MIT Invents Remote Controlled Shape Shifting Robotic Screen

When I first located this on the internet, my initial reaction was simply “wow, that’s deep”. Even now, I stick by that initial reaction after reading more on the subject and viewing the media surrounding the project.  If you love tech and I know you do, this will blow your mind! The light at the end of the tunnel is finally here and the future of communications is upon us.

Scientists at MIT, have invented a screen which can be touched and manipulated by a person remotely. So if you want to move an object that’s on the screen, you can do it from anywhere on the planet.

The Tangible Media Group at MIT’s Media Lab fashioned the display made of atoms, not pixels, and named it the inFORM. The plastic pins are controlled by a motor which is connected to a laptop.  The laptop can then render digital and real-life objects thanks to the Microsoft Kinect it uses for its vision.

What are the possible applications of this technology?  Well, think of this…Two people remotely connected on Skype could physically interact, not just see each other and hear each other, but actually touch one another. Obviously in these preliminary stages the interaction would be very basic, such as patting a ball back and forth, for example. Or two 3D modellers could labour sculpting something from different sides of the screen.

inFORM – Interacting With a Dynamic Shape Display from Tangible Media Group on Vimeo.

In the future, where a more complex version could work on a larger scale, maybe a full size person could be recreated to interact remotely.

The co-creator Sean Follimer says: “As humans, we have evolved to interact physically with our environments, but in the 21st century, we’re missing out on all of this tactile sensation that is meant to guide us, limit us, and make us feel more connected. In the transition to purely digital interfaces, something profound has been lost…Whatever it ends up looking like, the UI of the future won’t be made of just pixels, but time and form as well. And that future is only five or ten years away. It’s time for designers to start thinking about what that means now.”

Like I said, it’s a mind blowing concept.

[Image via fbexternal]

SOURCE: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/125123-mit-invents-shapeshifting-robotic-screen-that-mimics-your-hands-from-the-other-side-of-the-world