Microsoft’s Productivity Future Vision 2011
Here is Microsoft's latest future vision video focusing on productivity. Not quite as groundbreaking as the original installment but there's still a lot of interesting ideas in here.
The key theme in the video is connectivity and the communication between various devices. Unfortunately with a few of the examples the design is aesthetically pleasing but a little confusing and a bit counter-intuitive for the sake of looking sexy. And it was only after re-watching it that I realised many of the interfaces were voice activated.
However in saying that, there are a few gems in there and lots of ideas that will no doubt inspire innovation. The two ideas I loved the most is the fridge that displays its contents and infographics about stock levels without needing to open the door, and the other is the donation sequence, where the Asian man's card/phone device is able to communicate with an ad without needing to download an app first. This may sound trivial but it would be amazing if your personal device is able to communicate with any other medium seamlessly regardless of brands or service providers. Then your device would act almost like a remote control to any screen or interface.
The other parts I liked was the car window that displayed landmark information through augmented reality and the keyboard that doubled as an interactive display.
Definitely worth checking out.