SIXTH SENSE TECHNOLOGY

SIXTH SENSE TECHNOLOGY

Abstract
Every one of us are aware of the five basic senses seeing, feeling, smelling, tasting and hearing. These senses have evolved through millions of years. Whenever we encounter a new object/experience our natural senses tries to analysis that experience and the information that is obtained is used to modify our interaction with the environment. But in this new age of technologies the most important information that helps one to make right decision is something that cannot be perceived and analysed by our natural senses. That information is the data in the digital form, and it is available to everyone through sources like internet. The sixth sense technology concept is an effort to connect this data in the digital world in to the real world.

Introduction
Although miniaturized versions of computers help us to connect to the digital world even while we are travelling there arent any device as of now which gives a direct link between the digital world and our physical interaction with the real world. Usually the informations are stored traditionally on a paper or a digital storage device. Sixth sense technology helps to bridge this gap between tangible and nontangible world. Sixth Sense device is basically a wearable gestural interface that connects the

physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with this information .The sixth sense technology was developed by Pranav Mistry, a PhD student in the Fluid Interfaces Group at the MIT Media Lab. The sixth sense technology has a Web 4.0 view of human and machine interactions. SixthSense integrates digital information into the physical world and its objects, making the entire world your computer. It can turn any surface into a touch-screen for computing, controlled by simple hand gestures. It is not a technology which is aimed at changing human habits but causing computers and other machines to adapt to human needs .It also supports multi user and multi touch provisions. Sixth Sense device is a mini-projector coupled with a camera and a cell phonewhich acts as the computer and your connection to the Cloud, all the information stored on the web. The current prototype costs around $350. The Sixth Sense prototype is used to implement several applications that have shown the usefulness, viability and flexibility of the system.

SIXTH SENSE DEVICES

'SixthSense' is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with that information The hardware components are coupled in a pendant like mobile wearable device. The SixthSense prototype is comprised of a pocket projector, a mirror,colord marker and a camera. The camera, mirror and projector is connected wirelessly to a blue tooth smart phone device that can easily fit into the users pocket. A software then processes the data that is collected by the capturing device and produces analysis.The software that is used in sixth sense device is open source type.

Camera
It captures the image of the object in view and track the users hand gesture. The camera recognizes individuals, images, pictures, gestures that user makes with his hand. The camera then sends this data to a smart phone for processing. Basically the camera forms a digital eye which connects to the world of digital information.

Coloured Marker
There are colour markers placed at the tip of users finger. Marking the users fingers with red, yellow green and blue coloured tape helps the webcam to recognize the hand gestures .The movements and arrangement of these markers are interpreted into gestures that act as a interaction instruction for the projected application interfaces.

Mobile Component
The SixthSense device consists of a web enabled smart phone which process the data send by the camera. The smart phone searches the web and interprets the hand gestures with help of the coloured markers placed at the finger tips.

Projector
The information that is interpreted through the smart phone can be projected into any surface. The projector projects the visual information enabling surfaces and physical objects to be used as interfaces. The projector itself consists of a battery which have 3 hours of battery life .A tiny LED projector displays the data sent from the smart phone on any surface in view- object, wall or person. The downward facing projector projects the image on to a mirror.

Using palm for dialling a number

Mirror
The usage of a mirror is important as the projector dangles pointing downwards from the neck. The mirror reflects the image on to a desire surface.Thus finally the digital image is freed from its confines and placed in the physical world.

Technologies that are related to Sixth Sense Devices

Augmented Reality
The augmented Reality is a visualization technology that allows the user to experience the virtual experience added over real world in real time. With the help of advanced AR technology the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally usable. Artificial information about the environment and the objects in it can be stored and retrieved as an information layer on top of the real world view. When we compare the spectrum between virtual reality, which creates immersive, computer-generated environments, and the real world, augmented reality is closer to the real world. Augmented reality adds graphics, sounds, haptic feedback and smell to the natural world as it exists. Both video games and cell phones are driving the development of augmented reality. The augmented systems will also superimpose graphics for every perspective available and try adjust to every movement of the user's head and eyes. The three basic components of an augmented reality system are the head-mounted display, tracking system and mobile computer for the hardware. The main goal of this new technology is to merge these three components into a highly portable unit much like a combination of a high tech Walkman and an ordinary pair or eyeglasses. The head-mounted display used in augmented reality systems will enable the user to view superimposed graphics and text created by the system. Another component of an augmented reality system is its tracking and orientation system. This system pinpoints the user's location in reference to his surroundings and additionally tracks the user's eye and head movements. Augmented reality systems will need highly mobile computers. As of now many computers arent there to satisfy to provide this option.

Gesture Recognition
It is a technology which is aimed at interpreting human gestures with the help of mathematical algorithms. Gesture recognition technique basically focuses on the emotion recognition from the face and hand gesture recognition. Gender recognition technique enables humans to interact with computers in a more direct way without using any external interfacing devices. It can provide a much better alternative to text user interfaces and graphical user interface which requires the need of a keyboard or mouse to interact with the computer. Interfaces which solely depends on the gestures requires precise hand pose tracking. In the early versions of gesture recognition process special type of hand gloves which provide information about hand position orientation and flux of the fingers. In the SixthSense devices coloured bands are used for this purpose. Once hand pose has been captured the gestures can be recognised using different techniques. Neural network approaches or statistical templates are the commonly used techniques used for the recognition purposes. This technique have an high accuracy usually showing accuracy of more than 95%. Time dependent neural network will also be used for real time recognition of the gestures.

Computer Vision
Computer vision is the technology in which machines are able to interpret/extract necessary information from an image. Computer vision technology includes various fields like image processing, image analysis and machine vision. It includes certain aspect of artificial intelligence techniques like pattern recognition. The machines which implement computer vision techniques require image sensors which detect electromagnetic radiation which are usually in the form of ultraviolet rays or light rays. The computer vision find itself applicable in varies field of interest. One such field is bio medical image processing. Its also used in autonomous vehicle like SUVs. The computer vision technique basically includes four processes. 1. Recognition: One of the main task of computer vision technique is to determine whether the particular object contain the useful data or not. 2. Motion Analysis: Motion analysis includes several tasks related to estimation of motion where an image sequence is processed continuously to detect the velocity at each point of the image or in the 3D scene. 3. Scene Reconstruction: Computer vision technique employs several methods to recreate a 3D image from the available images of a scene. 4. Image Restoration: The main of aim of this step is to remove noise from an given image. The simplest method involves using simple filters like low pass or median filters. In order to get better quality images more complex methods like Inpainting are used.

Radio Frequency Identification

Radio frequency identification systems transmit the identity of an object wirelessly, using radio magnetic waves. The main purpose of a radio frequency identification system is to enable the transfer of a data via a portable device. The portable device is commonly known as tag. The data send by the tag is received and processed by a reader according to the needs of the application. The data send by the tag contains various informations identification or location of the information, or specifics about

the product that has been tagged, for example price, colour, date of purchase, etc. This technology gained importance because of its ability to track moving object. A typical radio frequency tag consists of a microchip attached to a radio antenna which is mounted on a substrate. To retrieve the data from the tag a reader is needed. A typical radio frequency reader consists of two antennas that emit radio waves and at the same are capable of accepting the signals from the tag. The reader then passes the information that it has received to a computer device in digital form. The computer then interprets this digital data and processes it. Radio frequency identification techniques are widely used in the fields like asset tracking, supply chain management, manufacturing, payment systems etc. One of the major advantages of devices using radio frequency technology over other similar devices is that RFID devices need not be positioned precisely relative to the scanner. But till then there are certain areas of concern for this technology. Some problem related to this technology is tag collision and reader collision. Usually the reader collision occurs when the signals from two or more readers overlap, while tag collision occurs when many tags are present in a small area.

ADVANTAGES OF SIXTH SENSE DEVICES

Portable
One of the main advantages of the sixth sense devices is its small size and portability. It can be easily carried around without any difficulty. The prototype of the sixth sense is deigned in a such a way that it gives more importance to the portability factor. All the devices are light in weight and the smart phone can easily fit into the users pocket.

Support multi touch and multi user interaction

Multi touch and multi user interaction is another added feature of the sixth sense devices. Multi sensing technique allows the user to interact with system with more than one than one finger at a time.. Sixth sense devices also in-cooperates multi user functionality. This is typically useful for large interaction scenarios such as interactive table tops and walls.

Cost effective
The cost incurred for the construction of the sixth sense proto type is quiet low. It was made from parts collected together from common devices. And a typical sixth sense device cost up to $300. The sixth sense devices have not been made in large scale for commercial purpose. Once that happens its almost certain that the device will cost much lower than the current price.

Connectedness between real world and digital world

Forming a connection between the real world and the digital world was the main aim of the sixth sense technology.

Data access directly from the machines in real time 6

With help of a sixth sense device the user can easily access data from any machine at real time speed. The user doesnt require any machine-human interface to access the data. The data access through recognition of hand gestures is much easier and user friendlier compared to the text user interface or graphical user interface which requires keyboard or mouse.

Mind map the idea anywhere

With the advent of the sixth sense device, requirement of a platform or a screen to analyse and interpret the data has become obsolete. We can project the information into any any surface and can work and manage the data as per our convenience. .

Open source software

The software that is used to interpret and analysis the data collected by the device is made open source. This enables other developers to contribute to the development of the system

APPLICATION
The sixth sense technology finds a lot of application in the modern world. The sixth sense devices bridge the gap by bringing the digital world into the real world and in that process allowing the users to interact with the information without the help of any machine interfaces. Prototypes of the sixth sense device have demonstrated viability, usefulness and flexibility of this new technology. According to the words of its developers the extend of use of this new device is only limited by the imagination of human beings. Some practical applications of the sixth sense technology is given below

Map Application
With the help of a map application the user can call upon any map of his/her choice and navigate through them by projecting the map on to any surface .By using the thumb and index fingers movements the user can zoom in, zoom out or pan the selected map.

Taking Pictures
Another application of sixth sense devices is the implementation of a gestural camera. This camera takes the photo of the location user is looking at by detecting the framing gesture. After taking the desired number of photos we can project them onto any surfaces and then use gestures to sort through those photos and organize and resize them.

The user taking making a pose gesture

The camera takes the photo of the location

Drawing Application
The drawing application allows the user you to draw on any surface by tracking the fingertip movements of the users index finger. The pictures that are drawn by the user can be stored and replaced on any other surface. The user can also shuffle through various pictures and drawing by using the hand gesture movements

Making Calls
We can make calls with help of sixth sense device .The sixth sense device is used to project the keypad into your palm and the using that virtual keypad we can make calls to anyone.

Interacting with physical objects

The SixthSense system also helps to interact with physical objects we use in a better way. It augments physical objects by projecting more information about these objects projected on them. For example, a gesture of drawing a circle on the users wrist projects an analog watch on the users hand. Similarly a newspaper can show live video news or dynamic information can be provided on a regular piece of paper

Newspaper showing live feeds

an analog watch projected into the wrist

Getting Information
Sixth sense devices can be used for getting various information relating to our everyday life by getting in contact with objects Product Information: Sixth sense technology uses marker technology or image recognition techniques to recognize the objects we pick in our hand and then provide information relating to that product.

Book Information: By holding and shuffling through the book pages, the sixth sense provides Amazon ratings on that book, other reviews and other relevant things related to the book. Flight Updates: With the help of the sixth sense technology it is no longer required to log into any sites for checking the status of the flights. The system will recognize your boarding pass and let you know whether the flight is on time or not. Information About People: With help of face recognition techniques the sixth sense devices are able to provide information about the people when we meet them. The sensor detects the face and checks the data base for the relevant information. The system will then project the relevant information about a person like what they do, where they work,

Boarding pass showing current status

The information about a person being projected

WAY FORWARD
Upcoming Projects Making Use Of the Sixth Sense Technology

Mouse less:
Mouse less is a concept which is developed in order to avoid the usage of mouse in computers. It helps to provide a familiarity of the physical mouse without actually requiring a physical mouse.

Even though the computer hardware technology has been developed to a greater extent, still there has been no proper substitute for a physical mouse. This new invention aims to remove the

requirement of having a physical mouse altogether but still it provides the feeling of a physical

mouse that users are familiar with. It basically consists of an Infrared laser beam and an Infrared camera. Both laser and camera are embedded together with the computer. The laser beam module is modified with a line cap and placed such that it creates a plane of IR laser just above the surface the computer sits on. The user cups their hand, as if a physical mouse was present underneath, and the laser beam lights up the hand which is in contact with the surface. The IR camera detects those bright IR blobs using computer vision. The change in the position and arrangements of these blobs are interpreted as mouse cursor movement and mouse clicks.

Third Eye:
Third Eye is a new technique that enables multiple viewers to see different things on a same display screen at the same time.

With thirdEye, - We can have a public sign board where a Japanese tourist sees all the instructions in Japanese and an American in English. - We don't need to have the split screen in games now. Each player can see his/her personal view of the game on the TV screen. - Two people watching TV can watch their favuorite channel on a single TV screen. - A public display can show secret messages or patterns. - In the same movie theater, people can see different end of a suspense movie.

Inktuitive:
Even though there has been a tremendous development of computer aided designing tools, still paper and pencil is the preferred by most of the designers ,especially in the earlier stages of designing

The project inktuitive is aimed to combine the process of creation that is inherent in paper and pencil with the power of computing that the digital design tools provide. It also extends the natural workpractice of using physical paper by giving the pen the ability to control the design in physical threedimensional space, freeing it from its tie to the paper. There always remains an intuition of pen and paper ,but the lines that have been drawn are be captured and translated into shapes in the digital world. The physical paper is augmented with overlaid digital strokes. The platform provides a novel

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interaction mechanism for drawing and designing using above the surface pen movements. In other words inktuitive can be considered as an intuitive physical design workspace that aims to bridge the gap and bring together the conventional design tools such as paper and pencil with the power and convenience of the digital tools for design.

TaPuma:
TaPuma is the short form of Tangible Public Map. It is another attempt to bring the digital world nearer to the real world by exploring the techniques of sixth sense technology. Key word based search mechanism has vastly influenced and modified the ways in which we search informations. The keyword based search allows the user to filter out the required data from the vast data that are available on search engines such as yahoo and google. TaPuMa allows people to use their own belongings, the objects they usually carry with them to access relevant and just-in-time information and locations of places from a public map. The project also explores and analyzes the advantages and challenges of this novel interaction mechanism, where real life objects serve as the interface for information acquirement. The broad concept behind the project TaPuMa is Object Amelioration, where the functions of everyday objects can be expanded by using their affordances or functionalities in a variety of different contexts.

CONCLUSION
The sixth sense technology and devices are definitely the way forward. The sixth sense recognizes the objects around us and displays the information relating to those objects in a real time environment. The sixth sense technology allows the user to interact the information through hand gestures. This is a quiet efficient way compared to the text and graphic based user interface. It has the potential to form the transparent user interface for accessing the information around us. . Even though the sixth sense devices are currently in development stages and have not been used in large now, its quiet predictable that this technology have the potential to revolutionise the way in which we interacts with the digital world.

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REFERNCES

http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.htm http://www.commoncraft.com/augmented-reality-video http://www.arcane-technologies.com/en/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality http://www.rfidjournal.com/ http://www.ted.com/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Health__Science/Sixth_sense_gizmo_a_scifi_reality/articleshow/4083978.cms http://www.gesturetek.com/

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