Microsoft invests billions in its awesome research wing. Some of the inventions developed there are stunning -- awe inspiring. But one invention I discovered today is, well, not so hot. It's e-mail software that you manipulate with your feet using a Dance Dance Revolution game pad.

Called StepMail, the new, prototype software attempts to make e-mail both a little more fun and a lot more healthy, by getting "desk potatoes" off their duffs and onto their feet.

Using combinations of steps on the game pad's arrows, users can forward, delete, open and otherwise manipulate e-mail.

A related system enables people to browse photos by stepping.

It's all pretty nutty, and doesn't feel like it will ever see the light of day. But it is perversely interested to watch the video.