Shamit Khemka

Born in Palanpur, India, Pranav Mistry is one of the inventors of the wearable gestural interface SixthSense that made waves all over the globe recently. The 29-year-old Mistry is a PhD candidate and research assistant at MIT Media Lab. SixthSense is quite similar to telepointer and consists of a pocket projector, a camera, and a mirror contained in a wearable devise that can be worn like a pendent.

The camera and projector are connected to a mobile computing devise resting in the pocket of the user. The visual information is displayed by the projector, and the nearby walls, physical objects, and other surfaces around the user, can be used as interfaces.

The camera would recognize and track the hand gestures of the user and other physical objects with the help of the computer vision based technique. The software programs would then process the video-stream data that’s captured by the camera and then track the location of colored markers at the user’s fingers’ tips. The arrangement and movement of the colored markers would be interpreted in to gestures. The gestures would then act as interaction instructions for the projected AI (Application Interface).

SixthSense supports multiuser and multi-touch interaction.

The American monthly magazine Popular Science has recognized SixthSense with 2009 Invention Award. Besides the SixthSense, Pranav’s previous works and inventions include ‘Mouseless’, ‘intelligent sticky notes’ that are searchable and can be located and then used to send messages and reminders. Other inventions that Pranav has made include a pen that is capable of drawing 3D objects! He also invented a public map that can serve as Google of the physical world.

Pranav has attained a Master in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT. He further holds Master of Design from Industrial Design Center, IIT Bombay apart from his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Nirma Institute of Technology, Ahmedabad. Having research interests in Ubiquitous computing, AI, Gestural and Tangible Interaction, Machine vision, and Robotics etc, Pranav is touted as one of the best young inventors of the decade.