The power of innovation. The technology of the future. Accelerating European growth. The way ahead.

These are the kinds of subjects into which a group of 150 key European policymakers will delve on Nov. 9 during the third annual Microsoft Research Innovation Day, to be held in Brussels, Belgium.

The event, which, in part, celebrating Microsoft Research’s 15 years of turning ideas into reality, will feature a series of demos from Microsoft Research Cambridge and its fellow labs from around the world, showcasing Microsoft^® innovation.

Among the attendees for Innovation Day 2006 will be Janez Potočnik, European Commission Commissioner for Science and Research, and Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman. They will be joined by a host of government leaders and academic and industry stakeholders in getting a sneak preview of the technologies of tomorrow.

Microsoft researchers will demonstrate leading innovations that are being developed in partnership with European businesses and academia, spanning the areas of manufacturing, finance, retail, digital lifestyles, multimedia, and entertainment.

Jean-Philippe Courtois, president of Microsoft International, and Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman, huddle during the Microsoft Research Innovation Day, Nov. 9 in Brussels, Belgium.

“In the last 15 years,” Gates said, “Microsoft Research has tackled some of the biggest challenges in computing, developing innovative technologies that have benefited millions of people around the globe. I am proud of what Microsoft researchers have accomplished, and there is no doubt in my mind that Microsoft Research will continue to play a central role in defining the future of technology for many years to come.” 

Innovation Day is also an occasion for Microsoft Research Cambridge to showcase its role in cultivating research talent across Europe. Academic and scientific partners will participate in the day’s events to explain their collaborations with Microsoft Research and to demonstrate innovative technologies and results.

“Our priority at Microsoft Research Cambridge is technical excellence, using our collective knowledge of mathematics, computer science, computational science, and social science to create an outstanding European research centre,” said Andrew Herbert, managing director of the Cambridge lab. “Within this environment, we strive to challenge convention and push the boundaries of computer systems theory, technology, and applications. We are in the business of innovation, and through both the talent of our researchers and our links with leading academic institutions, governments, and industry partners across the region, we aim to create software technologies that improve the way the world works, plays, and relaxes.”

The day will feature keynote presentations from a selection of key European leaders, including Matti Vanhanen, prime minister of Finland and currently head of the Finnish presidency of the European Union; Charles Leadbeater, innovation adviser to Tony Blair, prime minister of the United Kingdom; and Nikolay Vassilev, Bulgaria’s minister of public administration. Jean-Philippe Courtois, president of Microsoft International, and Gates will address the audience, as well.

Also on the agenda is a round-table discussion, entitled The Way Ahead, during which researchers and academics will talk with representatives of the European Commission about important issues in research and development that can keep Europe innovative.

The findings and the outcomes of The Way Ahead symposium will lay the foundation for a larger conference scheduled for 2007.

Core topics for the discussion will include:

• How to link ‘frontier’ research and the exploitation of its results.

• The relationship of academia and the public sector with industry and the private sector.

• An examination of long-term vision and short-term goals.

• Global research and innovation versus European research and innovation.

The round-table discussion, moderated by Leadbeater, will feature a collection of academic and research notables from across Europe and beyond, joined by three key representatives from Microsoft: Tony Hey, corporate vice president for Technical Computing; John Lefor, director of the European Microsoft Innovation Center; and Herbert.

More than a dozen demos will be on display, on two floors, to enable attendees to see and feel the technology. The invited elite also will get an opportunity to interact with Microsoft Research personnel and Microsoft partners to learn about future technology and important trends that could impact policy and economic decisions.

Among the demos visitors to Innovation Day will be able to view:

• Bubble Board: Microsoft Research Cambridge researchers Richard Harper, Abigail Sellen, Richard Banks, and Gavin Smyth have devised a visual answering machine for the home. Designed to explore the idea of messaging a place, rather than a person, it is readable at a glance and enables family members to manage their messages through touch, thereby enhancing the communications experience by introducing sight and touch to an experience traditionally limited to voice and hearing.

  The researchers are attempting to overcome the awkwardness of using conventional home answering machines, which make it difficult to determine quickly who has called and for whom. Navigation through messages is cumbersome, as is saving and forwarding.

  What would happen if voice messages were made visible? The Bubble Board touch screen, using a metaphor of water bubbles to visualize speech, is designed to be attached to a kitchen wall, enabling friends and family to “call the kitchen” and leave messages for anyone—and everyone—in the household. Persons in the household can see who has called, when, and for whom.

  Bubbles representing new messages float to the top of the screen, then sink to the bottom as time passes. Each bubble includes an image of the person leaving the message, and users can reply or move messages by touching the screen. The technology also can be used as a family notice board.

• Attentional Topographies: A project from Danyel Fisher from Microsoft Research Redmond, the demo features a map that shows where people are looking using Microsoft’s online mapping tools. It is designed to answer the question: What places do people find important? The results the project generates can help travelers learn about a new place or assist small-business owners target advertisements to people who are looking nearby.

  Say a family is thinking of visiting Disneyland. Using Virtual Earth^™, family members can identify where the theme park is in relation to other attractions in the Los Angeles region and be better prepared to navigate to more desired destinations. Attentional topographies provide a visual representation of what users see on Windows Live^™ Local, with compelling graphics providing enhanced access to the regions in which users are interested.

  
  Danyel Fisher of Microsoft Research Redmond demonstrates his Attentional Topographies project.

  Fisher is working on future versions that will show locations that recently have gained popularity, list nearby hot spots in textual form, and link those hot spots to news stories, club openings, and other information.

• Grab and Share: Tim Regan, Harper, and Banks of Microsoft Research Cambridge have devised a mobile-TV project enabling persons watching television at home to download short segments of TV shows—say, two minutes’ worth—to their mobile phones for exchange with friends—within seconds of the segments’ being broadcast.

  The project devises a network procedure for effective downloads, the design of an interaction experience—akin to using an Electronic Programme Guide on a device—enabling a user to select the content, and a means of sharing the content over General Packet Radio Service connections. The result could provide a new option for communication and the improvement of social interaction and cohesion, in addition to contributing to innovation, discussion, and research in the broadcast industry.

These and other demos to be delivered during Innovation Day are at a research stage, and their application to commercial or consumer products have yet to be determined. But the success of the past two Innovation Day events in Brussels has been replicated in Germany, Latvia, and Romania, underscoring the value the experience is delivering to an audience of political elites learning how innovation is accelerating growth in Europe.