Tech.Ed Number 001
I was lucky enough to attend/work at Microsoft's Tech.Ed conference last week. As a Tech.Ed "virgin" I was blown away by the plethora of technology and knowledge being shared with the 2500 delegates at the event.
The keynote set the tone for the rest of the conference discussing how centuries of human habit and behaviour will influence the success of tomorrow's technology.
August de los Reyes, Principal designer at Microsoft gave a compelling speech that briefly dabbled in design theory and touched on his experience designing the Windows Key - a six month task! He spoke of a trend towards Natural User Interfaces making technology more intuitive and instinctive.
The keynote, complete with Surface demonstration, pointed to a world where we're no longer bound by a keyboard and mouse, but interact with a device in a way that seems natural, in tune with human habits and biomechanics.
The Surface is a large coffee-table-like device that responds to natural hand gestures and interacts with objects. During the demonstration Microsoft's Nigel Parker placed a rugby ball on the Surface, which was recognised by the device and Sky TV videos of the All Blacks were retrieved as a result. These videos could then be edited and manipulated using everyday hand gestures.
The Natural User Interfaces of the future (in theory) will allow children and even older people to use a device with minimal instruction. August described children as Digital Natives and spoke of how kids would often check their fingers for paint after fingerpainting on the Surface. Exciting stuff for someone who recently had to give a family demo on how to download images from a digital camera.
The idea that the trusty keyboard and mouse, and the basic point and pinch multi-touch will be replaced by a user interface that's more in sync with human behaviour is exciting. Add voice recognition software, flashy translucent screens, as well as Tom Cruise and we'll be living the Minority Report dream.
There were other ancient rituals and behaviours on display at Tech.Ed and being a first-timer, I was keen to explore these to get the full conference experience.
At the heart of New Zealand's biggest technology conference was the event known as Tech Fest. Delegates enjoyed a combination of music, food and beverage in an ancient socialising ritual similar to those that humans have indulged in for many millennia.
New Zealand's tech elite were treated to performances by Midnight Youth and Gin Wigmore while comedian Steve Wrigley made tech jokes to the tech audience.
The Mexican themed Tech Fiesta also included plenty of activities such as horse-shoe tossing and mechanical bull riding - the latter giving many males the opportunity to show-off to the few females present. But it was also good to see that female attendance is on the rise, up three percent on last year to 10 percent.
As a male in the PR industry, the gender balance was a complete reversal of what I am accustomed to. But it is great to see that more women are getting into technology and I overheard many of the delegates praising Microsoft for their equal opportunity employment policy.
With one Tech.Ed under my belt, I'm now hooked! It was three days of learning, networking, eating and trying to crack the leader board on the Intergen driving simulator. Oh yeah, I also did a bit of PR-related work as well.
Bring on Tech.Ed 2011!