Next-Gen Windows UI Previewed: Kinect, Windows Phone & Bubbly Tablets [Video]

Microsoft has previewed a next-gen UI for smartphones, tablets and PCs, which evolves the traditional windows and icons into bubbles of information which can be manipulated with motion-tracking hardware. The video, presented by Microsoft Chief Research and Strategy Officer Craig Mundie, shows how gadgets like Kinect and multitouch displays like Surface can be used for more naturalistic interaction with data.Videos after the cut

The demonstration follows Microsoft's announcements for the Kinect SDK, which will be released later this year. In a second video, shown below, Microsoft demonstrated some of the potential interactions between Kinect and Windows Phone.

All of the UI work is being billed as experimental and described as "futuristic demos," with Microsoft cautious not to set up too many ambitious expectations for Windows 8. Still, with the company's desktop OS lagging in finger-friendliness on tablets, and the integration between Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox all still relatively rudimentary, the company could do worse than follow through on some of these concepts.

Microsoft Research UI predictions:

Windows Phone and Kinect integration demo:

[via Slashdot]