Slashdot Mirror
Sculpting Interface Prototype
uw_dwarf writes "Now you can play with Play-Doh and your computer at the same time. Folks at the State University of New York at Buffalo have demonstrated another tactile interface to the computer: a glove with a sensor to determine pressure and direction in 3-space as the user works with a nice malleable substance. I'm torn between 'cool!' and 'scary!'"
...I'll point out that they prefer to be called just plain "University at Buffalo" now, none of that low class SUNY stuff (even though they still are part of the SUNY system).
There is actually a very good medical application to this. Currently the only way to detect breast cancer is through self exam and follow up radiology. If this can do subsurface mapping as shown in the article, then it should be able to detect lumps beneath the surface of the skin. No longer will you have have try to remember whether the breasts felt exactly like that before or not. With this technology just the feel alone will tell you that it is cancer.
Whether it works on not, I willing to help test.
The comment has already been made. Let's move it along people. Nothing to see here.
Ummm, not quite what they're saying. What I believe this device is doing is translating the physical analog experience into a virtual digital representation. Think of it more like recording a movie rather than playing it back.
This has great applications if the forces required to perform a certain function can be recorded and then recreated in a simulation. With that capability, we could record Tiger Woods swinging a golf club and then teach new golfers how to emulate his style by actually feeling what he does. Or perhaps record a physician's surgery and allow med students to get the feel for the correct procedure before doing it on real people. Or maybe record ace pilots turning a 5G roll and teach new ones what to expect.
Could be pretty cool.
Rule #1 -- Politics always trumps technology.
The powerglove used ultrasonic sensors placed around the display (at three corners) to locate the glove, and it had switches attached to (some of?) the fingers. It had no feedback of any sort.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Ya know,
you're probably not far off. The porn industry seems to find creative ways to spend and make money on technology.
I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the internet porn industry completely jump on board something like this. People spend significant sums of money now to chat, watch, and "participate" in internet sex. Imagine the first internet porn company to market that sells a device that you put on your genitalia, and said device is controlled from the other end using one of these glove things. Certainly whatever data is being transmitted to manipulate a screen object could just as easily be exported out to control an external device. The difference here of course is the fine level of control and detail they seem to be achieving.
Now you're talking a whole 'nother level of interaction which i think people would pay a good sum of money for, given it could be done in the privacy of their own home.
jeff
I just love how the nerds brain works. One person mentions pr0n and that's all everyone can talk about. I was sure someone in the /. community would have noticed this about it: If this product gets marketed, it could mean extreme changes in one of our favorite industries, (no, not pr0n) gaming. Slip one of these on you could easily create the majority of 3D models for a game. Need a toaster? Just run your fingers over one and BAM! you have your model. This could cut a lot of time out of making games so they could focus on other parts of the process. (I wonder what this will do to copyright laws. e.g. "You have a copy of our brand of toaster on your computer! We're gonna sue you")
Just my two cents. -TP
LCpl Winward, USMC I'm Awesome