"Robots to Watch Children." A scene from a B-movie starring Eric Roberts? Guess again.

The "Teddy" project was one of the many emerging technologies showcased at Microsoft's two-day, in-house TechFest showcase this week. Teddy brings a big-brother twist to something in every toy chest — in this case, a teddy bear equipped with swiveling head, cameras and face-recognition software.

Microsoft General Manager of Strategy and Communications Kevin Schofield says that this year's TechFest is running 150 demos from all of the company's research labs around the globe. The event is generally limited to Microsoft employees (about 6,000 will visit this year) and a handful of journalists, professors and other honorary guests.

Though demos like Teddy and other flashy consumer-oriented displays attract the most attention, Schofield says that other displays reflect Microsoft's devotion to "getting the basics right."

That includes advanced research on preventing phishing and detecting rootkits. On the end-user side, Microsoft Research (MSR) is touting a hard-drive search tool (project code name: "Phlat") that will allow users to narrow their searches repeatedly until the results are found. Another demo shows how Outlook can sort e-mails depending on the sender's relationship with the user.

Though Schofield declines to say how many of these products will eventually make it into the real world, the tech that reaches implementation will most likely be reworked and repackaged before it's sent into circulation. One such demo was a bit of technology that made eventually made it is way into the current MSN Search.

Microsoft's India-based technology lab, which opened January 12 in Bangalore, represents the company's commitment to creating software that appeals to emerging markets. He says the India lab's booth tries to recreate the experience of computing in rural India, complete with a less-than-current computer set up for multiple users, a single lamp, dirt on the floor and Indian posters on the wall for authenticity's sake. Schofield remains hush-hush on the actual software the group is showing in the booth.

And while it's nice to see how Microsoft is improving its current projects and reaching out to remote computer users, it's hard to ignore the more sci-fi demonstrations.

How about the TouchLight? It's a piece of glass mounted vertically, and in conjunction with a projector, it turns into touch-sensitive interface for, say, a computer, that allows things on screen to be moved around with your hand. Think Minority Report. Or what about the SmartPhlow cell phone program that notifies users of traffic jams and how long it'll take for them to clear up?

For most tech enthusiasts it's an offer that can't be refused.