Demo of a New "Sixth Sense" Technology

TEDChris writes "Here's an intriguing attempt at a versatile new tech device that tries to augment the wearer's five senses. It comes out of Patty Maes's group at the MIT Media Lab. By combining a computerized personal projector with a camera and linking both to the Net, a host of surprising new applications becomes possible. This 8-minute demo created a lot of buzz at TED last month and was posted online today. Would love to know what the Slashdot community makes of it."

Comments

Wearable Display?

[GerardAtJob]

The use of a retinal display could complement this thing nicely... but since microvision have all and every patent on this... and only create stuff for military purpose, we won't see anything like this soon...

Re:I already have more than five senses

[petes_PoV]

The thing about school is that it biggest tacit lesson is to give the expected answer - not the correct one. As the OP, I use this exact question (along with how many colours in a rainbow) as an example.

It goes down great with the kids, though the teachers I know, hate it.

Re:Some of this is reminiscent

[Locke2005]

You can already do this in a limited fashion with Google Maps on the Google phone. Using the built-in compass and tilt sensors, it can display a Street View image that changes as you pan the phone to correspond with the direction the display is pointed. Which opens up the possibility for someone to write an app for the Google phone that takes the camera image in real time and displays it on the LCD with superimposed 3D virtual modifications that everybody running the app could then see at the same location. Just imagine the multiplayer games you could play with that! (Ignoring, of course, the safety implications of a bunch of people navigating busy streets by looking through their cell phones.) As far as I know, this should be doable on the iPhone as well (and possibly other devices).

Re:I already have more than five senses

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Exactly. Now the cyborg implant of a magnet in the middle finger of the left hand- that at least does SOMETHING NEW.

Re:I already have more than five senses

[Goldsmith]

Depends on who you ask...

I would say we have only 4 senses: chemical, light, pressure and temperature... but part of my job is to work on electrical analogues of sense and often this boils down to the most basic properties. For example, telling which way is down is just an application of a pressure sensor, even though it's nothing like a sense of "touch".

Of course, I understand completely that a neurologist is going to have a different opinion, which is correct in its own way, and probably more similar to how a computer scientist would think of things.

But, yeah, the 5 senses thing is pretty dumb.

Re:One possible application

[CatsupBoy]

Reuters

Linked to from the references section of this wikipedia article:

Infrared photography

Re:I already have more than five senses

[lawaetf1]

Sure.. just like the "components" of my server costs only $5,000. Then there's the $30k database license sitting on it. And the 2A of power it draws, and the $1k/month internet connection.. and my salary.. etc. Her hardware cost reference is to promote the "why don't we have this now?" reaction.

Anyone else notice the instances of him using the device (bookstore, grovery store) were conspicuously dimly lit? Not knocking what is certainly a clever packaging of components in an experimental doodad.. but would you buy a device you couldn't use outside?

Where are the intention gestures?

[izeskepticles]

The tough part in a "real world environment" is understanding the users intentions. They left out all of the hand gestures you would need to explain your intentions to the computer. Which makes this far more complex to interact with than shown here.

"Super hearing" happens

[dbIII]

With just a crack in the skull in the wrong place you too could have super hearing. It's apparently also very difficult to fix because there are a lot of important bits of brain right next to it.

Re:I already have more than five senses

[arkhan_jg]

8-13. The different Taste Receptors

Now you're just being picky. Why not separate the cone cells into S,M and L, or split the sense of smell down into the thousands of distinct odours we can detect?

Besides, you're missing the point. The 5 senses description is part of the lies-to-children approach to teaching. You teach the basics by giving them a simplification or outright falsehood that conveys the meaning well enough - and that lie is good enough for that purpose, even for an adult layman.

Take physics, with newton's laws of motion compared to special relativity. Newton is good enough for general purposes, even if it is wrong with a more detailed understanding. Or the Bohr model of the atom; I remember when I did my A-level in chemistry, and the first thing my teacher told me was everything I'd been told about the atom up to that point was wrong. The same thing happened at university.

It's all part of specialization; the mechanical engineer looks at the human senses, and compares them to their human-built equivalent sensors, which is an entirely different approach to that of a biochemist.

Don't forget the noise generator

[inKubus]

Also there's the noise generator, also known as the creative mind. If you count senses as basically a signal generator (IE: eyes generate a signal based on the light levels, ears generate a signal, etc.) then the creative mind is definitely one as well. Too many people think of the senses as the sense itself plus the filtering system of the brain (and the recording and cataloging sections as well). Looking at them as a package prevents one from seeing that the filtering, recording and cataloging systems work independently of the actual senses. In reality, your entire nervous system is one sense, with various adapters (eyes, ears, etc) connected to it. But because of the massive capabilities of the adaptors, other, unseen capabilities are often ignored. Like all systems that carry signals, the nervous system is subject to noise, interference, and other unintended signals. The filtering and cataloging systems in the brain can be put to work on this noise, and literally create something (a new thought) out of nothing (noise). For lack of a better way to label it, this is the creative mind, where inspiration comes from. Likewise, the processes can also be used to sense characteristics of the adapters that may not be their primary purpose. The ear, for instance, is designed to sense air pressure, but it can also help with balance because the air pressure adapter is also affected by gravity. I think a lot of the brain/sense structure is misunderstood simply because we go our entire lives only believing there are 5 senses and not seeing the true nature of ourselves. I think that is where you were going with your comment, just wanted to finish the thought.