There is this amazing thing that I’m sure many people don’t know about, despite the technology being nearly a decade old at this point – AR, or augmented reality. Anyone who plays video games even casually might have heard of VR, virtual reality, implemented into games. Devices, like the Oculus Rift, were developed to put the game experience right up against your eyes. While the VR push was going on in most western game companies, Nintendo had a different idea, so they went with AR. Their new platform, the Nintendo Switch is designed with the principles of AR, likely inspired by the new available forms of open source software being put out by MIT University. What I really want to bring up is this MIT project, the SixthSense project.
SixthSense is a gesture interface that takes the real world and integrates it with the digital world, aiming to flow them seamlessly together. If any of you have seen any movie with Iron Man in it then you’ve seen a gesture interface. All of Tony Stark’s futuristic computers and displays are based on this.
What he created seems light years ahead of tech we already have, but that isn’t true. We’ve had SixthSense since 2009. There are no fewer than three existing TEDTalks on the subject up on YouTube right now. Given the current level of invested creation humans are capable of when something interests us, I’d say we could see computer displays like Tony Stark’s impossible and hyper advanced set up within our lifetimes. SixthSense’s primary creator, Pranav Ministry, has been working on the project consistently up to 2012, streamlining it and always using materials that individuals can purchase for themselves. He left to join Samsung a while back and it seems like no one has moved forward with AR technology despite its vast potential. I would highly recommend bringing this to the attention of more people, and if you’re a STEM minded lady, giving a crack at the software yourself. If someone with a mind for development really put the AR revolution to mind, they would, doubtlessly, be able to make some truly amazing advancements in our lives. What is truly a shame in our lives on the internet, is that this tech was covered by dozens of news sources worldwide but has since vanished from public consciousness purely because the internet’s life speed.
Sources:
http://www.pranavmistry.com/projects/sixthsense/ SixthSense wearable interface main website
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