- LEarninG and tHinkinG witH tHinGs (^) | 127
If we look a bit further out:
• Sites such as Sparkfun, Parallax, or Seeed offer hundreds of dif-
ferent kinds of sensors (RFID, magnetic, thermal, and so on) and
associated hardware with which hobbyists and businesses can tin-
ker. Crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter have turned many of
these hobbyist projects into commercial products.
• Smartphones have a dozen or more different sensors (GPS, accel-
erometer, and so on) built in to them, making them a lot more
“aware” than most personal computers (and ready for the imagina-
tive entrepreneur). And while most of us are focused on the apps
we can build on top of these now-ubiquitous smartphone sensors,
folks like Chris Harrison, a researcher at Disney Research Labs,
have crafted a way to recognize the differences between various
kinds of touch—fingertip, knuckle, nail, and pad—using acoustics
and touch sensitivity; the existing sensors can be exploited to create
new forms of interaction.
• Indeed, places such as Disney Research Labs in Pittsburgh or the
MIT Media Lab are hotspots for these tangible computing proj-
ects. Imagine turning a plant into a touch surface, or a surface
that can sense different grips. Look further out, and projects like
ZeroN show an object floating in midair, seemingly defying grav-
ity; when moved, information is recorded and you can play back
these movements!
• How about a robotic glove covered with sensors and micro-ultra-
sound machines? Med Sensation is inventing just such a device
that would allow the wearer to assess all kinds of vital information
not detectable through normal human touch.
There is no shortage of exciting technologies primed to be the next big
thing!
We live in a time full of opportunity for imaginative individuals. In
our lifetime, we will witness the emergence of more and varied forms
of human-computer interaction than ever before. And, if history is any
indication (there’s generally a 20 -year incubation period from inven-
tion in a laboratory to commercial product), these changes will happen
inside of the next few decades.
nandana
(Nandana)
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