Skinput by Chris Harrison, Desney Tan and Dan Morris

Really interesting concept for using the human body as an input device. More info from the website “Appropriating the human body as an input device is appealing not only because we have roughly two square meters of external surface area, but also because much of it is easily accessible by our hands (e.g., arms, upper legs, torso). Furthermore, proprioception (our sense of how our body is configured in three-dimensional space) allows us to accurately interact with our bodies in an eyes-free manner. For example, we can readily flick each of our fingers, touch the tip of our nose, and clap our hands together without visual assistance. Few external input devices can claim this accurate, eyes-free input characteristic and provide such a large interaction area.”

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Pcubee 3D Cubic Display by University of British Columbia

Researchers from the University of British Columbia have designed a personal cubic head-coupled 3D display that shows reactive 3D scenes. The cube automatically adjusts to movements and allows users to interact with objects inside a virtual 3D world rendered inside the cube. More information on the research website.

Smart Geometry 2010 by Felipe Pecegueiro do Amaral Cura

Really interesting video talking about how to use parametric software to control objects in space. Lots to think about. Great work over there on so many different levels. More info on the conference website.

Firefly by SENSEable City Lab

Flyfire, a project initiated by the SENSEable City Laboratory in collaboration with ARES Lab (Aerospace Robotics and Embedded Systems Laboratory) aims to transform any ordinary space into a highly immersive and interactive display environment.

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Mindflex by Mattel

A number of different companies are launching Cognitive control devices this year. They vary in fidelity but some will be very inexpensive to use. Mind control in architecture is a largely unexplored area and will lead to tons of new insights. Mindflex has the gamer don a lightweight headset and then move a foam ball using just brainwave activity.  You concentrate on raising and lowering the ball and it just happens.  What makes this so unique is that it’s a game, and a great use of technology in its own right.  It’s sort of mobile tech in a way; you do move the ball around with your mind.

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MK-HexaKopter by Holger Buss

Really interesting hexakopter robotic prototype. More information on the website.

Curious Displays by Julia Yu Tsao

Curious Displays functions simultaneously as a form of design research and as a proposal for a new product, a future display technology. Curious Displays is a product proposal for a new platform for display technology. Instead of a fixed form factor screen, the display surface is instead broken up into hundreds of ½ inch display blocks. Each block operates independently as a self-contained unit, and has full mobility, allowing movement across any physical surface. The blocks operate independently of one another, but are aware of the position and role relative to the rest of the system. With this awareness, the blocks are able to coordinate with the other blocks to reconfigure their positioning to form larger display surfaces and forms depending on purpose and function. In this way, the blocks become a physical embodiment of digital media, and act as a vehicle for the physical manifestation of what typically exists only in the virtual space of the screen. More of Julia’s great work can be seen on her website.

Magic Book by Camille Scherrer

Great thesis project on the possibilities of augmented reality in animating story. The set-up [a book, a lamp, and a laptop] seems perfectly harmless at first sight. But as soon as you open the book under the lamp … the pages take on new animated and mysterious dimensions … worlds appear and disappear with a direct connection to the actual items printed on paper: animal figures appear over the mountains, peaks emerge in a shadow play, a bird silently flies over, foxes light up the text with their lanterns at dusk … The book’s iconography, inspired from a family album of the 1930s, changes into a virtual fairy tale. More of her work can be seen on her website.