14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is gearing up to explore the future of social experiences, and in this regard the company introduced a new research lab focused on social computing. The Microsoft Future Social Experiences (FUSE) Labs will be led by Lili Cheng in her new role as general manager. Cheng was previously the director of the Creative Systems Group (CSG) within Microsoft Research. The new social computing effort, which will bring together approximately 80 researchers, is a new pet project of Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s chief software architect.
“Myriad scenarios involving the notion of ’social’ have now gone far beyond communications and collaboration and are transforming experiences that are key to our customers and key to our business, in leisure & entertainment; productivity & teamwork; experiences extending how we use the OS itself,” reads an excerpt from an internal email from Ozzie, courtesy of Mary-Jo Foley. “The three groups being combined have concrete skills and code in areas where ’social’ meets sharing; where ’social’ meets real-time; where ’social’ meets media; where ’social’ meets search; where ’social’ meets the cloud plus three screens and a world of devices.”
It appears that social connectivity will not be alone in the focus of FUSE Labs, and that it will be joined by real-time experiences, and rich media. Microsoft is in this manner attempting to align its priorities with the generalized trend of end users to increasingly embrace social networking. But it is obvious that the Redmond company is thinking ahead, beyond the social networks and the social capabilities of today, to a time when connectivity will be pervasive across all major three screens: the PC, mobile phones and TV.
"For many years, technology-based 'social' innovations have been most commonly viewed through the lenses of communications and collaboration: messaging, chat, calls, meetings, conferences, co-editing, document sharing, collaboration, multiplayer gaming and the like," Ozzie said according to Beyond Binary. "More recently, many factors have begun to transform all that which is 'social': the ever-present, high-bandwidth internet both wired and wireless; the ease of connecting people; the dramatic rise in digital cameras, camera phones and 'app-capable' phones; net-connected game consoles & TVs; and so on."