Posted by: maimm on: March 13, 2009
SixthSense is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with that information.
It has been developped by students at the MIT Media Lab. Internet is turned into a Sixth huamn sense, a wearable computing system that turns any surface into an interactive display screen.
The prototype cost $350, it consisted of a Webcam, an internet-enabled mobile phone and a mini-projector with an attached mirror, all hooked up to each other. It is worn around your neck or on your head. The setup allows the user to project information from the phone onto any surface — walls, the body of another person or even your hand.
The integration of those interfaces within the physical proves that we’re increasingly getting into the world of ubiquitous computing. It’s just a matter of time before seeing those types of interfaces and gadgets invading our everyday lives.
This video shows Pranav Mistry, the brain behind the project, with the device around his neck, and colored Magic Marker caps on four fingers (red, blue, green and yellow) that helped the camera distinguish the four fingers and recognize his hand gestures with software that Mistry created.
The gestures can be as simple as using his fingers and thumbs to create a picture frame that tells the camera to snap a photo, which is saved to his mobile phone. When he gets back to an office, he projects the images onto a wall and begins to size them.
This project was the buzz of the 2009 TED Conference and I can understand why. It’s simply, amazing!
