Posted by Rob Knies It’s not often that people get a chance to peek into the future, but that will be the case May 21 in Washington, D.C., when Microsoft Research hosts its biennial D.C. TechFair. During an afternoon open house held at the Microsoft Innovation & Policy Center in downtown...

Posted by Rob Knies Many people talk to their plants. But what if those plants were able to talk back? That’s the premise behind Botanicalls , a project to enable communications between plants and people. A sensor network provides the flora the ability to call and text people to request assistance...

Posted by Elizabeth Grossman, Technology Policy Group, Microsoft Many of the amazing capabilities of technology today are made possible by research done years ago, and innovations and impact sometimes result from unexpected combinations and outcomes at unexpected times. One example is Kinect for...

Posted by Eric Horvitz and Yi-Min Wang, managing co-directors of Microsoft Research Redmond As we look back on the year at Microsoft Research Redmond , a flood of creative efforts and achievements come to mind. These include mission-focused pursuits aimed at solving urgent challenges, the pursuit...