INTRODUCTION

Sixth Sense 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.It was

developed by Pranav Mistry, a PhD student in the Fluid Interfaces Group at the MIT Media Lab.

SixthSense bridges the gap by bringing intangible, digital information out into the tangible

world, and allowing us to interact with this information via natural hand.SixthSense comprises a

pocket projector, a mirror and a camera. The hardware components are coupled in a pendant like

mobile wearable device.

All of us are aware of the five basic senses – seeing, feeling, smelling, tasting and hearing. But

there is also another sense called the sixth sense. It is basically a connection to something

greater than what their physical senses are able to perceive. To a layman, it would be

something supernatural. Some might just consider it to be a superstition or something

psychological. But the invention of sixth sense technology has completely shocked the world.

Although it is not widely known as of now but the time is not far when this technology will

change our perception of the world.

Pranav Mistry, 28 year old, of Indian origin is the mastermind behind the sixth sense

technology. He invented ‘ Sixth Sense / WUW ( Wear UR World) ‘ which is a wearable gestural ,

user friendly interface which links the physical world around us with digital information and

uses hand gestures to interact with them. He is a PhD student at MIT and he won the ‘Invention

of the Year 2009 ‘- by Popular Science. The device sees what we see but it lets out information

that we want to know while viewing the object. It can project information on any surface, be it

a wall, table or any other object and uses hand / arm movements to help us interact with the

projected information. The device brings us closer to reality and assists us in making right

decisions by providing the relevant information, thereby, making the entire world a computer.

The Sixth Sense prototype consists of a pocket projector, mirror and a camera. The device is

pendant shaped like mobile wearing devices. Both the projector and the camera are connected

to the mobile computing device in the user’s pocket. The projector projects visual information

enabling surfaces, walls and physical objects around us to be used as interfaces; while the

camera recognizes and tracks user’s hand gestures and physical objects using computer-vision

based techniques. The software program processes the video stream data captured by the

camera and tracks the locations of the colored markers (visual tracking fiducials) at the tip of

the user’s fingers using simple computer-vision techniques. It also supports multi touch and

multi user interaction.

The device has a huge number of applications. Firstly, it is portable and easily to carry as you

can wear it in your neck. The drawing application lets user draw on any surface by observing

the movement of index finger. Mapping can also be done anywhere with the features of

zooming in or zooming out. The camera also helps user to take pictures of the scene he is

viewing and later he can arrange them on any surface. That’s not it. Some of the more practical

uses are reading a newspaper. Imagine reading a newspaper and viewing videos instead of the

photos in the paper. Or live sports updates while reading the newspaper. The device can also

tell you arrival, departure or delay time of your air plane on your tickets. For book lovers it is

nothing less than a blessing. Open any book and you will find the Amazon ratings of the book.

To add to it, pick any page and the device gives additional information on the text, comments

and lot more add on features. While picking up any good at the grocery store, the user can get

to know whether the product is eco friendly or not. To know the time, all one has to do is to

just gesture drawing circle on the wrist and there appears a wrist watch. The device serves the

purpose of a computer plus saves time spent on searching information. Currently the prototype

of the device costs around $350 to build. Still more work is being done on the device and when

fully developed, it will definitely revolutionize the world.

COMPONENTS

The hardware components are coupled in a pendant like mobile wearable device.

Camera

Projector

Mirror

Mobile Component

Colored Markers

FIG: The above diagram shows the components used in sixth sense technology.

Camera

Captures an object in view and tracks the user’s hand gestures

It sends the data to smart phone

It acts as a digital eye, connecting you to the world of digital information

Projector

The projector projects visual information enabling surfaces and physical objects to be used as interfaces

The project itself contains a battery inside, with 3 hours of battery life.

A tiny LED projector displays data sent from the smart phone on any surface in view–object, wall, or person.

Mirror

The usage of the mirror is significant as the projector dangles pointing downwards from the

neck.

Smart Phone

A Web-enabled smart phone in the user’s pocket processes the video data

Other software searches the Web and interprets the hand gestures

Color Markers

It is at the tip of the user’s fingers .

Marking the user’s fingers with red, yellow, green, and blue tape helps the webcam

recognize gestures

The movements and arrangements of these makers are interpreted into gestures that act as

interaction instructions for the projected application interfaces.

HOW IT WORKS?

The hardware that makes Sixth Sense work is a pendant like mobile wearable interface

It has a camera, a mirror and a projector and is connected wirelessly to a bluetooth smart

phone that can slip comfortably into one’s pocket

The camera recognizes individuals, images, pictures, gestures one makes with their hands

Information is sent to the Smartphone for processing

The downward-facing projector projects the output image on to the mirror

Mirror reflects image on to the desired surfaceThus, digital information is freed from its

confines and placed in the physical world

RELATED TECHNOLOGIES

Images Pictures Gestures

Info on surface

captureSend for processing

Reflect on desired surface

Project image

Send Info

Augmented reality is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real world

environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer generated imagery.

Gesture recognition is a topic in computer science and language technology with the goal

of interpreting human gestures via mathematical algorithms.

Computer vision is the science and technology of machines that see. It is concerned with

the theory behind artificial systems that extract information from images.

Radio Frequency Identification is basically an electronic tagging technology that allows

the detection, tracking of tags and consequently the objects that they are affixed to.

APPLICATIONS

Make a call

You can use the Sixth Sense to project a keypad onto your hand, then use that virtual keypad to make a call.

Call up a map

With the map application we can call up the map of our choice and then use thumbs and index fingers to navigate the map

Check the time

Draw a circle on your wrist to get a virtual watch that gives you the correct time

Create multimedia reading experiences

Sixth Sense can be programmed to project related videos onto newspaper articles you are reading

Drawing application

The drawing application lets the user draw on any surface by tracking the fingertip movements of the user’s index finger.

Zooming features

The user can zoom in or zoom out using intuitive hand movements

Get product information

Sixth Sense uses image recognition or marker technology to recognize products we pick up, then feeds us information on those products

Get book information

The system can project Amazon ratings on that book, as well as reviews and other relevant information.

Get flight updates

The system will recognize your boarding pass and let you know whether your flight is on time and if the gate has changed.

Feed information on people

The system will project relevant information about a person such as what they do, where they work, and so on.

Take pictures

If you fashion your index fingers and thumbs into a square ("framing" gesture), the system will snap a photo.

After taking the desired number of photos, we can project them onto a surface, and use gestures to sort through the photos, and organize and resize them.

ADVANTAGES

Portable

Supports multi-touch and multi-user interaction

Connecdedness between world and information

Cost effective

Data access drectly from machine in real time

Mind map the idea anywhere

It is an open source

CONCLUSION

Sixth Sense recognizes the objects around us, displaying information automatically and

letting us to access it in any way we need

The Sixth Sense prototype implements several applications that demonstrate the usefulness,

viability and flexibility of the system

Allowing us to interact with this information via natural hand gestures

The potential of becoming the ultimate "transparent" user interface for accessing information

about everything around us

REFERENCES

http://boingboing.net/2009/11/12/sixth-sense-technolo.html

http://gizmodo.com/5167790/sixth-sense-technology-may-change-how-we-look-at-the-

world-forever

http://www.ted.com/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html

http://theviewspaper.net/sixth-sense-technology-will-revolutionize-the-world/

http://www.freshcreation.com/entry/sixth_sense_technology/