Microsoft Hires PC Interface Expert

Microsoft announced Monday that it had hired Canadian human-computer interaction researcher Bill Buxton to assist the company as a senior researcher in the Microsoft Research division. Buxton would continue to work from Canada, while making regular trips to the Redmond lab, as well as to international locations. His first residency would be at the Cambridge, England lab for four months starting in January 2006.

Buxton specializes in technologies, techniques and theories of input to computers, technology-mediated collaboration between people, and ubiquitous computing, according to Microsoft. He most recently served as chief scientist from 1994 to 2002 for Alias Systems, a subsidiary of SGI. "We're proud and fortunate to have Bill, a leader in the Canadian research community, join Microsoft Research," Microsoft Research senior vice president Rick Rashid said.