Bill Buxton is a designer and a researcher concerned with human aspects of technology. His work reflects a particular interest in the use of technology to support creative activities such as design, film making and music. In December 2005, he was appointed a Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research. Prior to that, he was Principal of his own Toronto-based boutique design and consulting firm, Buxton Design. He also has an association with Bruce Mau Design of Toronto, where he is honorary Chief Scientist. As well, he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto, where he still works with graduate students.
Buxton, who began his career in music, has spent more than 30 years observing how people use technology and applying those insights to the human-computer interaction field. His research specialties include technologies, techniques and theories of input to computers; technology-mediated collaboration between people; and ubiquitous computing. Buxton is widely revered for his creative and sensitive explorations of new user-interface techniques spanning audio, speech, two-handed input, keyboards, menus, lenses, pens, augmented reality, multimedia and more.
In 1995, Buxton received the Canadian Human-Computer Communications Society Achievement Award for his contributions to research in computer graphics and human-computer interaction. He also was selected as the New Media Visionary of the Year at the 2000 Canadian New Media Awards, and the Hollywood Reporter named him one of the 10 most influential innovators in the North American film industry in 2001.
