the next project that I will be working on involves the technology being developed by Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry called “6th sense”. They have assembled a device worn around the neck that alows people to interface with any surface, projecting information and reading information constantly. The user interfaces with the technology by gesturing with his hands, the experience is a lot like what Tom Cruise uses in the movie “Minority Report”.
Many applications for this technology have been explored by pranav and pattie maes for the common consumer, such as capturing information from physical products or documents and projecting relevant data from the internet, so that someone could comparison shop in the store or check flight and weather information while looking at a ticket or a newspaper. a hand can become a phone or a wrist can become a watch with a gesture and a surface projection. One of the more controversial applications is one where the device understands the identity of a person facing the user and projects social information related to that person.
What I hope to do is explore the controversial side of the product. Having a tool to communicate between people is a much newer idea than a tool for communicating with a surface and a database. People certainly already have watches and weather info and consumer’s guide on the web. In one article I read responding to the technology, a user was ready to dismiss every application suggested for the product until they read the last sentence, where almost as an afterthought, the article suggest that a deaf person might use 6th sense to interpret and project audio or visual translations of sign language. What other things can 6th sense do to make it easier for us to communicate with each other?
I want to focus specifically on therapy applications for this product. I feel that a lot of ground could be covered in pediatric physical therapy for children with developmental and learning disabilities. these situations can exascerbate themselves early on, as one disorder such as cerebral paulsy leads to other mental disorders or obesity, and they are always hard to diagnose when the patient has impaired communication skills. There are serious issues of neglect and emotional abuse resulting from communication barriers and frustration between child/parent or child/caregiver.
how would a computer that you interface with gesturally aid with cognition and sensory processing? How might it relieve anxiety between child and therapist or child and parent? can it be a mediator? if it can underatand a persons identity, perhaps it can also interpret body language in a child and signal the therapist accordingly.
I plan on making some appointments with therapists. I would like to understand what some of the specific needs are for these children, and how technology has met those needs in the past. My immediate example is my twin brother, who suffers from autism and schizophrenic episodes. He has used audio tapes in books in time with actual books to help his focus, but it is burdensome to find his place in the audio tape and match it to his chapter number, he has to use an oversized archaic tape deck for its simplicity in function and large buttons. He could benefit from a device that could recognize and track his place in the book in his hands and project the audio counterpart automatically. He also loves youtube, and he loves his media entertainments as we all do. But whereas others might enjoy the privacy and social isolation of their computers, he might get more benefit out of the idea of projecting anywhere and being engaged with his surroundings. His habits of rocking and flapping would interrupt the device, perhaps that would be enough encouragement to keep them in check.
My main contribution to this project will be encasing the physical device. As of now, it is just a hodgepodge of hacked devices. The first concern of the MIT researchers is making it marketable: If you wear it on your neck all day and go to the store with it on, how can it become fashionable and not embarrassing or geeky? But I will focus more on realizing the device as a tool, and not as an item of fashion. What are the immediate tactile concerns of a therapeutic device? how do I make it inviting?
@2 years ago
#6th sense
