Amazing 3-D Display Lets Video Chatters Interact With Remote Objects [Video]
inFORM may be the future of remote ball-rolling. Image credit: MIT Tangible Media Group
The future of the Web, it seems, is not just sending data but transmittingactions. Telepresence robots and remote-control drones already let an internet user in one place control far-off gadgets in the physical world. Now another such device has emerged on the scene—a dynamic display that transmits 3-D shapes from the sender to the receiver.
The device is called inFORM, a “dynamic shape display” developed by researchers at MIT. Think of it as a long, wireless line of communication. On the receiving end of this line is a surface comprised of 30 by 30 pins. Each pin has a tiny motor attached to its base, which can move it up and down independently of the 899 others.
On the other end of the line, a depth-sensing camera records physical objects or movements and sends that information to the motorized surface. Each of the pins acts as a three-dimensional pixel to recreate that information in a physical form. It essentially makes the 3-D vision pop up from the surface.
This may all sound kind of confusing and obscure, but think of it this way: it’s like a cross between Skype one of those bizarre, ’90s pin-art toys.
Hi Mom! Look at my face! Image credits: bloomua/Shutterstock and Heather Katsoulis/Flickr
The list of potential applications inFORM’s developers foresee is nifty and far-reaching: from 3-D visualizations of CT scans, via interactive terrain models for urban planners, to long-distance design sessions between collaborating architects. But to make these applications practical, the resolution will need to be ramped up significantly. Future iterations of inFORM will have to include far more pins and far greater control.
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