The history
The history of "6th sense technology" goes back into 1990's when Steve Mann first attempted to propose a neckworn projector and a camera combination.
The idea of implementing computer technologies to daily tasks as our "6th sense" was further developed by Pranav Mistry who also appears to be an MIT student as well as Steve Mann. The first prototype of the 6th sense technology was actually bigger than what it looks like today and it was not working properly to use in daily life. In an article called The sixth sense technology Arjun K. R says that "They started with a larger projector that was mounted on a helmet. But that proved cumbersome if someone was projecting data onto a wall then turned to speak to friend- the data would project on the friend's face" (Arjun K. R, 2011). Therefore, Mistry came up with a different and more convenient device which is a neckworn portable camera that allows users more space for their daily actions.
On the other hand, Mistry first tried out his idea on a simple computer mouse. First, he put two rollers into one mouse and see if he could obtain data and guide the movements of the mouse. Two rollers did not work properly so he decided to use four rollers and see if it could work better. Four rollers gave him the idea that he could use the same idea on fingers and thats what he next moved on to. The picture below shows how four rolls were tried out in Mistry's experiment.
The idea of implementing computer technologies to daily tasks as our "6th sense" was further developed by Pranav Mistry who also appears to be an MIT student as well as Steve Mann. The first prototype of the 6th sense technology was actually bigger than what it looks like today and it was not working properly to use in daily life. In an article called The sixth sense technology Arjun K. R says that "They started with a larger projector that was mounted on a helmet. But that proved cumbersome if someone was projecting data onto a wall then turned to speak to friend- the data would project on the friend's face" (Arjun K. R, 2011). Therefore, Mistry came up with a different and more convenient device which is a neckworn portable camera that allows users more space for their daily actions.
On the other hand, Mistry first tried out his idea on a simple computer mouse. First, he put two rollers into one mouse and see if he could obtain data and guide the movements of the mouse. Two rollers did not work properly so he decided to use four rollers and see if it could work better. Four rollers gave him the idea that he could use the same idea on fingers and thats what he next moved on to. The picture below shows how four rolls were tried out in Mistry's experiment.
The 6th sense technology was a bit pricey back in 1990's because the specifications that the device needed were barely entering the market and it was really costly to convert them into commercial use. But today, with the fast pace of technological innovations, the cost of this technology is getting ready to enter the commercial market which will allow people to actually use it in their daily life in a few years.