This article was first published on our sister Site, Digital World Native
How would it be if you could start “connecting” the physical objects around you? That’s possible now, thanks to the Reality Editor. The latter is a tool for “empowering you to connect & manipulate the functionality of physical objects.” It is a result of 3 years of research by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), more specifically, the MIT Media Lab Fluid Interfaces Group, the goal of which was the creation of technology that granted the user maximum control by leveraging human strength such as spatial coordination, muscle memory & tool-making.
A product by MIT whizkid Valentin Heun, who’s part of the MIT Media Lab Fluid Interfaces Group, here’s how Reality Editor works – Just point the camera of your smartphone at an object & its invisible capabilities will become visible for you to edit. Drag a virtual line from 1 object to another & create a new relationship between these objects. With these simple steps, you can master the entire scope of connected objects.
For example, the light switch in your bedroom you always need to stand up in order to turn off—just point the Reality Editor at an object next to your bed & draw a line to the light. You have just customized your home to serve your convenience. From now on you will use your spatial coordination & muscle memory to easily operate the object next to your bed as a tool for controlling the light. If you want a timer linked to the light, just borrow the functionality of an object with a timer, such as a TV, by drawing a line from it to the light.
According to its developers, what works for your home works as well with objects in your office – kids’ toys, & even complex machinery in a factory. While doing the research on this project, the MIT team identified certain universal rules common to all physical objects (Direct Mapping; Learn, Setup & Operate; How to connect everything). The Reality Editor is actually built on these rules.
The other things users need to know is that the Reality Editor is built with the most open, resistant & commonly known standards. Every visual interface is based on HTML5, & therefore leverages the full creative power of the Web. In short, this means that the Reality Editor transforms the identical Web browsing technologies used for presenting you this article into an interface for the physical space. In addition, connection between objects uses the most open & stable Internet standards.
One can use the Reality Editor for a whole range of mind-boggling functionalities: to define simple actions, change the functionality of objects around you, to remix how things work & interact with each other. Users can make something that is virtual into something that is physical, or the physical more virtual. Through its simplicity, the Reality Editor allows you to merge two separate realities into one truly interwoven experience.
This research is now publicly available. To start, you need to download the Reality Editor in the App Store & use the open source platform called Open Hybrid to build a new generation of Hybrid Objects. The Open Hybrid is a platform for interaction with everyday objects. It combines physical objects with the benefits of a flexible augmented user interface.
This platform allows you to:
- Create Augmented Reality content with HTML tools
- Create Augmented Reality without any knowledge about 3D programming
- Connect the functionality of objects with a simple drag & drop paradigm
- Program your objects with Arduino