US university researchers have created a portable "sixth sense" device powered by commercial products that can seamlessly channel Internet information into daily routines.<\/p>\n
The device created by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientists can turn any surface into a touch-screen for computing, controlled by simple hand gestures.<\/p>\n
The gadget can even take photographs if a user frames a scene with his or her hands, or project a watch face with the proper time on a wrist if the user makes a circle there with a finger.<\/p>\n
The MIT wizards cobbled a Web camera, a battery-powered projector and a mobile telephone into a gizmo that can be worn like jewelry. Signals from the camera and projector are relayed to smart phones with Internet connections.<\/p>\n
"Other than letting some of you live out your fantasy of looking as cool as Tom Cruise in ‘Minority Report’ it can really let you connect as a sixth sense device with whatever is in front of you," said MIT researcher Patty Maes.<\/p>\n
Maes used a Technology, Entertainment, Design Conference stage in Southern California on Wednesday to unveil the futuristic gadget made from store-bought components costing about $300 (US).<\/p>\n
The device can recognize items on store shelves, retrieving and projecting information about products or even providing quick signals to let users know which choices suit their tastes.<\/p>\n
The gadget can look at an airplane ticket and let the user know whether the flight is on time, or recognize books in a book store and then project reviews or author information from the Internet onto blank pages.<\/p>\n
The gizmo can recognize articles in newspapers, retrieve the latest related stories or video from the Internet and play them on pages.<\/p>\n
"You can use any surface, including your hand if nothing else is available, and interact with the data," Maes said.<\/p>\n
"It is very much a work in progress. Maybe in ten years we will be here with the ultimate sixth-sense brain implant."<\/p>\n