Posts Selected From the Category "Microsft Research"

The 3 Methodologies of Enterprise Architecture

Posted by Samir Saleem on May 30, 2012 in Enterprise, Microsft Research, Microsoft / No Comments

It is interesting to watch the debates online between the different schools of thought of Enterprise Architecture. The discussion was started by James Lapalme, who published a paper on "three schools of thought" which is in pre-print for the IEEE’s IT Professional journal. Mostly the online discussion focused around the role of the newest domain of Enterprise Architecture… the domain of Business Architecture. Depending on how Business Architecture is understood, the role of EA can be dramatically different.

Some say that EA is about improving IT. In the diagram below, this is “Enterprise IT Architecting.” In the online groups, we call this EITA. In this model, EA is a mechanism for designing IT services and creating IT systems that address enterprise needs. It’s just a bare step above Enterprise Application Architecture by operating outside the constraints of funded projects, but the impact occurs in IT. For this first group, Business Architecture is just another name for Business Analysis.
Others say EA is about aligning the business with all of its capabilities, including IT. For these folks, Business Architecture exists, but it’s primary impact is internal. Business Architects insure that the right initiatives are created in order to achieve business strategy. In the diagram below, this is labeled “Enterprise Integrating.” In this school of thought, Business Architecture doesn’t really impact business strategy. Business Architecture uses capability analysis to understand the impacts of strategy on the business processes and systems, and helps to frame the initiatives that should be created. Only after the initiatives are started would a business analyst even get involved. In this model, EA provides all the benefits of the first group, AND insures that investments are made in the right place.
A third group say that EA is about Enterprise Ecological Adaptation. For these folks, Business Architects help analyze the movements of the market, and work closely with business leaders to develop strategies based on the capabilities and positioning of the company that are likely to generate new revenue, improve market position, improve customer loyalty, and reduce costs. EA and Business Architecture help the business adapt to the ecosystem in which it exists. In this model, EA provides all the benefits of the first two groups, AND insures that the business responds to the market conditions in a logical manner. For some in this camp, Business Architects are not even part of EA.

Depending on the company your work in, there’s a case to be made for each. Personally, I prefer to think of EA as alignment at the minimum, and strategic effectiveness as an ideal state. I created the following image to illustrate these distinctions. For further reference, please read James Lapalme’s paper in the IEEE IT Professional journal.

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STOP Everything And Checkout Microsoft’s SemanticMap Augmented Reality Mapping Device [Viral Video]

Posted by Samir Saleem on April 7, 2012 in Augmented Reality, Microsft Research, Microsoft / No Comments

SemanticMap, The Next Step In Public Information and Navigation On The Go is is a Digital signage prototype featuring proximity detection, face recognition and gesture interaction technologies developed in Microsoft Research Asia. The system provides the right amount and detail of map-related information according to the user’s distance from the display.

As people glance at such displays from afar, they see the most significant information in large, bold type. As they approach the display for more information, we dynamically decrease type sizes and increase the detail level of both map layouts and their information overlays. These overlays are dynamic, updating in real-time according to the schedule of events and notices, as well as potentially personalized, connecting to the person’s calendar of meetings and appointments. Overall, the goal of Semantic Map is to help people find their way around both physical and information spaces, by exploiting natural information-seeking behaviors and body movements.

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Microsoft Showcases See Through 3D Desktop [Viral Videos]

Posted by Samir Saleem on March 25, 2012 in Microsft Research, Microsoft, Viral Videos / No Comments

Microsoft Intern Jinha Lee along with his mentor ,Cati Boulanger, made something remarkable in Autumn last year as an internship project at Microsoft Applied Sciences Group. done during Jun-Sep, 2011.

Motivation

Computer scientist Ivan Sutherland once called a computer display “a looking glass into a mathematical wonderland.” and Jinha Lee had always aspired to walk in this wonderland to interact with those abstract beings..

Despite advances in 3D sensing and display technologies, our interactions with computer desktops have remained stagnant from the form that evolved under 2D I/O modalities. See Through 3D desktop is a 3D spatial operating environment that allows the user to directly interact with his or her virtual desktop. The user can reach into the projected 3D output space with his/her hands to directly manipulate the windows.

Users can casually open up the See-Through 3D Desktop and Type on the keyboard or use a trackpad as in traditional 2D operating environment. Windows or files are perceived to be placed in a 3D space between a screen and the input plane. The user can lift up his hands to reach the displayed windows and arrange them in this 3D space.

A unique combination of a transparent display and 3D gesture detection algorithm collocates input space and 3D rendering without tethering or encumbering users with wearable devices. See-through 3D desktop is a term for the entire ensemble of necessary software hardware and design technological components for realizing this volumetric operating environment.

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Microsoft Launches So.cl–The Social Network for Students [Video]

Posted by Samir Saleem on December 21, 2011 in Microsft Research, Microsoft, Microsoft So.cl, So.cl Studenr Social Network, So.cl the Education Social Network / No Comments

So.cl is a research experiment for students focused on combining web browsing, search, and social networking for the purposes of learning.

The web, search, and social networking are changing the way students collaborate. To bring these elements together, Microsoft Research’s FUSE Labs is launching a social network designed to give students the ability to network with peers, share useful information quickly, and build their own pages that collect information from both inside and outside the classroom—in a sense, transforming the web and social networks into the new classroom.

So.cl has been designed for students studying social media to extend their educational experience and rethink how they learn and communicate. They can build posts with many elements—photos, video, text, and more—and share them with colleagues. They also can find students with similar interests and build communities around specific educational goals. So.cl might even give students the ability to create their own social tool, customized for their own community.

“What we’ve seen in the last year or two is innovation in the way schools are teaching and learning from students, creating new programs to study how information spreads, motivates learning, and creates expertise,” Cheng says. “A hugely popular freshman course in some schools is Social Media 101, which often leads to a project-based innovation course where students build and deploy their ideas.

“These are not just computer-science students, but also business, design, or humanities students. They don’t necessarily write code, but they can be encouraged to reimagine how social software and the way people are sharing and exchanging information shapes the world. We are experimenting with So.cl to use our own tools to partner with more students and learn from students with a broad base of expertise.”

So.cl’s user interface: clean, open, and flexible.

Using So.cl will come naturally to anyone who uses the web. It has a clean, open look and lets users follow people, set up feeds, search, and more. So.cl users can follow specific people or view the entire feed stream. Searches can be webwide, confined to news feeds or specific people, or limited to only images or video.

“If you’ve ever used a social network, it’s a comfortable experience,” Cheng says. “We expect people to continue using their favorite social network and search tools, and we hope that, by experimenting with how search and social networking can be combined, more people experiment with tools we already take for granted.”

So what do you think of this initiative by Microsoft?
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Microsoft Research demos Code Space–Awesome, Interactive Meetings using Kinect Technology [Video+Pictures]

Posted by Samir Saleem on November 16, 2011 in CodeSpace Pictures, CodeSpace Video, Microsft Research, Microsoft, Microsoft CodeSpace Review / No Comments

Microsoft research recently demoed Code Space, yes the guys who brought you Kinect are trying to make meetings more awesome and more cooler by introducing a system a system that contributes touch + air gesture hybrid interactions to support co-located, small group developer meetings by democratizing access, control, and sharing of information across multiple personal devices and public displays.

The system uses a combination of a shared multi-touch screen, mobile touch devices, and Microsoft Kinect sensors. Rest said lest see code Space in action

You can read the paper on code space here.

Such visual, interactive can change the world how we meet and do things even at our homes.

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