Although it’s been out for a while, we haven’t seen any this side of the Atlantic until quite recently, so it was quite a privilege to be able to play with a Microsoft Surface at the Future of Web Apps conference held in London a couple of weeks ago.
While I was having a play, my mind was buzzing with possibilities for how it could be used in teaching in learning. Obviously it would have immediate appeal to spatial learners and those who want to ’show’ what they know or have learned. I could also imagine a small number of students brainstorming together, perhaps using some mind-mapping software and working on individual elements of an issue in ‘their part’ of the display/screen.
There are already some great software and applications written for it (check out the photos on microbiology in the stream above and how it renders 3-D imaging) and the list will only grow as it becomes more mainstream. What’s really important, though, is the notion that it can receive multiple instructions simultaneously through touch - and that makes it immediately appealing for an educational context; even if the price tag doesn’t at US$15,000.
Towards the end of last month, I accompanied representatives from the Aga Khan Academies group on a visit to Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Seattle. Our purpose - to explore possibilities for collaboration and knowledge exchange on the development of an e-learning strategy for the academies’ network.
We had a very productive day, and it was rounded off by a tour of Microsoft’s Home of the Future - a prototype of what our living spaces might look like 10 years from now. Housed in their executive briefing centre, it was conceived using the notions of discoverability, place and participation. From their website:
Place. A series of demonstrations showcase how software, services and devices can combine to deliver timely, relevant information to people based on their location, whether inside the home or nearby. One example is display technology shown in the neighborhood bus stop that provides continuous updates of route and arrival information, and is used to demonstrate how location services can automatically notify people about services near them or even when someone they know arrives at the bus stop.
Participation. Reflecting consumers’ widespread desire to more directly shape their sources of information and entertainment — through blogs, social networking Web sites, wikis and the like — the Microsoft Home features several emerging technologies designed to extend people’s self-expression. For instance, a teenager’s bedroom in the facility portrays what it would be like to have addressable wallpaper that employs organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology to display a variety of content such as artwork, video clips and Web pages.
Discovery. Technology systems throughout the Microsoft Home demonstrate innovative ways of prioritizing the huge volumes of information, media and content choices to which consumers will have access in the future. These systems can filter through myriad content sources — from thousands of TV channels, news reports, e-mail messages and electronic documents to music files, on-demand videos and blog entries — to intelligently bring people the content they care about most and at the time when they’re in the mood to enjoy it.
I enjoyed the tour, but what struck me most was the ubiquitous nature of the technology and how possibly intrusive it might become. Voice recognition was used throughout (the main computer was called Grace) and it reminded me very much of Arthur C Clarke’s 2001 - A Space Odyssey.
I was intrigued, though, by the notion of watching web content virtually with a friend and having conversations in real-time via VOIP - the move towards shared reality continues unabated.
I was not allowed to take any photos or video footage, so the next best thing? I had a quick look on YouTube, once I got home, and found this:
It doesn’t cover everything, but gives you an idea of what it was like.
