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At the MIT Media Lab, the Tangible Media Group believes the future of computing is tactile. Unveiled today, the inFORM is MIT's new scrying pool for imagining the interfaces of tomorrow. Almost like a table of living clay, the inFORM is a surface that three-dimensionally changes shape, allowing users to not only interact with digital content in meatspace, but even hold hands with a person hundreds of miles away. And that's only the beginning.
Created by Daniel Leithinger and Sean Follmer and overseen by Professor Hiroshi Ishii, the technology behind the inFORM isn't that hard to understand. It's basically a fancy Pinscreen, one of those executive desk toys that allows you to create a rough 3-D model of an object by pressing it into a bed of flattened pins. With inFORM, each of those "pins" is connected to a motor controlled by a nearby laptop, which can not only move the pins to render digital content physically, but can also register real-life objects interacting with its surface thanks to the sensors of a hacked Microsoft Kinect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvtfD_rJ2hE
ElectroluxType2
Meatspace!
Souperior
that table from the first xmen movie
Qitunes
Yet another sex toy in the making!
Orion1030
This is cool tech and all, but the future of computing? No, just...no. very limited application.
bread1
Skype with your online girlfriend to a whole new level.
KAODEATH
"... thanks to the sensors of a hacked Microsoft Kinect." So they do have a purpose!
LoboRugger3
Ah yes, we are getting closer and closer to robot prostitutes.
westicles01
Meatspace is all i got out of this.
KingOfTheAnarchists
I joined Meatspace around 2003, but Tom Turkey was my only friend
Chickosticks
Imagine this tech for active military members that could finally hug their kids. Then the kids that would have this as the last touch.
EmptyHouseBurglar
Super. Hot.
forgotiwasfine
I love cruising through on Random and seeing stuff like this and wondering why it’s not a thing yet.
Darkstar2022
serakaida
Yes unveiled today, 12 Nov 2013.
SombreroWieldingLawmaker
Was gonna say, I told a teacher about this. A year ago.
HateMeFuckYou
i smell a kickstarter coming up. let's hope the product is less useless.
DarkholmeTenk
Reminds me of Stargate: http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/stargate/images/b/bd/Control_altar.JPG/revision/latest?cb=20061216045028
Brightandshiny
My exact thought!
dailyriddley
Same.. i like whe're we are headed :D
xanthio
I had a feeling I wouldn't be the only one.. exactly this scene popped into my head.
Fillask
What a bunch of badasses.
VestingNormal9
Same
HappyJello
I'm not really impressed
IDoPictureStuff
Burn the witch
4p0cryph4
With this tech you can literally reach through the phone and punch someone!
Snickaaman
That's pretty damn neato.
Kewlair
It's basically a low pixel display which raises and lowers the columns by the brightness
srslydude
so basically like a more tactile version of Tony Stark's screen.
ultraronbun
That was a great song.
LetumComplexo
You know what I love about this? You can actually see where their going with it, with a push to decrease pixel size. That'll be amazing.
LetumComplexo
Addendum: also meatspace, what can I say I'm a point whore and you're a meat bag in meatspace.
MrHogroast
This is great and all until I put my coffee down on it and it gets knocked over.
CantDefeatAirman
Got me thinking about the arena in the first Bionicle movie
TalkRlyehianToMe
Imagine when this becomes more advanced, when those blocks become smaller and more responsive
wheresthetone
Meatspace? Put... put your dick in it
TopCommenter
Your dick is always in meatspace. That's the magic of meatspace.
wheresthetone
meatspace is... is everywhere!
grammamoses88
Wait until you see the massive hardware below the top of the table!