{"id":521,"date":"2022-01-21T14:55:41","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T14:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/engadget.vip\/?p=521"},"modified":"2022-01-21T14:55:41","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T14:55:41","slug":"inside-microsofts-new-inclusive-tech-lab-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/engadget.vip\/?p=521","title":{"rendered":"Inside Microsoft\u2019s new Inclusive Tech Lab"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On the north campus of Microsoft\u2019s 500-acre headquarters, anticipation is quietly mounting. The company is gearing up to launch its new Inclusive Tech Lab, which sits in Building 86 \u2014 one of 125 buildings in its Redmond, Washington grounds. This 2,000-square-foot room used to be a reception area, with a set of doors leading to the offices within and another pair facing the rest of the world. It only seems fitting, considering what Microsoft envisions this lab to be: a place to welcome members of developing the Adaptive Controller. But that wasn\u2019t a dedicated space. Senior director of hardware accessibility Kris Hunter described it as a \u201cgrassroots effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the team members came together, we built IKEA furniture over the weekend,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was just this passion project.\u201d Though that was initially imagined to be an incubator for the Xbox team to work with designers and engineers, it evolved beyond gaming. Over the years, the lab in Studio B on the west campus hosted about 7,000 people, including clothing designers, members of congress and even competitors like PlayStation.<\/p>\n

<\/figcaption>Microsoft<\/figure>\n

When Hunter was transferred from Xbox to the devices team, she was asked to replicate that experience \u2014 this time with a designated space. \u201cPanos came through one day and said, \u2018There\u2019s a space over at 86, I think it would be perfect for you guys to show and expand your thinking here,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The space at 86 is an open-plan square that\u2019s reminiscent of a child\u2019s playroom. It\u2019s bright and airy, with colorful toys and a giant fiber-optic jellyfish hanging from the ceiling in one corner. The lab is sectioned off into six general areas, including the welcome desk, a sensory stimulation corner, a demo classroom, a faux conference room and a \u201cwork and play\u201d area. These are meant to simulate environments in which people use technology, to help product designers and members of the disability community have a basis for discussion and sharing experiences.<\/p>\n

For that to be a conducive and welcoming environment for their guests, the Inclusive Tech Lab team had to take many different needs into consideration when designing the space, quite literally, from the ground up.<\/p>\n

To start with, the floor of the room is divided into sections with visually distinct patterns and different tactile surfaces like wood and carpet, which makes them easier to tell apart by people using canes. Microsoft\u2019s team was also careful to make sure the borders between them were flat to avoid potential trip hazards. \u201cIt took about 12 different attempts to come in and re-level the floor perfectly,\u201d Romney said.<\/p>\n

<\/figcaption>Cherlynn Low \/ Engadget<\/figure>\n

The lab\u2019s ceilings have felt baffles, and the room uses felt walls that \u201chelp suck sound so that we have much clearer audio in here,\u201d Romney explained. \u201cFor people who have limited hearing, it\u2019s much easier to hear what\u2019s being said.\u201d It also provides a more comfortable environment for individuals with neurodiversity who might feel overstimulated in a large echoey space.<\/p>\n

The light system, which can be controlled by a wall panel or via an app that Romney ran on ADA-width, people with wheelchairs can still have a hard time fitting through them if they\u2019re carrying bags or bulky items.<\/p>\n

The team also made an effort to ensure the bathrooms nearest to the lab could cater to the needs of people with disabilities. Around the corner from the lab is a gender-neutral bathroom that is not only wheelchair-accessible, but also contains the first adult-sized powered changing table on the campus. Romney mentioned that this was a priority after previously encountering cases where visitors had to resort to being changed on the floors of bathrooms. \u201cIt was undignified and it was unsanitary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/figcaption>Cherlynn Low \/ Engadget<\/figure>\n

Bearing in mind people who may be moving around with walking aids or reaching out to objects for support, the Inclusive Tech Lab team chose furniture that would not topple over easily. None of the chairs or tables have wheels, although some of the heavier storage benches do. That\u2019s in part because, as Romney explained, the lab is \u201ca living space\u201d that would evolve and adapt as needs arise. The team might move closets around or re-designate the sections, for instance.<\/p>\n

For now, though, the six areas in the lab reflect the way our lives are today. The work and play area, specifically, is set up to show a home office, kitchen table and living room. Along the back wall is a desk with a Surface Studio, showing Windows accessibility features for people with low vision. On the kitchen table, the team has laid out not only a Surface Laptop Studio connected to a Braille display and \u201cSay When\u201d sensor that provides audible alerts to prevent overfilling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we showcase here is the best that Microsoft has to offer alongside the best that our partners have to offer,\u201d Romney said. \u201cWe rely on a lot of other people to help fill out that ecosystem of accessibility.\u201d Both he and Hunter reiterated that \u201caccessibility is not a competition.\u201d When she was telling me about bringing Nintendo and PlayStation to the lab in Studio B, Hunter said, \u201cwe believe that a rising tide floats all boats.\u201d<\/p>\n

To the right of the faux dining area is a hypothetical living room, with a couch and a large TV. Here, the team has provided the Xbox Adaptive Controller and setups for one-handed Halo<\/em> and no-hand Forza<\/em>. Gaming is the team\u2019s heritage, Romney said, and since the new lab is twice the size of its predecessor, they haven\u2019t had to reduce the footprint of the gaming area at all.<\/p>\n

In the classroom space, three tables have been set up facing a Surface Hub. Each desk features different devices with assistive tech built in, including Microsoft\u2019s Surface Adaptive Kit that was released last year. There\u2019s also a Surface Laptop SE with a JCPal keyboard skin that brought increased visibility and tactility to its buttons. In the front row, there are augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices like a Surface Go 3 in a Targus case with speech-generating software as well as a computer with a Tobii eye-detecting sensor connected.<\/p>\n

<\/figcaption>Cherlynn Low \/ Engadget<\/figure>\n

But the gadgets themselves aren\u2019t the only area of focus. The Inclusive Tech Lab team is aware that it\u2019s set up an \u201cidealized version of a classroom,\u201d clarifying that desks like the ones they\u2019ve chosen aren\u2019t available in all learning institutions. The team has deliberately designed its space this way to \u201cshow what is possible when we normalize assistive technology,\u201d Romney explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of times, not just in school but in the workplace as well, when your technology looks so different from everyone else\u2019s, that can be really off-putting,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

That principle applies to the conference room portion of the lab as well, although Romney acknowledged this is an area that is likely to evolve as the team learns more about remote work. Right now, it consists of a long oval table with six chairs set up around it with a screen on a wall behind one end.<\/p>\n

Contemplating a hybrid workplace also involves thinking about telepresence robots. For members of the team who live in other countries, the Inclusive Tech Lab also has a robot with a screen and wheels to allow them to \u201cvisit.\u201d This helps them \u201chave a physical presence in the space when we’re doing things like inclusive design sprints so that they don’t feel left out,\u201d Romney said.<\/p>\n

Finally, in the back left corner of the room, anchored around a giant fiber-optic jellyfish suspended from the ceiling, is the Sensory corner. It\u2019s basically a section that Romney said has \u201ca lot of additional sensory options\u201d like lights, colors, textures and sound for \u201cindividuals who need extra stimulation to transition between tasks or focus or to re-center.\u201d Here, the team has placed bean bag chairs with piles of colorful plush toys on them, a pair of approximately six-foot-tall bubbling lava lamps against a wall and a soft green bench with cushions in metallic hues on it. A soft, low-pile rug in Minecraft<\/em> green spreads across most of this section, for people who might want a soft surface to crawl or lay on.<\/p>\n

<\/figcaption>Cherlynn Low \/ Engadget<\/figure>\n

The main attraction of this corner, and arguably of the whole lab, is the \u201cjellyfish.\u201d It\u2019s really a domed light fixture with 300 strands of slightly wavy color-changing fiber optics dangling from it in a ring. When Hunter turned down the room\u2019s lights and Romney fired up the so-called tentacles, I got inside the jellyfish and played with the soft, wispy wires.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not one for extra sensory stimulation \u2014 if anything I prefer reduced or hypostimulation \u2014 but I could see how the experience might be calming for some. The team had set up a makeshift version of this in the old lab, using a hula hoop as the base for the light cables. \u201cWe found in the old lab [that] the tactility of touching the strands and the changing lights [gives] a very soothing element to the jellyfish,\u201d Romney said.<\/p>\n

Like I said, though, hyperstimulation is not for everyone, and the Inclusive Tech Lab team is aware of that. \u201cThis is one of the areas that\u2019s probably going to change the most,\u201d Romney said. \u201cThis is an area that is new in our understanding, at Microsoft, of how neurodiversity and hardware interact.\u201d But, Romney assured me, the jellyfish would remain.<\/p>\n

With this particular section, the team is exploring transitional spaces. Hunter explained that one use for sensory rooms is for children who need a place, before entering a classroom, where they can get calm or get ready to learn. It\u2019s not just for kids, either. People who are neurodiverse or have anxiety could potentially benefit from such transitional spaces, and the team wants to learn more about how to thoughtfully implement them.<\/p>\n

<\/figcaption>Microsoft<\/figure>\n

To best understand how Microsoft will use its new Inclusive Tech Lab to engage the community, we can look back to what it did in the past. Hunter said that at the old facility in Studio B, the company not only hosted Nintendo and Playstation, but also brought in industry leaders to discuss topics like inclusive clothing, as well as members of Congress to look into building inclusive voting machines. \u201cWe believe everyone wins when we can do this as a community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one of many, many<\/em> mantras that members of the team repeated during my time with them. I kept hearing variations of the saying \u201cSolve for the one and extend to the many,\u201d for example, or \u201cNothing about us without us.\u201d The latter refers to the importance of including and engaging members of the disability community when creating products for them. This is clearly something that\u2019s important to the Inclusive Tech Lab team, who are spread out across Microsoft\u2019s hardware, accessories, Azure and Windows departments. The company also employs people with disabilities and involves them in the design process.<\/p>\n

Romney is looking forward to opening the lab. \u201cI imagine I am just going to get swamped with requests,\u201d he said. The challenge, ultimately, is getting the word out. \u201cWe have decades of features in Windows, but people don\u2019t know about them,\u201d Romney said. He added that thinking about what conferences to go to, who to reach out to is part of the solution. One of the reasons the new lab is in building 86, he said, was to be closer to the tours conducted in building 87 and potentially be a stop on them to help spread awareness to visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe accessibility isn\u2019t a one and done,\u201d Hunter said. Of all the sayings I heard the lab team repeat, this struck me as the one to leave with. The responsibility of making inclusive design an industry standard doesn\u2019t and shouldn\u2019t lie with Microsoft alone. More companies need to be proactive and persistent in making sure their products don\u2019t leave people out. A dedicated Inclusive Tech Lab may not be the approach for all businesses, but the determined mentality I saw (and in this case manifested as a physical space) is something they should all strive to emulate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

iThis content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Update your settings here, then reload the page to see it. On the north campus of Microsoft\u2019s 500-acre headquarters, anticipation is quietly mounting. The company is gearing up to launch its new Inclusive Tech Lab, which sits in Building 86 \u2014 one of 125 buildings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[117,65,121,64],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/engadget.vip\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/engadget.vip\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/engadget.vip\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engadget.vip\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engadget.vip\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/engadget.vip\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engadget.vip\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/engadget.vip\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engadget.vip\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engadget.vip\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}