This presentation – by MIT’s Pattie Maes, and inspired by Pranav Mistry – was the highlight of TED. The Sixth Sense is a wearable device that could radically change the way we interact with our environment.
Imagine the “Minority Report” – and something more. The translation into Greek was done by Dimitri Chaintini and the editing by Nichola Koutri.
The text of the video
I’ve always wondered… if we can evolve or develop somehow a sixth sense. A sense that would allow us to easily and effortlessly access the characteristics of information that may exist somewhere and, being relevant, would help us make the right decision regarding anything that concerns us. And likely some of you will disagree, since our mobile phones already do this, right? I would say no. When you meet someone here at TED – and, of course, it is one of the best moments to network – you don’t extend your hand for a handshake just to stop it and say, “Wait a moment while I take out my phone and look you up on Google?” Or when you go to the supermarket while standing in a huge aisle with many different types of toilet paper, you don’t take out your phone, open the browser, and go to a website to decide which of all the types of paper is the most ecological and responsible purchase…
Based on the above, we do not have easy access to the characteristics of certain information that could help us make the best decision about what we will do next. Thus, my research team at Media Lab has created a series of inventions that can give us access to this information in a relatively easy way, and without requiring a change in user behavior. I am here, therefore, to present to you our most recent effort, and the most successful so far, which of course is still something we are working on. If you look, I am wearing this device right now, which, if you notice, we have created from parts that are currently available in stores – and which, incidentally, cost only $350 at this time.
I am therefore wearing a camera, a simple webcam, and a portable projection system, which is powered by a battery, and carries a small mirror. These parts communicate with the mobile phone I have in my pocket, which handles the communication and computational functions. In the video here, therefore, we see my student Pranav Mistry, who is also the genius who implemented and designed the whole system. And we see how this system allows him simply to walk to a surface and use his hands to interact with the information displayed in front of him. The system detects the four fingers that carry the relevant marker. In this case, he simply wears marker caps that you can recognize. But if you want an even more stylish version you can paint your nails in various colors.
The camera basically detects the four fingers and recognizes any gesture it makes, thus allowing, for example, to go to a map of Long Beach, to zoom, and so on. The system also recognizes characteristic gestures such as the one we make to take a photo, with which it takes a picture of what we see at that moment. And when it returns to the Media Lab, it can simply go in front of any wall and display the photos it has taken, separate them and organize them, change their size and so on, again using only gestures. Some of you may have been here two years ago and saw the demonstration with Jeff Han or perhaps some of you think “It looks a lot like Microsoft’s Surface”. Yes, and here you interact with natural gestures, and with both hands, etc. The difference here, however, is that you can use any surface, you can simply approach a surface, even your hand, if there is nothing else, and interact with the projected data. The device is completely portable, and it can… (Applause)
A basic difference, then, is that it is completely portable. Another important difference is that when it goes into mass production, it will not cost more than the mobile phones of the future, nor will it have an even larger packaging than those — it could look much more stylish than this version that I am now wearing around my neck. However, beyond the opportunity for some of us to live this fantasy of looking like Tom Cruise in “Minority Report”, the reason we are so excited about this device is that it can function as a sixth-sense device, which will provide information about anything that is in front of you. Here, then, we see Pranav going to the supermarket and buying toilet paper. As he selects the product, the system recognizes the product he chose either through visual recognition or through special tagging technology, and gives him a green or an orange indicator. It may request more information. This particular choice, therefore, is a good choice, based on his personal criteria. Some of you may perhaps want the toilet paper that contains the most chlorine, instead of the more ecological and responsible choice.
(Laughter)
If they select a book from the library, they can see its rating on Amazon. It is displayed directly on the book's cover. This is Juan's book, the previous speaker's, which, incidentally, has a very good rating on Amazon. Thus, Pranav flips the book's page and can see more information about it — comments from those who have read it, information from his favorite critic, etc. If he flips to a specific page, he can find a note from a specialist friend of ours who gives him some additional information about anything on that page. Reading a newspaper — it doesn't need to be absolutely up-to-date.
(Laughter)
You can view video clips from the event you are reading about. You can see the latest match results, etc. That's why there is now some confrontation.
(Laughter)
When you meet someone at TED, you might be able to see a series of words that are linked to that person, on their blog or personal websites. In this case, the particular student is interested in cameras etc. On our way to the airport, if we check the flight ticket, we can see if there is a delay on our flight, if the gate has changed etc. And if you want to see the time, you can simply draw a clock — (Laughter) (Applause) …on your hand.
So far we have come up to this point, in the development of this sixth sense, which will allow us to have access to any form of such information regarding anything we might encounter. My student Pranav, who is the one who, as I said, thought of this whole mechanism.
(Clap)
It deserves an extensive applause as I don't believe it has slept enough over the past three months. And his girlfriend as well, probably not very happy either. It's not perfect yet, it's more indicative of the progress we have made so far. And who knows, maybe in 10 years from now we will be here with the ultimate sixth sense implant for the brain. Thank you.
