Touch: Do They Think It's All Over? (Printed Electronics Europe 2013)

• It's a solved problem isn't it? The ubiquity of phones, tablets with capacitive sensing technologies would almost suggest so...

• However, the increasing importance of new hardware in fundamental User Interface Software & Technology research might suggest otherwise...

• Flying overview of Touch and Beyond Touch research within Microsoft Research.

• Summary and Further Thoughts on Future Directions on Touch and Beyond Touch.

Alex is a Senior (Research) Hardware Engineer at Microsoft Research, Cambridge. He works in the Sensors & Devices hardware group where he spends his days helping to create new technologies in the area of Embedded Devices and Human Computer Interaction - including novel multi-touch technologies, novel sensing and depth camera technologies, and novel 3D displays. Recent projects which have been made public and reported extensively by various media include projects such as Digits, Shake'n'Sense, Vermeer, Multi-touch Mice, SecondLight, SideSight, ThinSight and SenseCam. At Microsoft Research he is part of a fantastic group of inventive and creative minds hoping to bring rich, new, and playful user experiences to the world of human computer interaction - looking 5 or even 10 years ahead.

 

Alex started out spending 10 years at the University of Manchester doing academic research into Optical Computing, Holographic Interconnects, Parallel 3D Computer Graphics, Scientific Visualisation & Virtual Reality systems. Another 10 years at Scientific Generics (Sagentia) followed - involving commercial technology & business consultancy such as helping to evaluate, design and implement a variety of novel new technologies for a number of venture capital firms, start-ups and established industry players looking to harness combined technology and business led innovation. He then became Technical Director at Polatis, Inc. (an all-optical photonic switch start-up based in Cambridge (UK & Massachusetts)) where - as part of the founding team - he led the technical development of a novel ultra-low-insertion-loss piezo-driven OXC product line.

 

Alex is a proven creative innovator and implementor who has contributed to a wide variety of different technologies and projects and is often invited to identify and contribute new ideas and expertise to strategically important brainstorms and projects. He is often thought of as an out-of-the box yet practical thinker. He has a large number of patents (both issued and pending).

Microsoft is simplifying IoT so every business can digitally transform through IoT solutions that are more accessible and easier to implement. Microsoft has the most comprehensive IoT portfolio with a wide range of IoT offerings to meet organizations where they are on their IoT journey, including everything businesses need to get started — ranging from operating systems for their devices, cloud services to control them, advanced analytics to gain insights, and business applications to enable intelligent action.