Microsoft Envisioning Center
Experience tomorrow today.
The Envisioning Center is a facility that Microsoft uses to explore how technology will transform the way we live, work and play in the future. Daily tours are given through the Envisioning Center to internal teams as well as business partners and even celebs and politicians from time to time.
This space acts as a living prototype for Microsoft and we were given the freedom to explore a wide variety of concepts, which led to some incredibly interesting work. We created digital and physical experiences that were embodied on a wide variety of devices and input types. This was a dream job.
Team Action Space.
We were constantly experimenting with new form factors on the Envisioning Team. In this case, we custom-built a large-scale touch wall to explore what new scenarios a screen like this would unlock. Designing at this scale was a serious challenge and we were forced to completely re-think many traditional approaches to interaction and visual design. We developed a Kinect sensor array that was mounted in the ceiling which gave us the ability to use proximity as a way to smartly scale information. This technique worked extremely well allowing the user’s distance to direct the amount and type of information that was displayed.
Personal Workspace.
This prototype was created to explore opportunities for improving the experience a person has while engaged in heads-down focused work. The workspace we created was a hyper-contextual, free thinkspace. This meant the workspace allowed a truly organic and natural way of work to unfold by ensuring the system never got in the way of the user’s flow. The system was always aware of the user’s context and ensured the right information surfaced at the right time.
Home Life.
This prototype was created to explore opportunities for improving the experience a person has while engaged in heads-down focused work. The workspace we created was a hyper-contextual, free thinkspace. This meant the workspace allowed a truly organic and natural way of work to unfold by ensuring the system never got in the way of the user’s flow. The system was always aware of the user’s context and ensured the right information surfaced at the right time.
