Windows Live Tiles could become more like interactive widgets

sincity · April 11, 2014

New videos out of Microsoft Research's TechFest 2014 event depict a researcher showing off new, more interactive Windows 8 live tiles.

In one video (removed by Microsoft but re-uploaded by someone else) Microsoft's Human-Computer Interaction Group researcher Jiawei Gu demonstrates new live tile functionality activated by tapping a corner of the tiles.

This allows him to browse through a list of his emails, for example, without needing to open the app. The emails pop up in a widget-style box right on the start screen.

Gu also shows a new interactive desktop tile that lets users open desktop apps from the Windows 8 start screen, rather than needing to open the full desktop first. The interactive live tiles can also be run alongside other apps, again resembling widgets, Gu shows.

Windows widgets

"In Windows 8 Modern UI, the live tiles right on your start screen get you closer to the things that matter most," Gu says in the video.

He continues, "In this project we designed interactive tiles which enable users to manipulate live tiles in an interactive way with touch gestures, with aims to provide a seamless experience in the start screen across all Microsoft devices."

Indeed, Gu shows the tiles working in Windows Phone 8 as well, and presumably Xbox One integration is possible too.

The interactive tiles were reportedly described on the official Microsoft Research site before that, too, was taken down.

"Interactive Tile's UI is responsive and flexible to an app's content and function," the site read. "With a perception of Start as an entrance page, Interactive Tiles were introduced to empower the start screen with an intermediate access level to applications."

As a Microsoft Research project these interactive live tiles may never actually appear in Windows, but the fact that Microsoft was so quick to take the videos and the site description down may hint otherwise.