Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Sixth Sense Technology
Introduction
Sixth Sense technology is a wearable mobile interface that essentially merges the physical and digital worlds (Balamurugan, 2009). Pranav Mistry of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology invented this device to make it easier for people to introduce computing into their everyday tasks without having to carry laptops or sit behind computers. Says Mistry (2009), “It will help us in not being machines sitting in front of another machine.” Sixth Sense technology combines fingertip motion sensors, a projector, a camera, and a mobile device with web browsing and computing capabilities. These objects are worn around one’s neck, and in conjunction, allow the user to interact with the world around them (Balamurugan, 2010). For example, the camera views what the user is looking at and synchronizes this image with the mobile device. This image can then be searched on the Internet, and the relevant results can then projected onto any given surface by the mini-projector (Mistry, 2009). The potential uses of this technology are seemingly endless, and in this paper, I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of its introduction into our society, and how it may be beneficial, but impractical.
Potential Benefits
Sixth Sense technology introduces a vast amount of benefits to our society, especially in simplifying everyday tasks. Shopping has become a time consuming task in today’s world. There are dozens of different brands for the same product, and individuals must painstakingly sort through the prices, customer reviews, technology specifications, nutrition facts, and expiration date of each one. Sixth Sense technology can make this process much faster. Simply by a consumer picking up the products, the camera around their neck will send the image of the products to be processed by the mobile device and the projector will display all relevant facts customer reviews, etc. on any surface of their choice, thus greatly reducing the time and effort put into shopping. If someone is curious about the status of a flight they are about to board, all they have to do is hold up their boarding pass, and the flight status will be projected onto their ticket. Says Dhingara (2009), “To know the time, all one has to do is to just gesture drawing a circle on the wrist and there appears a wrist watch.” Sixth Sense technology is excellent in making information both easily and readily available anywhere. Using all of the hardware components and the mobile device’s built-in software, information about anything can be accessed anywhere and projected on any given surface within a fraction of seconds (Balamurugan, 2009).
Social and Ethical Issues
Sixth Sense technology may spawn many legal issues in the forthcoming years. It has not yet been perfected, but it is already capable of seemingly blurring physical reality with the digital world (Mistry, 2009). The largest issue it creates is that of privacy (Wilson-Richter, 2009). Because people will be able to access any information available online anywhere at any given time just by looking at someone or something, issues of privacy are sure to arise. With many peoples’ personal details being available online through various social networking sites, it is possible that this information can be accessed against their will or without their knowledge just by simple facial recognition. This creates both a social and ethical issue. The social issue arises due to the fact that members of society may be able to easily glean information about one another without any physical interaction. Hurtful or private things about people can be projected anywhere just by looking at them (Wilson-Richter, 2009). The ethical dilemma arises due to the fact that social and environmental interaction may see a steep decline. By being able to garner information about people, places, objects, and ideas without physically interacting with them, people with Sixth Sense technology will not interact with their surroundings as much as usual. This technology almost makes it too easy to gain information, as it practically joins the digital world and the physical world together, lessening the need for people to interact with their surroundings (Wilson-Richter, 2009).
Legal Issues
Sixth Sense technology is going to be open-source, meaning that any developers can access and alter the software that it runs on to suit their own needs (Koerth-Baker, 2009). That being the case, it will be unknown to everyone what every individual’s Sixth Sense device is capable of doing. If there is a person with Sixth Sense technology in a crowd, people will be unaware if they are being audio or video recorded by them, having information about them searched online, or if the individual’s device is simply on standby mode around their neck. For this reason, legal issues will certainly arise with the release of this product. Again, privacy is the main issue at hand. In the world of today with so much information being online, the government must look into forming some laws specifically regarding privacy. If someone we don’t know were to look at us with their Sixth Sense camera and obtain private information of ours online, our privacy would not legally be supported by the constitution, as there are no laws protecting us in such an event. It is very possible that laws will be made that provide guidelines for the use of such technology in public. The Sixth Sense camera, for instance, allows for a user to take a picture of their environment just by forming a rectangle with their fingers (Mistry, 2009). This can lead to dozens of privacy issues concerning people having their pictures taken secretly, or against their will, and even patented or copyrighted materials being photographed in the same manner.
Security Concerns
The invention of Sixth Sense technology does not bring many security threats, but one that arises because of it is somewhat alarming. Due to Pranav Mistry inventing this technology and making it open-source, developers will all have access to the software code, and can alter it however they see fit (Koerth-Baker, 2009). Users thus have the ability to use the technology as an extremely advanced espionage tool of sorts. By taking pictures with just their fingers, and being able to record video and audio through simple voice commands, users of this device can essentially record information about anyone without being detected. A possibly scenario in which this device could present a security threat would be in the case of a witness protection program. The device can serve as a form of a facial recognition software. If a person in a witness protection program has any pictures or information at all online regarding their past lives, they can be discovered in an instant. This device can, however, be used in the opposite manner to identify potentially dangerous people, such as convicted felons.
Conclusion
Pranav Mistry has invented an astounding piece of technology, Sixth Sense. This combination of devices and software together create a reality in which the digital world is merged with the physical world (Balamurugan, 2010). This technology can be used in a plethora of positive ways, especially by enhancing daily tasks. Being able to easily learn information about products while shopping, find instructions while building or constructing, and being able to easily identify areas while travelling are all extremely positive results of Sixth Sense technology. It is essentially a wearable computer that can surf the web, make phone calls, and even connect to other computing devices (Mistry, 2009). It is more portable and more interactive than any Smartphone, laptop, or tablet available today. It does, however, pose a threat to society in the form of privacy issues. It allows for the user to easily record and photograph anything without being noticed, and it can also allow for the user to gain available online information about anything just by glancing at it and performing an online search. This will surely bring up many social, legal, ethical, and security concerns. Sixth Sense technology is remarkable in its intended purpose for daily task efficiency and interactive computing, but it may not be practical due to the number of issues it may stir up.
Reference Page
Balamurugan, S, (2010). Sixth sense technology, proceedings of 2010 international
conference on communication and computational intelligence (pp. 336-339). Chennai: Scitech publications (India).
In this book, Balamurugan examines Sixth Sense technology from solely a technological perspective. Balamurugan discusses the integration of the hardware components with the software to form a seemingly wearable computer that is capable of allowing people to digitally interact with the physical world around them.
Dhingra, S, (2009, October). Sixth sense technology will revolutionize the world. The
Viewspaper. Retrieved February 28, 2012, from http://www.theviewspaper.net/
sixth-sense-technology-will-revolutionize-the-world/
sixth-sense-technology-will-revolutionize-the-world/
In this web article, Dhingra discusses the sheer benefits that can be obtained through the use of Sixth Sense technology. She discusses the various ways it can make simple daily tasks such as reading newspapers and shopping more efficient. She also discusses the technological components of the device as well as the cost of replicating the prototype model.
Koerth-Baker, M, (2009, November 12). “Sixth Sense Technology” will be open source.
In this web article, Koerth-Baker discusses the fact that the inventor of Sixth Sense technology, Pranav Mistry has opted to make it open-source. She encourages developers to be ready to alter the code however they see fit so that the technology will be more versatile.
Mistry, P. (2009, November). Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of SixthSense
In this video, the inventor of Sixth Sense technology, Pranav Mistry, discusses the technology in terms of its benefits and capabilities. Mistry states that the technology can be used for entertainment, games, computing, web browsing, phone calls, and mapping. He discusses the inspiration, background, and future plans for the product as well.
Wilson-Richter, L, (2009, March 13). Pattie Maes’ sixth sense technology: what’s
stopping this?. Lucas Wilson-Richter. Retrieved February 28, 2012, from http://www.lucasrichter.id.au/2009/03/13/pattie-maes-sixth-sense-technology-whats-stopping-this/
On this website, the social, ethical, and technological implications of Sixth Sense technology are discussed. Various examples of how the technology can create problems in society are both stated and discussed. The perceived benefits of the product are viewed from a different perspective and are discussed in terms of the moral and social issues that they present to society.
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