Technology has a role in society of making life better, and while it does this it’s still an inconveinence to use. A whole set structure of systems and languages need to be adopted for someone to begin to use the technology. As a child my camera was point and click, now I’ve got a multitude of buttons and settings I need to navigate to take a photo. Technology is suppose to link the user with the required result as efficiently as possible, but we can never escape the fact that technology is always going to be a third wheel in an otherwise personal experience. Pranav Mistry presented his and his team’s progress in developing Sixth Sense Technology  at TED Global last year, and considering Mistry’s humble attitude towards his initial foray into the field, it’s incredibly exciting to consider just how much would be possible in the near future once their initial research is complete and they begin to develop commercial products. Based on the video above, below are in my opinion 5 of the most exciting possibilities.

1 Photographs Become Personal

It goes without saying because of just how natural it is to make the framing hand gesture to signify a view. It seems as though we were always meant to take photos this way, we just had to go through a process of holding a box of plastic and metal in the area first. One of the most difficult things about taking photos is the de-personalisation of the photographer. Fair enough they’re not hidden under a black hood like in the old days, but they’re still completely on the other side of the camera. For such a personal moment, it’s always an inconveinence to have an inanimate object like a camera dictate where you sit, how you smile and inevitably be the object which records you. But by using your hands to take the photo it’s now the user who is responsible for recording you, in the same way that being sketched by a friend is much more comfortable than having a stranger analyse the contours of your face.

2 Sharing Your Digital World

As much as social media has done for connecting the world, it’s still a very remote experience. It’s ironic that such a social activity is usually done in isolation, with retweeting or tagging taking prescidence over calling someone over to your screen. Sixth Sense Technology would allow social media to become social in the offline environment too – photos could be shared naturally and intuitively rather than in a method more akin to long distance mail. Remember crowding around a photo album, laughing and smiling with friends and families as you chat about the pictures? It’s a distant memory to the frequently inane comments we find left on our Facebook photos that we’re beginning to get used to today.

3 Overlay of the World

The advantages of performing tasks in a digital manner  have been great enough to justify sacrificing some of the natural benefits we have been used to. Instead of reading the free paper on the bus, I’ll check my RSS feeds for up-to-date and filtered content, but it’s just not as natural a way to interact with the written word. Also the enjoyment of purchasing a new item is lost when done so remotely online, but the added benefit of product research is enough for us to go without the full thrill of the purchase. But maybe the uses that Mistry and his team are investigating may be able to give something back to the offline world. Could the web’s murderous relationship with printed media and high street outlets actually just be a phase?

4 Dispensable Computers

It’s a shame that technology is always so expensive, because it holds it back from really being integrated into the user’s life. How many pens do you own that you actually paid for? There’s an unspoken system of pen exchanges connecting the entire world which means you may be using a Biro which has had many, many other owners in the past. Imagine if iPads were as frequently passed around – you would maybe find one sitting on the bus or ask to borrow one and never give it back. My point is that the more expensive the technology and the more protective you are over it, the more it becomes a block to the task at hand. You should be playing a game, booking tickets or listening to music – not using an iPad. If you can take away your relationship with technology, then you can begin to get on with the real aspects of your life.

5 Merging Hardcopies with Digital

Now this the real clincher, and something incredibly beautiful I think. In the past 50 years so many of us have been forced to adopt a very respectful relationship with computers – speaking in their language, following their rules and generally doing things there way. While it certainly speeds up some processes, as soon as we’re away from a computer we immediately go back to how we intuitively work, and the systems exist entirely separate from one another. The intuitive way that humans work is the most efficient and enjoyable, but we’re being squeezed into a way which suits the computer. As much as GUI and usability specialists are trying to imitate the experience, we still have a long way to go before we can say we’ve really reclaimed dominance over the computer and made the computer work for us. Sixth Sense Technology is a tantalising tease that we might be about to make a significant step closer towards this moment of singularity.

Technology has brought with itself almost as many problems as it solves, it’s just they happen to be the lesser of two evils. But could technology be noble enough to accept it wasn’t invited in the first place, and begin removing itself while continuing to solve the problems it was designed for?