Tag Archives: microsoft campus

Hour of Code: When creativity and logic spark that ‘aha’ moment for young people

Allan La Grenade-Finch remembers the moment an 8th grader, a “great kid” who often sat in the back of class and struggled with science, “lit up” during last year’s Hour of Code at Cardozo Education Campus in Washington, D.C. (more…)

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A Career of Thriving on ‘Impossible Projects’ – Including Kinect for Xbox 360

Alex Kipman, leader behind Kinect, on making technology ‘disappear.’

REDMOND, Wash. – June 12, 2012 – In June 2010, Alex Kipman sat in Los Angeles’ Galen Center as Cirque de Soleil performers helped introduce the world to Kinect. Acrobats, musicians and 10-foot tall puppets filled the sports arena, where 3,000 people watched a boy onstage discover Microsoft’s new controller-free gaming system.

“Hi, Alex,” a narrator said to the boy. “Welcome home.”

Kipman claims the name was coincidence, but he could be forgiven for making the connection, having led the development team that spent several years building Kinect. Sitting in the darkened arena, he reflected on the journey that began with a question: Can we make technology disappear? (more…)

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