Research at Microsoft 2020: Addressing the present while looking to the future
Published
Microsoft researchers pursue the big questions about what the world will be like in the future and the role technology will play. Not only do they take on the responsibility of exploring the long-term vision of their research, but they must also be ready to react to the immediate needs of the present. This year in particular, they were asked to use their roles as futurists to address pressing societal challenges.
In early 2020, as countries began responding to COVID-19 with stay-at-home orders and business operations moved from offices into homes, researchers sprang into action to identify ways their skills and projects could help while also making personal and professional adjustments of their own. In some cases, they pivoted to directly address the pandemic. A team from Microsoft Research Asia developed the COVID Insights website to promote scientific analysis and understanding of the disease, while the Socially Intelligent Meetings program expanded its work in telepresence technologies to include the Meetings During COVID-19 project. From responses provided by employee volunteers, these researchers are piecing together the effects of taking meetings almost entirely via screens.