Science fiction meets reality. Pranav Mistry from the MIT Media Lab has developed a wearable internet-connected computer that can turn virtually any physical surface (like the wall, your hand or even a book in your hand) into a Microsoft Surface like table computer allowing you to interact with that surface using simple freehand gestures.
Called Sixth Sense, a prototype of the device was recently demoed at the TED Conference by Pattie Maes (Pranav’s advisor) and it left the audience completely awestruck.
For instance, you could pick up any book from the store and the device will display ratings from Amazon.com on the book itself. Or you could project Google Maps on the wall and zoom & pan using fingers.
The video also show how you can display a pile of photographs on the wall of your room and arrange them using natural hand gesture similar to Microsoft Surface. Or do graffiti on the wall by moving your fingers in the air without touching real paint.
In this picture, a newspaper shows live video news projected from the video camera of the "Sixth Sense" computer. Pranav says in an interview that any application, now on your computer or mobile phone, can be used inside Sixth Sense.
The device costs less than $350 to build but the price will obviously models "if" it goes commercial and reaches the "mass production" stage.
Find this article at: http://www.labnol.org/gadgets/microsoft-surface-like-wearable-computer/8044/
Tags: 3d, feature, microsoft surface, sixth sense, ted, Gadgets
Reader Comments
Yes! it is indeed a great innovation. I want to see what step Apple is going to adopt after seeing such products in the making :)
Saw this on Ted.com sometime back and I am glad people are looking at solving complex problems in a simple way.
Written by Mohan on 03.24.09
MIT students are brilliant thats what Pranav proved.
Written by Technology Blog on 03.24.09
Awesome technology.
It seems day by day technology moves ahead which people can’t believe.
Thanks for sharing it Amit :)
Written by Sankar Datti on 03.24.09
“Most ecologically-responsible toilet paper to buy?”
God save us.
Written by RogerCfromSD on 03.25.09
Ultimate! Thanks for sharing this. Do u think it would still take 10yrs for this to be out in the market ?
Written by Paras on 03.25.09
let Steve Jobs come back from leave and he will buy this for his next smartphone.
Written by Sachin on 03.25.09
That’s awesome!
Thanks Amit for sharing this. I am looking forward to see it in market soon!
Cheers!
Written by Netwala on 03.25.09
I was really impressed by that TED video of sixth sense..Its a game changing technology that people had never thought about before… It eliminates lots of gadgets mobile phones, camcorders, watches, digital cameras, PDAs..so finally more job losses in future :)
Written by Kevin on 03.25.09
Interesting concept, but seems rather impractical to wear so much on yourself. Also, wearing color bands around your finger would still seem strange…
Do we really need to have access to information instantly and everywhere we go? I wonder how one could cope if the network is down, or the phone is broken. It’s not that hard to pull out a phone and look it up, or wait until later.
Written by Quikboy on 03.25.09
Great to see and Indian with such a inovation. We should take inspiration from Pranav Mistry. I have gone through his personal website . What I can say about him is that he is a pure genious….
Written by Joomla on 03.25.09
That is much about nothing. It is only about gesture reads and projection. Every function shown could be superior if performed directly on the device in her pocket.
Written by glenn on 03.27.09