14 DAY TRIAL // You might remember the memorable scenes in Christopher Nolan’s movie “Inception” were Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page, stroll the streets as the city folds in on them.
Well, this concept seemed particularly interesting to one researcher at the Sony Computer Science Lab going by the name of Yuichiro Takeuchi, so interesting that he decided to take this Sci-Fi idea and try and turn it into something real.
Urban altering comes to New York
As Digital Trends reports, Takeuchi unveiled the tech this week. The software currently runs on a tablet, but he has plans to release a consumer-friendly version of the bundle, in the form of wearable glasses.
Using the tablet, Takeuchi played a demo video showing a giant Arch from the New York Washington Square Park seemingly fluttering in the wind. The video went on to reveal a bunch of buildings growing and collapsing.
The demo took place at the Museum of Modern Art Monday during the “The Point of Knowing,” the first symposium to be held in the US by Sony Computer Science Laboratories.
Sony's research branch has set up some pretty high goals for itself, as the teams working under its patronage want to solve the world’s biggest problems such as hunger, depletion of natural resources, poverty and so on.
Inception Glasses will make everything less dull
The reference to the Inception movie is not arbitrary, as the Sony scientist is calling his project “Inception Glasses.” Sure having a bunch of cool glasses that can make buildings act la jelly or lego blocks might seem interesting, but you've got to ask, what the real-life applications of such a product would be.
Well, the inventor of the Inception Glasses gives us a few examples of how these products might end up being used in real life situations.
He argues that in big cities like Tokyo or Manhattan you can never see if there’s a car just around the corner. But with the help of the glasses, you can make the buildings become transparent, so you won’t have to be fearful of hitting another vehicle when you want to make a turn.
What if you are lost looking for a certain spot? No problem, with the help of the glasses, you’ll be able to shrink down the buildings enough so that you can spot your destination several blocks ahead.
And as an added bonus, the Glasses could end up being able to create the perfect urban gaming environment, transforming the dull cityscape into engaging scenery.
If we’re to slide on the more paranoid side of existence, we could say Sony might be paving the way here for a stalkerish way of living here. Imagine a dystopia where people are no longer able to experience any privacy. Bend a few buildings and peek-a-boo, there you are!
The company also showed a few sketches of an Inception Glasses prototype, but even in concept they seem quite bulky and Robocop like. Bummer!
