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Microsoft's man in charge of predicting the future has forecast the slow death of the Qwerty keyboard — with facial tracking, voice and gesture recognition taking over.

Dave Coplin, the technology giant’s chief envisioning officer, said it was bizarre that 21st-century workers still relied on typing technology invented in the 19th century.

He added that while there have been huge leaps in technology, often the workplace had not caught up.

“We have these amazing computers that we essentially use like we’re still Victorians. The Qwerty keyboard is a great example of an old design being brought forward to modern day. We’ve not really evolved. We still use this sub-optimal design.

“We’re looking at technologies now like voice and gesture recognition, and facial tracking that may make the keyboard redundant,” he added.

“We think that computers in the not-too-distant future will be able to understand all of those things and infer on my behalf my intent, meaning and objective that I’m trying to do.”

Mr Coplin, who works on Microsoft’s Cortana digital assistant, will speak at the London Innovation Summit 2016, organised by business network Codex, tomorrow. He predicts everyday computing will become a full body experience, using movements similar to those seen in the 2002 Tom Cruise film Minority Report.

He said chatbots — artificially intelligent assistants working within set rules — will also be used more widely to cut down web browsing time for tasks such as shopping and booking holidays.

He added: “We’re going to see AI deliver these agents who will know who your family are, the things we like to do and places we like to stay, and on my behalf they will negotiate with all these providers and bring me back a little package for my perfect holiday.”