Rethinking application design with Windows 8 Semantic Zoom

This has to be one of my favorite features of Windows 8 – semantic zoom.  During the Build conference that Microsoft held in September, Samsung tablets were distributed to all the attendees.  To help navigate the event content, Microsoft built a an application for the conference that allows you to watch videos of the presentations, view the agenda and calendar, and also link to the social networking information, photos and bios of all the attendees.  This app is a perfect way to see Windows 8 Semantic zoom in action. Zooming in and out is no longer about reducing and increasing the detail of an image, but actually reordering and rethinking the data that is displayed on the screen.