What will our work environment look like in the future? What technology will be available to facilitate communication and collaboration? Will there still be a desk? What about a keyboard and mouse? Hey, will we still have an office? Will it be a virtual me (or is that a Mii?) at work? This blog entry taps into some interesting videos and websites that attempt to see into the future and predict how our 9-5 lives could evolve. One fast-moving field that is sure to shape this vision is Smart Surfaces. This is where Microsoft have been placing their bets lately. Check out the Surface, a table that lets you interact and manipulate documents, videos, and images simply by touch. It also recognizes objects placed on the table and pulls up information about them. Microsoft Office Labs Vision is a great video to get us started on this journey. The year is 2019. I wonder how Apple fit into the equation (Hello iPad)? Microsoft have also created a video about how our Healthcare could be managed in the future. The Virtual Physician and use of smart surfaces (in the office) can't be that far off. Use of augmented reality and tablets are commonplace. I like the clever use of plain wall surfaces to display graphical dashboard-like information and pull up images and photos. Instant video communication coupled with rich data sources seems to be a theme. One word sums up this vision TOUCH. ABC explore how some companies are using Virtual Worlds for their office space and conducting remote meetings and events using webcams and document-sharing tools. Employees can be anywhere in the world and never even see a physical office or building. Not sure Second Life will be around in ten years - but the idea is intriguing. What can we learn from the University of Essex iLabs which are intelligent spaces designed to encourage creative thinking and problem solving. The BBC discuss the Diary Wall and that in the future walls could become screens showing diaries, documents or video conferences. Maybe we could take a few pointers from the likes of CISCO and Google. Link at CNN. You need to travel to NY to get a glimpse of IBM's BlueSpace, their next-generation workspace. Of course, no office user experience could ever be complete without the advice and wisdom of Jakob Nielsen. He is considered a foremost expert on usability. Lets hope this consideration is not forgotten in our epic search for the workspace of the future. At the end of the day, thats what its all about.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Work in the Future
What will our work environment look like in the future? What technology will be available to facilitate communication and collaboration? Will there still be a desk? What about a keyboard and mouse? Hey, will we still have an office? Will it be a virtual me (or is that a Mii?) at work? This blog entry taps into some interesting videos and websites that attempt to see into the future and predict how our 9-5 lives could evolve. One fast-moving field that is sure to shape this vision is Smart Surfaces. This is where Microsoft have been placing their bets lately. Check out the Surface, a table that lets you interact and manipulate documents, videos, and images simply by touch. It also recognizes objects placed on the table and pulls up information about them. Microsoft Office Labs Vision is a great video to get us started on this journey. The year is 2019. I wonder how Apple fit into the equation (Hello iPad)? Microsoft have also created a video about how our Healthcare could be managed in the future. The Virtual Physician and use of smart surfaces (in the office) can't be that far off. Use of augmented reality and tablets are commonplace. I like the clever use of plain wall surfaces to display graphical dashboard-like information and pull up images and photos. Instant video communication coupled with rich data sources seems to be a theme. One word sums up this vision TOUCH. ABC explore how some companies are using Virtual Worlds for their office space and conducting remote meetings and events using webcams and document-sharing tools. Employees can be anywhere in the world and never even see a physical office or building. Not sure Second Life will be around in ten years - but the idea is intriguing. What can we learn from the University of Essex iLabs which are intelligent spaces designed to encourage creative thinking and problem solving. The BBC discuss the Diary Wall and that in the future walls could become screens showing diaries, documents or video conferences. Maybe we could take a few pointers from the likes of CISCO and Google. Link at CNN. You need to travel to NY to get a glimpse of IBM's BlueSpace, their next-generation workspace. Of course, no office user experience could ever be complete without the advice and wisdom of Jakob Nielsen. He is considered a foremost expert on usability. Lets hope this consideration is not forgotten in our epic search for the workspace of the future. At the end of the day, thats what its all about.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Nice
Post a Comment