Nick Barber

Attendees at the Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems (CHI) this week saw a device that looks something like a lamp shade and houses a projector and camera, designed to let a worker share a physical desktop with another, allowing the two to collaborate on a project in ways not otherwise possible.

In one example at the show, two attendees were able to draw a picture of a house, with a pen and paper, simultaneously with each person adding different components. On one side, IllumiShare, a project from Microsoft Research, used a camera to capture the desktop and a projector to display the other side's. That means that each person received real time video of what the other side was doing.

Two Microsoft Research projects presented at the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems used unique methods, completely absent of any cameras, to sense gestures.

Called Soundwave, one project used a laptop's standard speakers and microphone to detect what motions users were making with their hands. The system emitted an inaudible ultrasonic tone that bounced off a user's hand. Because of the Doppler Effect, the sound waves shifted in frequency and the microphone could hear that shift. The computer then interpreted the shift and turned it into an action, explained Sidhant Gupta a former Microsoft Research intern.

ZeroTouch, the inexpensive technology that turns regular displays into touchscreens, can be fitted to larger screens, is more responsive and is almost ready for commercialization, according to researchers working on it.

The project debuted at the Computer Human Interaction conference in 2011 and this year has been outfitted to track up to sixty fingers. The sensing area expanded from 27 inches to 55 inches. It's also more responsive, tracking at about 120 hertz versus last year's 60.

A research project at the Computer Human Interaction conference in Austin experimented with adding electricity to food to change its taste.

Check out the experiment in one of my video diaries on YouTube.

Researchers have turned a display annoyance into a way to show two different images simultaneously. When an LCD is tilted, colors change and become difficult to see, but with Dual View from Microsoft Research Asia different images and video can be shown.

"We're actually exploiting this property by using a special algorithm to render the image in a special way so that we can hide or show different images at different angles," said Xiang Cao, a researcher with Microsoft Research Asia. "Basically making a bug into a feature."

Echoing the words of science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, former YouTube user experience director Margaret Gould Stewart advised an audience of design researchers to think about creating magical experiences for their users.

"Magic disrupts the notion of reality. It elevates good design into great design," Stewart said Monday, at the opening keynote of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Austin, Texas. She praised Internet services such as Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube for creating new ways for people to interact and tell their own stories, through successful user design.

Pizza chain owner Melissa Ferriman wanted to boost business using an online social deal promotion. She tried services like Groupon, but eventually chose Boston-based Privy because it connected her restaurant with customers who weren't just looking for the next promotion.

Ferriman started building Crazy Dough's social presence about a year ago and begans working with Privy in December. Since then, she's done several promotions that she sent through emails and posts on Facebook.

An MIT Media Lab robot mimicked silk worms and spiders and wove a cocoon-like structure with a little programming help from humans.

Inspired by nature, the robot used yarn-like material that it placed around pegs and hooks on a cage built around it. It followed a predetermined course set by researchers, but eventually it will be autonomous.

General Motors and NASA used technology from their space-bound Robonaut 2 to create robotic gloves for humans that the companies hope can reduce repetitive stress injuries.

Watch this video on YouTube to see the K-glove.

Host Nick Barber gives you a tour of Google's elaborate Android booth with its smoothie bar, slides for adults, and an Android robot making bejeweled smartphone cases.

For more blogs, stories, photos, and video from the world's largest mobile show, check out PCWorld's complete coverage of Mobile World Congress 2012.

NXP, a Near Field Communication (NFC) chip maker, demonstrated the capabilities of NFC technology at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

For more blogs, stories, photos, and video from the world's largest mobile show, check out PCWorld's complete coverage of Mobile World Congress 2012.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini told the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona how his company plans to cater to both high and low-end mobile phones.

For more blogs, stories, photos, and video from the world's largest mobile show, check out PCWorld's complete coverage of Mobile World Congress 2012.