid, senior vice president of Research at Microsoft Corp. “And together with Brown University, we will create new ways of combining the pen and the computer to positively affect not only the educational process, but our working methods and our culture.” With the goal of driving innovations that will serve the academic community as a whole, researchers at Brown will investigate new ways for computers to recognize and interpret handwritten input. Faculty, students and research staff will also create and test new software that recognizes notations in mathematics, chemistry, art and design, and other fields that have well-developed notational styles. The software would allow the data to be stored as digital ink and shared as handwriting, sketches or text. Programs will also allow for exciting, instantaneous data transformations — for example, turning the symbolic notation of a sketched molecule into a 3-D model of that molecule that the user can view from any vantage point. Andries van Dam, Brown’s vice president for research and a founding member and first chair of the department of computer science, will serve as director of the new center. “In some cases, the pen is mightier than the keyboard,” van Dam said. “Chemists and composers, archeologists and artists all need pen and paper to create and communicate. We want to help them do their work digitally — in a way that is as easy and natural as drawing on paper.” Brown has been an early pioneer in pen-based computing. For more than a decade, Brown researchers have designed and tested gesture-recognition software, including prototype applications that recognize music, mathematics and chemistry notations. Microsoft has provided partial funding for these initial efforts. Microsoft understands that academia is at the heart of technological innovation and seeks to catalyze innovation in research and curricula in leading academic institutions worldwide. Today’s announcement reflects Microsoft’s ongoing commitment to partnering with academia in developing new and advanced technologies. The center joins three other institutes formed in collaboration with Microsoft Research. Original source of the story is here.  Post your comment (free registration is required to post, but if you register you can edit your posts later) [ 4 Comments ]
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