Thursday, August 23, 2007

Virtual Fluffy Dice? That's Just Wrong!

According to Engadget: "It looks like Microsoft is sparing no amount of detail in its so-called "adaptive heads-up user interface for automobiles," with the company even going so far as to include a virtual pair of fluffy dice (as seen above) in the still-in-development system. According to a recently revealed patent application, the virtual dice actually simulate the movement of the real thing, bobbing back and forth as your vehicle moves. As for the more practical aspects of the system, it seems that Microsoft sees no limit to its potential, with it able to display all the information normally confined to your dash, as well as stuff stored on your cellphone, PDA, or media devices and, of course, various GPS-related information (including ads for nearby businesses). This simply being a patent application, however, there's no indication as to when or if we'll ever actually be able to get some virtual fluffy dice of our own."