14 DAY TRIAL // Experts with the Tangible Media Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Media Lab present a new type of display, called inFORM, which is capable of performing a wide array of motions mirroring those of a person controlling the device.
The Dynamic Shape Display is made up of a large number of actuators, linkages and pins, whose motions are controlled by a computer that receives signals from a Kinect sensor. The latter can be installed above the high-tech surface, or can be located elsewhere entirely.
Additional data can be revealed on the DSD via a projector mounted on top of it. In the video above, MIT experts demonstrate how the new technology can be integrated with smartphones for a variety of applications, such as moving a ball, browsing book or creating lively bar charts.
inFORM represents just one of the steps taken at MIT in the effort to switch human-machine interactions from graphical user interfaces (GUI to tactile user interface (TUI). This program has been pursued at the Institute for the better part of a decade.