Here you can see what Microsoft thinks the future holds, at least when it comes to computers and the internet.

This is part of a short film by Oh Hello made for the PC giant, which requested a glimpse of the "not so distant utopian future." I actually think this depiction of future interfaces is pretty accurate, with transparent wall monitors (these already exist), gesture-controlled computing, multi-use devices that are location-aware, and best of all real-time translation between natural languages. Plus, apparently, the "pinch" gesture from the iPhone has become ubitquitous on PCs in this happy world.


Possibly the translation scenes are the most utopian, however. We see kids in the US communicating seamlessly with Indian kids; and later, a woman meets a business colleague and her comments to him on the phone appear to get translated instantly into text he understands. This is obviously supposed to be the refined version of Google translation, which today can get the job done but still leaves a lot of words weirdly translated.

Could instant, accurate translation lead to a utopian world? Or would it only make things easier for all these middle class types in this video who are jetting around to business meetings?


via Oh Hello