Latest SixthSense demo features paper 'laptop,' camera gestures

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We've already seen MIT researcher Pranav Mistry's SixthSense projector-based augmented-reality system in some cool demos, but he just gave a TED talk and his latest ideas are the wildest yet. Forget simple projections, he's moved on to taking photos by just making a box with your fingers, identifying books and products on store shelves and projecting reviews and other information on them, projecting flight schedules on boarding passes, and even a new paper "laptop" concept that works by using a microphone on the paper to sense when you're touching it. It's pretty amazing stuff -- check out his whole talk at the read link.

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Sixth Sense Video's

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted by Editorial Team on 03:52 in

Seminar report on sixth sense

A TECHNICAL SEMINAR

ON

 

SIXTH SENSE TECHNOLOGY

 

 

 

1.     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.

 

 

 

2.     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.

 

 

                                    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 device projects visual information, enabling surfaces, walls and physical objects around the wearer to be used as interfaces; while the camera recognizes and tracks the 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.

                                      The Sixth Sense prototype implements several applications that demonstrate the usefulness, viability and flexibility of the system. The map application lets the user navigate a map displayed on a nearby surface using hand gestures, similar to gestures supported by multi-touch based systems, letting the user zoom in, zoom out or pan using intuitive hand movements. The drawing application lets the user draw on any surface by tracking the fingertip movements of the user’s index finger. Sixth Sense also recognizes user’s freehand gestures (postures). For example, it implements a gestural camera that takes photos of the scene the user is looking at by detecting the ‘framing’ gesture. The user can stop by any surface or wall and flick through the photos he/she has taken. Sixth Sense also lets the user draw icons or symbols in the air using the movement of the index finger and recognizes those symbols as interaction instructions. For example, drawing a magnifying glass symbol takes the user to the map application or drawing an ‘@’ symbol lets the user check his mail. The Sixth Sense system also augments physical objects the user is interacting with by projecting more information about these objects projected on them. For example, a newspaper can show live video news or dynamic information can be provided on a regular piece of paper. The gesture of drawing a circle on the user’s wrist projects an analog watch. The current prototype system costs approximately $350 to build."

                                    The device sees what we see but it lets out information that we want to know while viewing the object. It can project information on any surface, be it a wall, table or any other object and uses hand / arm movements to help us interact with the projected information. The device brings us closer to reality and assists us in making right decisions by providing the relevant information, thereby, making the entire world a computer.

 

                                     The world has shrunk. Distances have dissolved. Communication lines and interaction with countless systems have been rendered feasible. However this technological overhaul has been peripheral and not so much related to the human body; researchers and innovators have constantly grappled with the issue of bridging the gaps which limit the human-environment contact.  This device, tentatively name as the Sixth Sense, is a wearable machine that assists unexplored interactions between the real and the virtual sphere of data. It consists of certain commonly available components, which are intrinsic to its functioning. These include a camera, a portable battery-powered projection system coupled with a mirror and a cell phone. All these components communicate to the cell phone, which acts as the communication and computation device. The entire hardware apparatus is encompassed in a pendant-shaped mobile wearable device. Basically the camera recognizes individuals, images, pictures, gestures one makes with their hands and the projector assists in projecting any information on whatever type of surface is present in front of the person. The usage of the mirror is significant as the projector dangles pointing downwards from the neck. To bring out variations on a much higher plane, in the demo video which was broadcasted to showcase the prototype to the world, Mistry uses colored caps on his fingers so that it becomes simpler for the software to differentiate between the fingers, demanding various applications. The software program analyses the video data caught by the camera and also tracks down the locations of the colored markers by utilizing single computer vision techniques. One can have any number of hand gestures and movements as long as they are all reasonably identified and differentiated for the system to interpret it, preferably through unique and varied. This is possible only because the ‘Sixth Sense’ device supports multi-touch and multi-user interaction. There was once a clear divide between the virtual world and the real world, but that line is getting blurrier every day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.     GESTURES

 

The software recognizes three kinds of gestures:

 

Ø  Multi-Touch Gestures:

                        

                                                    Like the ones we see in the iphone-where we touch the screen and make the map move by pinching and dragging.

 

Ø  Freehand Gestures:

 

                           Like when you take a picture or Namaste gesture to start the projection on the wall.

 

Ø  ICONIC Gestures:

 

                           Drawing a icon in the air. Like, whenever we draw a star, shows us the weather details. When we draw a magnifying glass, shows us the map.

 

 

 

 

 

                       

 

                                                    

 

                                                           

                                                                

 

Figure1: Gestures

 

 

 

4.     COMPONENTS

 

 

The devices which are used in sixth sense technology ra :

1.       Camera

2.      Coloured Marker

3.      Mobile component

4.      Projector

5.      Mirror

 

 

                                                    Figure2: Sixth Sense Devices

 

 

 

 

Ø   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.

 

 

Ø  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.

 

 

Ø  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.

 

 

 

 

Ø  Projector:

The information that is interpreted through the smart phone can be projected into any surface. The projector projects the visual information enabling surfaces and physical objects to be used as interfaces. The projector itself consists of a battery which have3 hours of battery life.

 A tiny LED projector displays the data sent from the smart phone on any surface in view- object, wall or person. The downward facing projector projects the image on to a mirror.

 

 

Ø  Mirror:

The usage of a mirror is important as the projector dangles pointing downwards from the neck. The mirror reflects the image on to a desire surface. Thus finally the digital image is freed from its confines and placed in the physical world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.     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.

 

                           The technology in itself is nothing more than the combination of some stunning technologies. The technology is mainly based on hand gesture recognition, image capturing, processing, and manipulation, etc.  The software of the technology uses the video stream, which is captured by the camera, and also tracks the location of the tips of the fingers to recognize the gestures. This process is done using some techniques of computer vision. However, instead of requiring you to be in front of a big screen like Tom Cruise, Sixth Sense can do its magic—and a lot more—everywhere. The camera recognizes objects around you instantly, with the micro-projector overlaying the information on any surface, including the object itself or your hand. Then, you can access or manipulate the information using your fingers.  The key here is that Sixth Sense recognizes the objects around you, displaying information automatically and letting you access it in any way you want, in the simplest way possible. Clearly, this has the potential of becoming the ultimate "transparent" user interface for accessing information about everything around us. If they can get rid of the colored finger caps and it ever goes beyond the initial development phase, that is. But as it is now, it may change the way we interact with the real world and truly give everyone complete awareness of the environment around us.

 

 

                                 Figure3: The working of sixth sense device

 

 

The Sixth Sense technology works as follows:

 

1.      It captures the image of the object in view and track the user’s hand gesture.

2.      There are colour 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.

3.      The smart phone searches the web and interprets the hand gestures with help of the coloured markers placed at the finger tips

4.      The information that is interpreted through the smart phone can be projected into any surface.

5.      The mirror reflects the image on to a desire surface.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.     TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO SIXTH SENSE TECHNOLOGY

 

 

Ø  Augmented Reality:

                                                The augmented Reality is a visualization technology that allows the user to experience the virtual experience added over real world in real time. With the help of advanced AR technology the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally usable. Artificial information about the environment and the objects in it can be stored and retrieved as an information layer on top of the real world view. When we compare the spectrum between virtual reality, which creates immersive, computer-generated environments, and the real world, augmented reality is closer to the real world. Augmented reality adds graphics, sounds, haptic feedback and smell to the natural world as it exists. Both video games and cell phones are driving the development of augmented reality. The augmented systems will also superimpose graphics for every perspective available and try adjust to every movement of the user’s head and eyes. The three basic components of an augmented reality system are the head-mounted display, tracking system and mobile computer for the hardware. The main goal of this new technology is to merge these three components into a highly portable unit much like a combination of a high tech Walkman and an ordinary pair or eyeglasses. The head-mounted display used in augmented reality systems will enable the user to view superimposed graphics and text created by the system. Another component of an augmented reality system is its tracking and orientation system. This system pinpoints the user’s location in reference to his surroundings and additionally tracks the user’s eye and head movements. Augmented reality systems will need highly mobile computers. As of now many computers aren’t there to satisfy to provide this option.

 

 

Ø  Gesture Recognition:

 

 

                                                 It is a technology which is aimed at interpreting human gestures with the help of mathematical algorithms. Gesture recognition technique basically focuses on the emotion recognition from the face and hand gesture recognition. Gender recognition technique enables humans to interact with computers in a more direct way without using any external interfacing devices. It can provide a much better alternative to text user interfaces and graphical user interface which requires the need of a keyboard or mouse to interact with the computer. Interfaces which solely depends on the gestures requires precise hand pose tracking. In the early versions of gesture recognition process special type of hand gloves which provide information about hand position orientation and flux of the fingers. In the SixthSense devices coloured bands are used for this purpose. Once hand pose has been captured the gestures can be recognised using different technique’s. Neural network approaches or statistical templates are the commonly used techniques used for the recognition purposes. This technique have an high accuracy usually showing accuracy of more than 95%. Time dependent neural network will also be used for real time recognition of the gestures.

 

Ø  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. It’s also used in autonomous vehicle like SUV’s.  The computer vision technique basically includes four processes.

 

 

1.      Recognition: One of the main task of computer vision technique is to determine whether the particular object contain the useful data or not.

2.      Motion Analysis: Motion analysis includes several tasks related to estimation of motion where an image sequence is processed continuously to detect the velocity at each point of the image or in the 3D scene.

3.      Scene Reconstruction: Computer vision technique employs several methods to recreate a 3D image from the available images of a scene.

4.      Image Restoration: The main of aim of this step is to remove noise from an given image. The simplest method involves using simple filters like low pass or median filters. In order to get better quality images more complex methods like Inpainting are used.

 

 

Ø  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. A typical radio frequency tag consists of a microchip attached to a radio antenna which is mounted on a substrate. To retrieve the data from the tag a reader is needed. A typical radio frequency reader consists of two antennas that emit radio waves and at the same are capable of accepting the signals from the tag. The reader then passes the information that it has received to a computer device in digital form. The computer then interprets this digital data and processes it. Radio frequency identification techniques are widely used in the fields like asset tracking, supply chain management, manufacturing, payment systems etc. One of the major advantages of devices using radio frequency technology over other similar devices is that RFID devices need not be positioned precisely relative to the scanner. But till then there are certain areas of concern for this technology. Some problem related to this technology is tag collision and reader collision. Usually the reader collision occurs when the signals from two or more readers overlap, while tag collision occurs when many tags are present in a small area.

 

 

 

7.     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

 

            

                                                            Figure4: Applications

 

 

Ø  Viewing Map:

 

                                    With the help of a map application the user can call upon any map of his/her choice and navigate through them by projecting the map on to any surface. By using the thumb and index fingers movements  the user can zoom in, zoom out or pan the selected map.

 

                           

Figure5: Map application

 

Ø  Taking Pictures:

 

                                        Another application of sixth sense devices is the implementation of a gestural camera. This camera takes the photo of the location user is looking at by detecting the framing gesture. After taking the desired number of photos we can project them onto any surfaces and then use gestures to sort through those photos and organize and resize them.

                                        

   Figure6: The user taking making a pose gesture                        Figure7:  The camera takes the   photo of the location                         

 

 

Ø  Drawing Application:

 

                                               The drawing application allows the user you to draw on any surface by tracking the fingertip movements of the user’s index finger. The pictures that are drawn by the user can be stored and replaced on any other surface. The user can also shuffle through various pictures and drawing by using the hand gesture movements

 

 

Ø  Making Calls:

 

                                          We can make calls with help of sixth sense device .The sixth sense device is used to project the keypad into your palm and the using that virtual keypad we can make calls to anyone.

 

 

                                        

                                                            Figure8: making calls

 

Ø  Interacting with physical objects:

 

                                            The SixthSense system also helps to interact with physical objects we use in a better way. It augments physical objects by projecting more information about these objects projected on them. For example, a gesture of drawing a circle on the user’s wrist projects an analog watch on the user’s hand.  Similarly a newspaper can show live video news or dynamic information can be provided on a regular piece of paper

 

 

                                                       

  Figure9: Newspaper showing live feeds        Figure10: an analog watch projected into the wrist

 

 

Ø  Getting Information:

 

                                            Sixth sense devices can be used for getting various information relating to our everyday life by getting in contact with objects

·         Product Information:

 

                                             Sixth sense technology uses marker technology or image recognition techniques to recognize the objects we pick in our hand and then provide information relating to that product.

·         Book Information:

 

                                               By holding and shuffling through the book pages, the sixth sense provides Amazon ratings on that book, other reviews and other relevant things related to the book.

·         Flight Updates:

 

                                              With the help of the sixth sense technology it is no longer required to log into any sites for checking the status of the flights. The system will recognize your boarding pass and let you know whether the flight is on time or not.

·         Information About People:

 

                                              With help of face recognition techniques the sixth sense devices are able to provide information about the people when we meet them. The sensor detects the face and checks the data base for the relevant information. The system will then project the relevant information about a person like what they do, where they work,

 

 

 

 

                                                      

Figure11: Boarding pass showing current status

 

                                                     

                                 Figure12: The information about a person being projected

 

 

 

 

 

 

8.      ADVANTAGES

 

 

Ø  Portable:

 

                                    One of the main advantages of the sixth sense devices is its small size and portability. It can be easily carried around without any difficulty. The prototype of the sixth sense is designed in a such a way that it gives more importance to the portability factor. All the devices are light in weight and the smart phone can easily fit into the user’s pocket.

 

 

Ø  Support multi touch and multi user interaction:

     

                                    Multi touch and multi user interaction is another added feature of the sixth sense devices. Multi sensing technique allows the user to interact with system with more than one than one finger at a time.. Sixth sense devices also in-cooperates multi user functionality. This is typically useful for large interaction scenarios such as interactive table tops and walls. 

 

Ø  Cost effective:

 

                                 The cost incurred for the construction of the sixth sense proto type is quiet low. It was made from parts collected together from common devices. And a typical sixth sense device cost up to $300. The sixth sense devices have not been made in large scale for commercial purpose. Once that happens it’s almost certain that the  device will cost much lower than the current price.

 

Ø  Connectedness between real world and digital world:

 

                                   Forming a connection between the real world and the digital world was the main aim of the sixth sense technology.

 

Ø  Data access directly from the machines in real time:

 

                                   With help of a sixth sense device the user can easily access data from any machine at real time speed. The user doesn’t require any machine-human interface to access the data. The data access through recognition of hand gestures is much easier and user friendlier compared to the text user interface or graphical user interface which requires keyboard or mouse.

 

Ø  Mind map the idea anywhere:

 

                                      With the advent of the sixth sense device, requirement of a platform or a screen to analyze and interpret the data has become obsolete. We can project the information into any surface and can work and manage the data as per our convenience..

 

Ø  Open source software:

 

                                         The software that is used to interpret and analysis the data collected by the device is made open source. This enables other developers to contribute to the development of the system

 

 

9.     CONCLUSION

 

                   Sixth Sense recognizes the objects around us, displaying information automatically and letting us to access it in any way we need. This prototype implements several applications that demonstrate the usefulness, viability and flexibility of the system, allowing us to interact with this information via natural hand gestures. This became the ultimate “transparent” user interface for accessing information about everything around us.

Posted by Editorial Team on 03:46 in