01-05-2013, 04:47 PM
A TECHNICAL SEMINAR ON SIXTH SENSE TECHNOLOGY
SIXTH SENSE.doc (Size: 654 KB / Downloads: 39)
INTRODUCTION
Although miniaturized versions of computers help us to connect to the digital world even while we are travelling there aren’t any device as of now which gives a direct link between the digital world and our physical interaction with the real world. Usually the information’s are stored traditionally on a paper or a digital storage device. Sixth sense technology helps to bridge this gap between tangible and non-tangible world. Sixth Sense device is basically a wearable gestural interface that connects the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with this information .The sixth sense technology was developed by Pranav Mistry, a PhD student in the Fluid Interfaces Group at the MIT Media Lab. The sixth sense technology has a Web 4.0 view of human and machine interactions. Sixth Sense integrates digital information into the physical world and its objects, making the entire world your computer. It can turn any surface into a touch-screen for computing, controlled by simple hand gestures. It is not a technology which is aimed at changing human habits but causing computers and other machines to adapt to human needs. It also supports multi user and multi touch provisions. Sixth Sense device is a mini-projector coupled with a camera and a cell phone—which acts as the computer and your connection to the Cloud, all the information stored on the web. The current prototype costs around $350. The Sixth Sense prototype is used to implement several applications that have shown the usefulness, viability and flexibility of the system.
DEFINITION
Sixth Sense' is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with that information. By using a camera and a tiny projector mounted in a pendant like wearable device, 'Sixth Sense' sees what you see and visually augments any surfaces or objects we are interacting with. It projects information onto surfaces, walls, and physical objects around us, and lets us interact with the projected information through natural hand gestures, arm movements, or our interaction with the object itself. 'Sixth Sense' attempts to free information from its confines by seamlessly integrating it with reality, and thus making the entire world your computer. All of us are aware of the five basic senses – seeing, feeling, smelling, tasting and hearing. But there is also another sense called the sixth sense. It is basically a connection to something greater than what their physical senses are able to perceive. To a layman, it would be something supernatural. Some might just consider it to be a superstition or something psychological. But the invention of sixth sense technology has completely shocked the world. Although it is not widely known as of now but the time is not far when this technology will change our perception of the world.
Camera:
It captures the image of the object in view and tracks the user’s hand gesture. The camera recognizes individuals, images, pictures, gestures that user makes with his hand. The camera then sends this data to a smart phone for processing. Basically the camera forms a digital eye which connects to the world of digital information.
Coloured Marker:
There are color markers placed at the tip of users finger. Marking the user’s fingers with red, yellow green and blue coloured tape helps the webcam to recognize the hand gestures. The movements and arrangement of these markers are interpreted into gestures that act as a interaction instruction for the projected application interfaces.
Mobile Component:
The SixthSense device consists of a web enabled smart phone which process the data send by the camera. The smart phone searches the web and interprets the hand gestures with help of the colored markers placed at the finger tips.
HOW IT WORKS
The Sixth Sense prototype is comprised of a pocket projector, a mirror and a camera. The hardware components are coupled in a pendant like mobile wearable device. Both the projector and the camera are connected to the mobile computing device in the user’s pocket. The projector projects visual information enabling surfaces, walls and physical objects around us to be used as interfaces; while the camera recognizes and tracks user's hand gestures and physical objects using computer-vision based techniques. The software program processes the video stream data captured by the camera and tracks the locations of the colored markers at the tip of the user’s fingers using simple computer-vision techniques. The movements and arrangements of these fiducials are interpreted into gestures that act as interaction instructions for the projected application interfaces. The maximum number of tracked fingers is only constrained by the number of unique fiducials, thus Sixth Sense also supports multi-touch and multi-user interaction.Both the projector and the camera are connected to the mobile computing device in the user’s pocket. The projector projects visual information enabling surfaces, walls and physical objects around us to be used as interfaces; while the camera recognizes and tracks user’s hand gestures and physical objects using computer-vision based techniques. The software program processes the video stream data captured by the camera and tracks the locations of the colored markers at the tip of the user’s fingers using simple computer-vision techniques. It also supports multi touch and multi user interaction.
Computer Vision:
Computer vision is the technology in which machines are able to interpret/extract necessary information from an image. Computer vision technology includes various fields like image processing, image analysis and machine vision. It includes certain aspect of artificial intelligence techniques like pattern recognition. The machines which implement computer vision techniques require image sensors which detect electromagnetic radiation which are usually in the form of ultraviolet rays or light rays. The computer vision find itself applicable in varies field of interest. One such field is bio medical image processing.
Radio Frequency Identification:
Radio frequency identification systems transmit the identity of an object wirelessly, using radio magnetic waves. The main purpose of a radio frequency identification system is to enable the transfer of a data via a portable device. The portable device is commonly known as tag. The data send by the tag is received and processed by a reader according to the needs of the application. The data send by the tag contains various information’s identification or location of the information, or specifics about the product that has been tagged, for example price, colour, date of purchase, etc. This technology gained importance because of its ability to track moving object.
APPLICATION
The sixth sense technology finds a lot of application in the modern world. The sixth sense devices bridge the gap by bringing the digital world into the real world and in that process allowing the users to interact with the information without the help of any machine interfaces. Prototypes of the sixth sense device have demonstrated viability, usefulness and flexibility of this new technology. According to the words of its developers the extend of use of this new device is only limited by the imagination of human beings. Some practical applications of the sixth sense technology is given below.