Reading science fictions over the past one hundred years, one sees many seemingly impossible machines and services, which are now not only widely available, but have become accepted as natural. In this talk, the speaker will share examples which show how technologies developed in research labs have impacted real life user experiences. For example, body gesture, speech, natural user intent understanding, and other new usage scenarios have all recently impacted how users utilize computing. Looking forward, the speaker sees exciting opportunities for research to further extend what is considered natural when using computers. What's natural in computing at the end of 21st century will be drastically different than what we find common today.
About the speaker
Prof Hsiao-Wuen Hon received his PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University. He has been with Microsoft since 1995. He joined Microsoft Research Asia in 2004 as a Deputy Managing Director, responsible for research in Internet search, speech & natural language, system, wireless and networking. In addition, he founded and managed search technology center from 2005 to 2007, and has overseen the development of Bing, Microsoft’s internet search product, in Asia Pacific. Prior to joining Microsoft Research Asia, Prof Hon was the founding member and architect in Natural Interactive Services Division at Microsoft Corporation. Besides overseeing all architectural and technical aspects of the award winning Microsoft® Speech Server product, Natural User Interface Platform and Microsoft Assistance Platform, he is also responsible for managing and delivering statistical learning technologies and advanced search. Prof Hon joined Microsoft Research as a senior researcher at 1995 and has been a key contributor of Microsoft's Speech Application Programming Interface and speech engine technologies. He also previously worked at Apple Computer, where he led research and development for Apple's Chinese Dictation Kit. He is currently Managing Director of Microsoft Research Asia and Adjunct Professor of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Prof Hon is an internationally recognized expert in speech technology. He serves on the editorial board of the international journal Communication of the ACM. He has published more than 100 technical papers in international journals and at conferences. He co-authored Spoken Language Processing, a graduate-level text and reference book in the area of speech technology, used in universities all over the world. He holds three dozen patents in several technical areas. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a Distinguished Scientist of Microsoft.
Free and open to the public. Seating is on a first-come first-served basis.
