Portrait of Michel Pahud

Michel Pahud

Principal Research Software Development Engineer

Timeline

Celebrating 25 years of research

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Inventions

From 2005 to 2025, I accumulated 92 published and granted patents, with additional inventions currently progressing through the patent application process.

Pioneer of text-to-animation

In 2004—long before AI video generation or prompt-based animation entered the mainstream—I co-invented text-to-animation: a system that transforms natural language into animated stories for children. I built the first working prototype (on a flight from Seattle to Venezia when going for an NLP conference), parsing text into nouns, verbs, and actions, then generating animation automatically by the time we landed. The work was patented in 2005 (with me as principal inventor), seeded an incubation group on children and education, and evolved into physical robotic storytelling devices and highly influential demos across Microsoft—including demonstrations to Bill Gates.

Pen and touch — from research to worldwide product

Working closely with Bill Buxton and Ken Hinckley—two of the world’s leading scholars in HCI—I tackled a problem that no one had solved: simultaneous pen and touch. When I started, devices supported pen or touch, never both at once. I built early research prototypes by going deep into Windows internals, demonstrating what was possible. Over years of persistent innovation, I was instrumental in moving this technology from the lab into the Windows platform.

In 2016, the feature shipped broadly. At Microsoft Build 2016, the Windows product team explicitly credited Microsoft Research and asked me to co-record an official demo video explaining how simultaneous pen and touch works—now standard across Surface devices worldwide.

Large display experiences and society of appliances

I led the research project on large display experiences and society of appliances—exploring how pen, touch, and multiple devices can work together on wall-sized interactive surfaces. This project was among the very few research projects selected for the prestigious TechForum 2013 event hosted by Craig Mundie and Eric Rudder, and was featured on the cover page of The Verge.

Press coverage:

Actuated 3D display with haptic feedback

I have been deeply involved in a project with a 3D haptic touch display—a robotic surface that physically moves to let users touch and feel virtual objects. What started as a cafeteria conversation became a groundbreaking research prototype. (demo (opens in new tab))

This project was among the very few selected to be demonstrated to U.S. Senators and VIPs at the prestigious D.C. TechFair 2013, and received extensive international press coverage.

Press coverage:

Multi-device interaction and mobile innovation

My research extends into how multiple devices can work together as constellations of interactive surfaces, and how mobile devices can sense context to create richer experiences.

Looking forward: AI + human-computer interaction

Today, my focus is on the intersection of AI and HCI—rethinking how people collaborate with intelligent systems beyond simple prompts, toward richer, more interactive, and more human experiences. After a quarter century of inventing early and seeing research shape the world at scale, I remain convinced of one thing:

When passion meets freedom—and research is trusted to lead—extraordinary things happen.

 

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Collaborators and recognition—The incredible friendships and collaborations that have enriched my career

Throughout my career, I have collaborated with extraordinary people including Turing Award winner Chuck Thacker, Bill Buxton, Ken Hinckley, Jaron Lanier, Ray Ozzie, Lilli Cheng, Doug Burger, Peter Lee, Craig Mundie, Margaret Johnson, Takako Aikawa, Lee Schwartz, Mike Sinclair, Andy Wilson, Hrvoje Benko, Eyal Ofek, Dave Brown, Kori Inkpen, Yang Zhang, Haijun Xia, Richard Li, Payod Panda, Gonzalo A. Ramos, S. Drucker, Bill Dollan, Chris Muffat, Jay Beavers, Jason Van Eaton, Jatin Sharma, Asta Roseway, Gavin Jancke, Chuck Needham, Chen Chen, Piali Choudhury, Sasa Junuzovic, John Tang, Xiao Tu, Rajesh Jha, Nicolai Marquardt, Nathalie Riche, Jens Gruber, Per Ola Kristensson, Andrea Bianchi, Jonathan Grudin, Howard Phillips, Tom Steinke, John Paquin, Duncan, John D. Bransford, Diana Sharp, Heinz Schuller, Margaret Winsor, Allison Druin, Tim Kannapel, Arin Goldberg, Keith Daniels, Xiang Cao, Anoop Gupta, Chris Quirk, Neal Noble, Chad Essley, Lindsey Sparks, John Manferdelly, Xiaolong Li, Sean Andrist, Dan Bohus, Maia Stiber, the Microsoft Research production and media support teams, and many others, including all the talented interns who contributed along the way.

I have personally demonstrated research prototypes to Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, and Satya Nadella. I have co-authored publications at top-tier HCI venues (CHI, UIST, CSCW, ISMAR), collaborated globally with universities, mentored generations of interns, and contributed to a large patent portfolio—often filing patents years ahead of their eventual product relevance.