Sixth sense technology

SIXTH SENSE TECHNOLOGY

Submitted By Renjith.R

Roll No 10BM60070

M.B.A 1st Year, VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT,IIT KHARAGPUR

Instructor: Dr Prithwis Mukerjee

1

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 aren’t any device as of now which gives a direct link between the digital world and our

physical interaction with the real world. Usually the information’s are stored traditionally on a paper or

a digital storage device. Sixth sense technology helps to bridge this gap between tangible and non-

tangible 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 .According to him 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 phone—which 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.

2

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 user’s

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 user’s 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 user’s 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.

3

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.

4

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 aren’t

there to satisfy to provide this option.

5

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 technique’s. 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. It’s also used in autonomous vehicle like SUV’s. 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 information’s identification or location of the information, or specifics about

6

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

it’s 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

7

With help of a sixth sense device the user can easily access data from any machine at real time

speed. The user doesn’t 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.

8

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 user’s 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 user’s 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.

9

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

10

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 work-

practice of using physical paper by giving the pen the ability to control the design in physical three-

dimensional 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

11

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 information’s. 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, it’s quiet predictable that this technology have the potential to revolutionise the way in which we

interacts with the digital world. As Mr  Pranav Mistry says “imagination of the human brain is the only

thing that could limit the application of the sixth sense technology”

12

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_sci-fi_reality/

articleshow/4083978.cms

http://www.gesturetek.com/

13