Microsoft has made no secret that it's catering to the tablet and mobile crowd with Windows 8. The Redmond company revealed on Tuesday that Windows 7-born ambient light sensors are making a return in the next-gen OS, along with improved motion sensor support for viewing, apps and games.
"The ability to react to changes in ambient light, motion, human proximity, and location are becoming common and essential elements of the computing experience," said Steven Sinofsky, Windows Live president.
Or, in non-corporate PR speak: Windows 8 users should expect their tablets and laptops to automatically adjust to harsh natural lighting conditions while seamlessly reading movement data.
Windows 8's adaptive brightness feature will improve a screen's visibility by increasing its brightness factor when used outside or in a sun-drenched room, said Gavin Gear, Device Connectivity team manager.
"By dynamically controlling screen brightness based on changing ambient light conditions, we can optimize the level of reading comfort, and save battery life when the screen is dimmed in darker environments," said Gear.
Gear said that developer support for myriad motion sensing technology, including 3D accelerometers and gyro sensors, was also a focal point for the Windows 8 dev team. Tapped to realize short and sweet gaming apps, he explained that Microsoft is also looking at broader implementations for the tech.
"With these kinds of sensors it would certainly be possible to build very immersive 3D games, but it would also enable lots of other apps to more naturally respond to input from a variety of motions, including mapping and navigation applications, measuring utilities, interactive (between two machines) applications, and simple apps like casual games," said Gear.
To meet both developer needs and consumer wants, Gear explained that Microsoft fused the capabilities of the magnetometer, accelerometer and gyro sensor into a single 9-axis system.
"The 'magic' of sensor fusion is to mathematically combine the data from all three sensors to produce more sophisticated outputs, including a tilt-compensated compass, an inclinometer (exposing yaw, pitch, and roll), and more advanced representations of device orientation," he said. "With this kind of data, more sophisticated apps can produce fast, fluid, and responsive reactions to natural motions."
Gear and co. believe they've done away with the "awkward transitions" typically found in apps that rely heavily on motion sensing technology.
"Sensor fusion in Windows solves the problems of jittery movement and jerky transitions, reduces data integrity issues, and provides data that allows a seamless representation of full device motion in 3D space," said Gear.
We'll believe it when we play it. Microsoft has yet to reveal a release date for Windows 8. (via Building Windows 8)
