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Most recent articles relating to Microsoft;

An inspiring enterprise

The International Institute for Product and Service Innovation (IIPSI) is the latest addition to the Warwick University campus in the UK. Pure AV won an OJEU tender to supply the latest collaboration and presentation technology and Chris Fitzsimmons went along to take a look at the results.FULL STORY...

Microsoft Kinect and projector take content out of the screen

Microsoft Research presented its IllumiRoom immersive display system at the CHI 2013 conference in Paris, April 27 to May 2. InAVate first reported on IllumiRoom, which uses Kinect and a projector to map a room and extend visuals outside a display, in January. Now, Microsoft has fleshed out details on the concepts and demonstrated how it can be used for gaming and TV applications as well as altering a room’s appearance.FULL STORY...

Microsoft to develop "body-double" telepresence solution

Microsoft is pushing telepresence development with a project aimed at creating a “body-double” or “proxy” in a meeting. The project was revealed on Microsoft News, a site dedicated to reporting on developments from the technology giant. Job listings, recently published by Microsoft, show the company wants to productise ideas and code from Microsoft Research including a host of communication products.FULL STORY...

Selfridges uses Kinect to attract attention

Selfridges department store in London is well known for its innovative window displays to attract interest and lure customers in off the street. Over the summer of 2012, the store commissioned 8 interactive window displays from Dutch design and creative agency Staat, who use Microsoft’s Kinect sensor in a variety of ways to create some interesting pieces focused on a range of Nike sports wear. Check out the video after break.FULL STORY...

Smart Room System unveiled for Microsoft Lync

The Smart Room System for Microsoft Lync has been released which simplifies the collaboration experience for both virtual and face-to-face participants and provides online collaboration through sharing of real-time video, voice and data.FULL STORY...

Microsoft showcases innovations at Techfest

Microsoft’s Techfest conference is happening this week, providing the company with an opportunity to present its view of the future and showcase some of the innovations that its researchers have come up with. Each year, Microsoft Research scientists from across the globe gather to display and discuss their latest projects.FULL STORY...

Crestron takes Microsoft Lync to the conference room

Crestron and Microsoft have announced the release of Crestron RL, a video-enabled collaboration tool for the meeting room.FULL STORY...

Display technologies on show at ISE 2013

Big names back solid-state projection technologies with launches at 2013 show.FULL STORY...

Report from Wainhouse UC&C summit

Video streaming is increasingly becoming an important part of unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) strategies as end users deploy solutions for training, employee engagement and marketing purposes, according to a host of speakers at this year's UC&C Summit.FULL STORY...

AV vendors get onboard with Microsoft Lync

This week has seen Microsoft hosting a three day conference dedicated to its Lync enterprise communications platform. One of the major developments announced at the conference has been the company's plan to enable Lync users to call Skype users in what it’s calling B2X communications. Also making announcements around the platform are several major AV hardware players.FULL STORY...

Microsoft documentary focuses on user experience

Not so much a news story this week as a video that anyone involved in user experience should watch. Frankly, if you are involved in professional AV then you are involved in user experience, and therefore you should watch this clip. It’s 20 minutes of your life well spent considering it contains thoughts from design experts from Twitter, Nokia, Microsoft and Frog....FULL STORY...

Microsoft blurs lines between screens and walls with IllumiRoom

Microsoft Research plans to blur the boundaries between on-screen content and a viewer's local environment using a Kinect unit and a projector. The concept system, called IllumiRoom, is designed for gaming applications and is the first confirmation that the company is developing a patent application that InAVate uncovered in September last year.FULL STORY...

Skype targets SMEs with dedicated business platform

Skype is leveraging its enormous customer base and ready-made network to target small businesses with 'Skype in the workplace' (SITW).FULL STORY...

2012 ACM UIST programme takes in the best of interface innovation

This week has seen the 25^th ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology take place in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the USA. Every year ACM UIST brings together some of the brightest ideas in interface innovation from around the world.FULL STORY...

Microsoft patent reveals whole-room immersion ambitions

A recent Microsoft patent has revealed its ambitions to bring the gaming environment out of the TV and onto the walls of your living room. Patently Apple, which analyses the patent applications of Apple and other technology competitors found the filing from August and has published a detailed overview of the document.FULL STORY...

Microsoft Kinect puts shoppers inside virtual Nissan

Nissan is using flat screens and Microsoft's Kinect for Windows technology to allow its customers to interactively explore a vehicle before it hits showrooms across the US. The automotive manufacturer has harnessed the power in Kinect's Natural User Interface (NUI), to enable shoppers to hop into a virtual 2013 Pathfinder and explore the SUV using motion and natural human gestures.FULL STORY...

Microsoft wants you to animate everyday objects with Kinect

KinÊtre is a new technology demonstration presented by Microsoft Research at SIGGRAPH 2012. Using a kinect sensor a user can first scan any object and then cause it to animate by moving their own body. Rather spookily called "possession", this process realistically deforms the scanned object in response to changes in the possessors posture or movement. FULL STORY...

EnableTalk wins Microsoft prize for sign language interpretation software

A team of students from the Ukraine has won the top prize at the 2012 Microsoft Imagine Cup for its sensory glove system called EnableTalk. The system detects the hand movements of sign language and transmits that information to a mobile telephone app, which then interprets the movements and outputs digitised speech, translating the signs for those who don’t know sign language.FULL STORY...

Microsoft to acquire Perceptive Pixel

Perceptive Pixel's large-scale, multi-touch hardware and software technology will unlock new collaboration and productivity scenarios for Microsoft according to a press release.FULL STORY...

Collaboration solutions for demanding situations

Fresh from implementing an integrated collaborative solution for AVIVA, Ismayeel Syed is spreading the word, and his ideas, about truly connected workplaces and finding receptive listeners across the globe. Anna Mitchell reports.FULL STORY...