Our era is regarded as the information age, at the same time there is a trend to couple information with an appropriate knowledge about the sixth sense technology. Though not widely known Sixth sense technology may well be regarded as the next generation of devices ranging from gaming to more serious activities and tasks, as it is now, it possibly will revolutionize ways of interaction between people and the real world, giving full understanding and knowledge of the environment around us.
Sixth sense technology also known as the wearable technology comprises of some basic components; a small projector attached with a camera and a cell phone that acts as the processor and connected to the cloud where all information are stored on the web.
This research paper aims to describe how each component of the sixth sense technology is integrated to generate a viable technology; it will also examines other research carried out on related technologies and future enhancement to the technology.
This technology will certainly provide users with a fresh perspective of the world with information at their finger tips. The power of Sixth Sense lies on its capability to connect the real world with the Internet and masking the information on the world itself.
Keywords: Sixth Sense, Wearable technology, Information, Internet.
INTRODUCTION
Humans have evolved over time to sense the world around, when encountered with something, someone or place. As individuals, the awareness of the five basic senses is apparent and these senses are; touch, smell, sight, hearing and taste. What individuals are not well aware of is the sixth sense and this is the sense of otherworldliness: a connection to things greater than physical senses humans are capable to observe.
Sixth sense technology enables people access the World Wide Web without the use of a screen, monitor or even a keyboard; any surface can be used as a display screen [1].
It is a hi-tech device that seamlessly integrates analog information with the activities of the real world [2].
As of now individuals use devices like computers, smart phones etc to acquire information required; with sixth sense individuals will use a device not bigger than the current smart phone and eventually much smaller items will be used to connect with the internet [3].
This technology will allow humans interact with the world like never before, in the past, this would have been described as a myth or something that could only happen in movies but with the help of this technology people will get information on anything and from any part of the world within a couple of seconds. Not only will people have the ability to interrelate or communicate with things on a different level but also with each other. The potential behind this technology is its capability to scan objects or even people and visualise this information on any surface [3].
With other devices, information is confined and trapped on a screen, in a desktop or a mobile device, the sixth sense breaks these confinements and brings information to the real world rather than adjusting ourselves to gadgets sixth sense adjusts the machine to people and trains it to understand natural hand gestures. Technology is changing lives and the world at large.
UDERSTANDING SIXTH SENSE
Steven Mann was the first person to have an initiative of the sixth sense technology back in 1998 called the Telepointer or otherwise known as synthetic synesthesia of the sixth sense it was later developed by a PhD student at MIT Media Lab [4].
Sixth sense is a wearable device that uses different technologies like gesture recognition, image capturing and processing; it is about comprehending information more than the available senses.
Earlier Prototype
The initial prototype was a wristband that would read radio frequency identification (RFID) tag to know for example; which books an individual takes of a shelf in a bookstore; also a ring that uses infrared to communicate by signal to supermarket smart shelves to provide information about the product [5] e.g. if a can of milk is picked from the shelf the ring would glow a particular colour stating whatever information or criteria was programmed on the system.
The whole idea was to make information more functional and important to people in real time with less effort, the wrist band was showing good prospects but the use of cell phones was still needed to get the information that was transmitted from the RFID. The main essence is attaining information from the internet and projecting it was a step further, someone wearing the wrist band picks up a book and the information is projected onto a surface in the store. At first a big projector was mounted on a helmet, but that proved cumbersome because if the person with the helmet got distracted the data would be projected to another surface, another prototype consisted of a camera recorder attached to a bicycle helmet [6].
Fig 1.1: Early Prototype [1]
Recent Prototype
The new prototype is more consumer friendly it consists of a concise projector, a mirror and a camera which are attached together in a pendent-like mobile wearable device. A supplementary Smartphone works with the sixth sense software and conducts the connection to the internet. The camera acts like a digital eye; it tracks movement of the thumb and fingers of the user. The software scrutinizes the internet for information that is related to a particular situation and the projector projects it on a surface.
Using the same example of a bookstore, once a book is picked by a user, sixth sense recognises or senses it and searches the internet and displays online reviews and prices of the book on the cover of the book. Basically, all the work is in the software; it constantly tries to find out what is around a user and what the user is trying to achieve [7]. It has been declared open source as of January 05 2012, and runs on windows and majority of the code is written in c++ and c# [8].
Fig 1.2: Recent Prototype [9]
FUNTIONALITIES OF SIXTH SENSE
In this section, the functionalities of the sixth sense technology; comprising of the various components, the process, applications, commercial products and related technologies will be reviewed.
Components
There are five basic components that make up the sixth sense technology;
Camera: it captures the object the user is viewing and tracks the hand gestures; physical object using computer vision based techniques and sends the data to the Smartphone. Basically, the system implements a gesture camera that takes photos of the scene by detecting the framing gesture [10].
Mirror: as the projector dangles, pointing downwards from the neck, it projects the output image onto the mirror and the mirror reflects the image onto the surface [10].
Projector: the purpose of any projector is to project visual information and it is no different in this case. It projects information allowing surfaces and physical objects around to be used as interfaces.
Smartphone: All mobile devices transmit and receive data; a web enabled Smartphone processes the data by means of vision algorithms to recognize the object. Other software searches the internet and interprets the hand gestures [10].
Coloured markers: this is placed on the finger tips of the user or the finger tips will be coloured with different colours. Marking the finger tips with different colours of tape helps the camera recognise gestures. The movement and arrangement of the markers are interpreted into various gestures that act as instructions for the projected application interfaces. [10].
Working Process
INPUT
Camera
Coloured Markers
Connects to the internet
Smartphone
Projector
Projects on desired surface
Mirror
OUTPUT
Fig2: flow chart of the process
The compilation of the Smartphone, the projector and the camera act as a computer and communicator to the internet, as all required information is stored on the internet. The components are controlled by a mobile computing device (Smartphone) in the user's pocket, hand gestures made by the user and the location of the coloured markers are also tracked by the Smartphone.
Basically, an object is taken by the user with the camera, the camera recognizes objects, individuals, gestures by the user etc, the data is captured and passed unto the Smartphone, which scrutinizes the internet looking for the information required for that particular process and sends it to the projector. The projector projects the image on the mirror; the mirror reflects the image on the surface. This process is the same for any instance; it brings out the information from the confinements of the virtual world and places it in the physical world [10].
The sixth sense software recognises 3 kinds of gestures;
Multi-touch gestures: these are consistent motions used to interact with devices, the ability to simultaneously detect and resolve multiple touch points [11]. Apple and Microsoft applications use this gesture.
Free-hand gestures: it is natural expressions in mapping hand actions to render effect. An example is forming a rectangle with the index finger and thumb this activates the taking a photo application [12].
Iconic gestures: this is taken from stylus-based interfaces. It lets the user draw icons in the air using the movement of the index finger and identifies the symbols as interface commands. For example, drawing crescent can initiate the weather application [12].
Application of the Sixth Sense Technology
The present prototype implements several applications that demonstrate its usefulness, practicality and flexibility, these applications are;
Wrist-watch illusion: the gesture of drawing a circle on the user's wrist projects an analog watch, the coupled smartphone and camera (computer) tracks the piece of tape and recognises the gesture and instructs the projector to flash the image on the wrist.
Drawing application: the user draws on any surface and the computer tracks the movements of the user's index finger.
Map reading: with this application the map of choice can be called up by the use of the user's thumb and index finger to navigate the map. This also has the zooming in and out feature as well and it is done by using intuitive hand movements.
Taking Pictures: A hand gesture of a camera is implemented; this takes the picture of the scene the user is looking at by detecting the free-hand gesture. The technology also allows the user use any surface and flick through all the pictures taken.
There are multiple applications and possibilities associated with the sixth sense technology, like; making a call( turning the palm to a cell phone), gaming, getting product information, getting flight information, create multimedia reading( live news feeds and videos) etc, there is basically no end to what this technology can do[12].
Fig 3: sixth sense applications [1,2,10,12,15]
Related Technology
There are some technologies that have similar functions to the sixth sense technology and they are explained below:
Augmented Reality: Is a live, direct and indirect view of a real world environment whose elements are augmented by computer generated sensory input such as sound, video or graphics data [10]. It basically blurs the line between the real world and what is computer generated by enhancing what is seen, heard, felt and smelt. The basic idea is to superimpose graphics, video and other sensory enhancements over the real-world environment in real time [10]. The augmented reality system comprises of 3 components: 1. Head mounted display- this enables the user view superimposed graphics and text created by the system. 2. Tracking and orientation system- pinpoint's the user's location in reference to the surroundings and additionally tracks the eye and head movement of the user. 3. Mobile computer- analyzes the sensed visual to synthesize and position augmentations [13]. An example of the AR is the google project glass wearable computer.
Computer Vision based Algorithm: Is a technology that enables machines interpret and extract necessary information from an image. It includes various fields like image processing, image analysis and machine vision. The techniques of computer vision have four (4) processes: 1. Recognition: this determines whether or not an object contains relevant data. 2. Motion Analysis: this estimates the motion of where the image sequence is processed for detection of velocity at each point of the image. 3. Scene Reconstruction: Computer vision technique employs a number of methods to rebuild a 3D image from the available images of a scene. 4. Image restoration: This process is basically to remove any noise from the image [13].
RFID-Radio Frequency Identification: RFID is an electronic tagging technology that permits the discovery and tracking of tags and consequently the objects they are fixed to [14]. The tag comprises of a microchip attached to a radio antenna which is placed on a surface to receive and transmit signals; the basic aim is to enable the transfer of data via the tag. RFID technology is used with Biometrics technology for security [16].
Commercial Products That Use Sixth Sense
There are some products that use the sixth sense technology and these are briefly explained below:
Whirlpool Washing Machines: sixth sense technology sensors initially measure the load size. Secondly, adjusts the water, the temperature and the time in order to save energy and natural resources. After this the machine continues to monitor and adjust the programme to warrant ideal results and maximum efficiency. [15].
Tumble dryers: Sixth sense technology constantly measures the humidity level in fabric with the aid of sensors. It mechanically adjusts the drying cycle to finish when the washing cycle is done, hence reducing time and energy. It carefully dries delicate fabrics and also washes and dries mixed coloured fabrics. [15].
Fridges and freezers: sixth sense technology maintains the temperature for food and only cools when it is necessary; which improves the energy efficiency of the appliance. It also detects temperature changes after the door has been opened; it directs chilled air into the affected zones and restores temperatures [15].
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF SIXTH SENSE
The advantages of sixth sense are enormous but to mention a few:
Convenient: One of the core benefits of the sixth sense devices is its miniature dimension and portability. It can be easily carried around without any difficulty. [13].
Support multi touch and multi user interaction: Multi sensing system permits the user to communicate with system with multiple fingers at a time. This is usually useful for large interface scenarios such as interactive table tops and walls [13].
Cost effective: The cost of production is quiet low, as the parts consisted of common devices. The device has not been made in large scale for commercial purpose yet but once that happens it's almost certain that the device will cost much lower than the current price [13].
Connection between real world and digital world [11]
Direct access: By means of a sixth sense device the user can effortlessly get information from any device at real time speed; data access by means of hand gestures is a lot easier and user friendly compared to text which requires keyboard.
Open source software: it is made available to the general public and this gives the enablement for other developers to add to the development of the system [8].
Reduces machine dependence.
Everything that has advantages also has disadvantages and listed below are a few demerits:
Projector cannot cast perfect size images from all elevations.
Different surfaces may cause sensitivity problem.
Vulnerable to security threats.
With every wearable there is the issue of health concerns, wearing the device too long is not advisable.
User Safety Concerns: Because it is a wearable device, it can disrupt the user while driving and this can lead to an accident.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
Sixth sense is still a working process and recommendations have already been put in place and the inventor and his team plan to make future enhancement for the technology and these enhancement or developments are listed below:
Eliminate the use of a mirror: mirrors reflect and deflect rays
Eliminate the use of color markers
Compact ability: Implementing the use a laser projector and incorporating the projector and camera inside the mobile computing device to make it a single unit for compact ability and easier to carry.
Integrating GPS technology: Making the system wireless, this will give the ability for wireless transmission of information thus improving the range of the device.
Incorporating the sixth sense and third eye: This is a new system that has the capability of dividing the screen for multiple users have access to different resources. For example, with third Eye; two people can watch their favourite channels on the same screen.
TaPuma:
TaPuma is the short term for Tangible Public Map. It is another endeavour to merge both worlds; it uses a keyword search mechanism, and this gives the user the ability to filter out the required data from the enormous data that are available on search engines. It is a concept that allows people use things around them access related and accurate information as well as have locations of various directions from a public map.
CONCLUSION
Sixth sense technology is quite impressive; it brings a whole new meaning to the world.
With sixth sense, an individual can carry the digital world wherever one goes. Sixth sense is actually looking for an era that technology will merge with the physical world. The camera on the device not only understands or tracks hand gestures but also understand and recognises what is been held in the hand.
With the sense technology one does not need a computer. Integrating technology into our everyday objects will not only help in eliminating the gap between the two world's but will also help us to stay human, to be connected to the physical world. It will help humans not turn into machines; machines sitting in front of other machines.
Although the device has similarity with the Microsoft surface table; the major difference is that sixth sense device can use any surface as an interface. Another difference is that in mass production it will not cost more than the price of a cell phone and with time it will look more stylish.
