SixthSense Technology for the Future

Have you ever thought of an era where the display of computer screen appears on walls and commands are given by gestures? Or a smart digital environment which talks to us to do our work and so on? Or maybe a moving picture in the newspaper just like in the Harry Potter movie? Well, in this beginning of a new era of technology where the engineering will reach new milestones, these all is possible very soon!  A few years before, it was considered to be a supernatural or tantalizing imagination. But now it has been made possible. Thanks to Pranav Mistry, a genius who introduced mankind to this futuristic technology called the ‘SixthSense’. The main function of this technological wonder is to greatly augment the physical world loaded with digital information, and help mankind use natural gestures to utilize and communicate with that particular information.

So, why it’s called ‘SixthSense’? Well, everyone is aware of the five basic senses. However, in addition to these basic senses of mankind, there is one more sense, as well, and this is referred to as the sixth sense. This is the name of a technological wonder, which is very much related to the physical senses by means of which perception of something beyond the five senses is possible. In fact, the invention of this technology is expected to change the entire perception of the world. The device perceives what human eyes in general perceive, but in addition to that, it provides information in relation to the viewing object. In fact, the device has been designed in such a manner, so that it can easily project information on any surface.

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. The device comprising a neckworn pendant that contains a data projector and a camera. Both the projector and the camera are connected to the mobile computing device in the user’s pocket. The projector projects visual information enabling surfaces, walls and physical objects around us to be used as interfaces; while the camera recognizes and tracks user's hand gestures and physical objects using computer-vision based techniques. The software program processes the video stream data captured by the camera and tracks the locations of the colored markers (visual tracking fiducials) at the tip of the user’s fingers using simple computer-vision techniques. The movements and arrangements of these fiducials are interpreted into gestures that act as interaction instructions for the projected application interfaces. The maximum number of tracked fingers is only constrained by the number of unique fiducials, thus SixthSense also supports multi-touch and multi-user interaction. Head-worn versions were also built at MIT Media Lab in 1997 that combined cameras and illumination systems for interactive photographic art, and also included gesture recognition (e.g. finger-tracking using colored tape on the fingers).

After this technology applied in the whole world, what will happen later? The short answer is that the entire world will becomes a computer, because The Sixth Sense Technology enables us to receive information on any object against any surface. With the help of the information delivered from this technology, it becomes possible for the entire world to become a computer. The device helps us to get closer to reality, and consequently, it also assists us in taking the right decision.

The greatest benefit of this device is the availability of wide varieties of applications in it.

• Mapping can easily be done from any location. The features of zooming in and zooming out make the entire task of mapping easier.
• Since it is portable, it can easily be carried.
• There is a drawing application in the device, and this application helps the user to draw on any kind of surface.
• The user can also read newspaper with the help of this device. This enables the readers to view videos along with reading the newspaper. Live sports updates are also available with the help of this device.
• Book lovers can also easily grab on any book and Amazon ratings on these books are also available.

The device recognizes wide varieties of gestures. It can easily interact with different everyday objects. It can always be expected that this technology has a bright future because it might bring about a change in the way we look at the world. It can really create a magic. For instance, if you need to make a call, you can just extend your hands into the projector, and the numbers will instantly appear before you to click. Even if, you want to know time, you can draw a circle on your wrist. 

It can also connect the real world with the internet, which is certainly a novel application, and can thus, be a great source of information for the world itself. Therefore, it can always be claimed that this device has a long way to go in the near future.

Name                             : Hans Chandra

Lecturer Name              : Aditya Pratomo 

Campus                                : Surya University

Reference :

http://www.pranavmistry.com/projects/sixthsense/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SixthSense

http://www.quora.com/Sixth-Sense-technology/What-happened-to-the-SixthSense-project