Review of Pranav Mistry's TED video

           Frankly speaking, I’m a technophobe. Machinery, gadgets, digital-anything, i-anything are really not my area of expertise. A girl that’s so bold and zealous at everything becomes so small and tentative when it comes to any techy-device. I know what you’re probably thinking: caveman, out-of-date, incongruous. Yeah, I’m still learning. I guess I haven’t opened my eyes to the prodigious and auspicious aspects of technology yet. However, there was one video that I saw recently that instigated my fascination for technology – a TED video of Pranav Mistry’s “The thrilling potential of the SixthSense technology.”

Basically, what the speaker Pranav Mistry is aiming for is the assimilation of the digital and real world. It was indeed jaw-dropping. Mistry was the kind of person who put his abstract thoughts into tangible actions, which I revere highly. He was skeptical of the status quo of the world and thought in a novel perspective, reaping eccentric and unprecedented ideas and devices. According to his presentation, he asked himself, “Rather than using a keyboard and mouse, why can I not use my computer in the same way that I interact in the physical world?” and he goes on to explain about his exploration of this question and the resulting gesture-interface device made out of his mouse with his own diligent labor. Mistry continued experimenting and making other devices in the same process of questioning “Why not this?” then investing his time to satiate this question, and he made a sticky-note integration system, a pen that can draw in three dimensions, and a cool device where you can find information on an object by putting the object on an interface rather than just typing in a keyword. 
           Until this point, Mistry put his objective into taking a part of the world into the digital world. But he reversed his thinking and again asked himself, "Why can I not take the approach in a reverse way?" and the resulting SixthSense device is laudable. If you think of it, the digital world is confined into a gadget that fits in our pockets. Minstry's device removed this confine and released the digital world into our real, physical world. To borrow some of his own words explaining the device, "The most interesting thing about this particular technology is that you can carry your digital world with you wherever you go. You can start using any surface, any wall around you, as an interface. The camera is actually tracking all your gestures. Whatever you're doing with your hands, it is understanding that gesture." Now the applications of the resulting SixthSense device is not having to get out your camera in order to take pictures, but just make a gesture of taking a picture with your hands and there you have it. Also, you can make a phonecall using your palm as an interface, you can see reviews of a book just by holding it in your hand, you can extract information about people just by looking at them...the applications are incessant and engenders amazement and wonder.

            Now, I guess this novel technology provokes the question, "Is this assimilation necessary?" Many might think that for a technophobe like me, this integration of the digital and physical world will scare me. In a way it does. The side effects of an innovation like this will be huge, far-reaching, and long-lasting, and thus cannot be ignored. Pragmatically speaking, I do not think that this device will ever reach the hands of the public in fear of misuse. Nevertheless, regardless of whether the public can use it or not, the capacity of human imagination and actually converting that imagination into reality is to be extolled. This innovation is amazing and opens countless possibilities. Even for a technophobe, I believe that this invention is worth knowing more about. The reason why I am not good with machines is that I have to learn the language of the digital world to work these things. I have to be familiar with the gadgets, all those buttons, the icons, etc, but if the digital world was removed of its "gadget-confine" I would be able to use it with less hindrance. I won't have to switch back and forth with the two worlds. Humans invented technology to enhance the physical world. But at the present stage, the technology is replacing physical interactions and artifacts with digital ones, such as e-book, MSN, social networks etc. In his innovation, Mistry is striving to make connections between the digital and physical world. It is a step forward.
             I saw wonders and perhaps a glimpse of the future in Mistry's TED video. Just browsing through TED videos makes me content to see that there is not a paucity of human imagination, inspiration, and creation in the world today. Mistry clearly showed viewers his intentions of integrating the digital and physical world by presenting his various experiments with everyday objects. At first, it was to satiate his curiosity, but now he has intentions of sharing it with others to make the world a better place - a place "where people don't end up being machines sitting in front of other machines." But until then, I monotonously hit the buttons of my keyboard to write this review...and I probably have to ask someone how to embed a TED video in a blog post!


Reference:
John Miedema, Seamless integration of digital and physical spaces http://www.teleread.com/paul-biba/seamless-integration-of-digital-and-physical-spaces-by-john-miedema/
Paul Biba, Marketers begin integrating physical and digital worlds http://blog.joelrubinson.net/2011/07/marketers-begin-integrating-digital-and-physical-worlds/
Pranav Mistry, The thrilling potential of the SixthSense technology http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html