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Sixth Sense ready to become a reality!
MIT wearable gadget gives you Sixth Sense
The sixth sense, often quoted in novels, books and articles, is about a rare and mystical sense of things happening around you or things which could happen. Now it is set to become a common man's thing, thanks to MIT Media Lab researchers, who have cooked up Sixth Sense, a wearable computing device that turns any surface into a Web interface, augmenting the five senses we've been given naturally. The researchers at MIT's Media Lab (Fluid Interfaces Group) have developed a gesture-controlled wearable computing device that feeds you relevant information and turns any surface into an interactive display. Called the Sixth Sense, the gadget relies on certain gestures and on object recognition to call up virtual gadgets and Web-based information, in a way that conjures up the Hollywood movie Minority Report. The team built the Sixth Sense $350 (approx. BDT 24,500) prototype using off-the-shelf componentsa simple web cam and portable battery-powered projector with a small mirrorthat are fashioned into a pendant-style necklace that communicates with a cell phone. When might Sixth Sense hit retail shelves? There's no release date, and MIT Associate Professor and Founder of the school's Fluid Interfaces Group Pattie Maes calls it "very much a work in progress." (Perfecting the image recognition, for example, is an ongoing challenge.) Still, the MIT team says it has the potential to be made available today in a limited form. Developed by Maes and MIT grad student Pranav Mistry (who Maes describes as the genius behind the gadget), along with the help of other MIT students, Sixth Sense aims to more seamlessly integrate online information and tech into everyday life. By making available information needed for decision-making beyond what we have access to with our five senses, it effectively gives users a sixth sense, says Maes. Things you could do using the Sixth Sense include making a call, calling up a map, taking pictures, create multimedia reading experiences, calling up e-mail, getting flight updates and of course, checking the time!
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