From a story on The Register:
Scientists at Microsoft Research Cambridge (MSRC) are working on a range of new technologies and gadgets that might find their way into our lives. They've come up with a message board that you can send text messages to, a whereabouts clock that keeps track of where family members are, and in collaboration with Vodafone, a TouchToy, which we will get to later.

MSRC's Computer Mediated Living (CML) Group is charged with investigating the kinds of technologies that could be introduced into people's lives. The idea is that it starts with the way people live, and try to find ways that technology can enhance that.

The first project is called HomeNote, and it is a laptop-sized screen that acts as a message board. Family members can leave handwritten notes for each other, or send text messages to the board from their mobile phones.

Ken Wood, head of the CML group, said: "We wanted to look at the idea that you could text message a place, rather than a person."

He explained that HomeNote has been trialled in homes in the local area, and the initial results have been promising. "People have been using it interactively. One family's dad used it to feel more connected to his family," he added. "There is no facility to reply yet, but there will be in the next version."

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