New Wearable Tech from MIT

[Pangloss]

 

Interesting idea. It's a device based on off-the-shelf parts that's powered by your cellphone OS and adds an external camera and projector that you wear on a neck lanyard. The projector projects an interface onto any surface in front of you, including your hand. So you hold out your hand and a phone keypad appears on your fingers, and you can punch them to dial a number. Hold out your wrist and a watch appears on it to show you the time. Or if you're talking to someone the system can project personal information about that individual right on their clothing (lol). Or if you're shopping the system can recognize the data and provide more information about it, check it off a shopping list, compare prices, etc.

 

The device also interprets gestures, so you can for example hold your fingers in a box-like formation (like a movie director) and the system will take a picture of that area. Walk up to a wall and display all your images there, or spread out a Google Map and see where you are and where you need to go.

 

Simple tricks, but the implications are pretty cool.

[Kyrisch]

THIS IS SO AWESOME. How pragmatic, though? I feel that they can't really optimize it much more than the bulky neck-pack, and its dependency on a surface to project upon makes it bad for, say, dark objects.

[Pangloss]

Right, plus I think it would get annoying really fast, trying to find a surface, trying to get an object recognized in bright lighting conditions, trying to get the projector to stop overheating, etcetcetc. OTOH if they can do this in an object this size, there may be other possibilities, like building it into a hat or maybe the phone itself.

[bascule]

Yeah, this will work a lot better when it takes place completely inside your head