Want to Read E-Mail with Your Feet? Microsoft is working on it
From: Seattle Post-Intelligencer - 03/01/2006
By: Todd Bishop

Microsoft Research's annual TechFest gets underway Wednesday at the company's
campus in Redmond, WA, when scientists in the research unit will present
prototypes to product teams during the internal event. Microsoft Research,
which has approximately 700 people in the unit, has researchers working on
very technical computer initiatives involving machine learning and artificial
intelligence, but many are also focusing on more mundane projects such as
using common surfaces as computer screens. During a news conference on
Tuesday, researchers showed a prototype software program that allows people
to view emails and digital photos by moving and stomping their feet on a
floor pad. Microsoft researcher Brian Meyers deleted spam, scrolled through
mail, opened messages and viewed them on a large screen, and used a
double-footed move to flag a message that would require a response when he
returned to the office. "It's just amazing to stomp your email out," says
A.J. Brush, another researcher considering the use of feet as a way to
interact with a PC. In addition to the StepMail program, the Step User
Interface prototypes included StepPhoto. The researchers involved in the Step
User Interface Project Group view the programs as supplemental tools that
could potentially provide some relief from repetitive stress conditions, and
not necessarily as replacements for the keyboard or mouse. 

Read the entire article at:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/261213_msftresearch01.html

Photo caption:
Brian Meyers, a Microsoft research developer, steps on colored squares to
delete e-mail from his mailbox during a demonstration in Redmond.

Links:
Brian Meyers
http://research.microsoft.com/~brianme/default.htm

A.J. Bernheim Brush
http://research.microsoft.com/~ajbrush/

Fun physical interfaces for everyday tasks
http://research.microsoft.com/vibe/projects/stepUI.aspx

Microsoft sees Dance Dance Revolution in e-mail
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9593_22-6043904.html

Stepping Through Your Inbox
http://www.wreg.com/Global/story.asp?S=4564889

