Students at the MIT Media Lab have developed a wearable computing system that turns any surface into an interactive display screen. The prototype was built from an ordinary webcam and a battery-powered 3M projector, with an attached mirror -- all connected to an internet-enabled mobile phone. The setup, which costs less than $350, allows the user to project information from the phone onto any surface -- walls, the body of another person or even your hand.
When the wearer encounters someone at a party, the system projects a cloud of words on the person's body to provide more information about him -- his blog URL, the name of his company, his likes and interests.
While shopping the system analyzes items for best pricing, customer reviews and more. Draw a circle on your wrist and the system projects a virtual wristwatch on the spot. In another frame the wearer picks up a boarding pass while he's sitting in a car. He projects the current status of his flight and gate number he's retrieved from the flight-status page of the airline onto the card.
If the user wants to read e-mail on his phone, he draws an @ symbol in the air with his finger. He can project a phone pad onto his palm and dial a number without removing the phone from his pocket. As he reads the newspaper on the subway he can project a video onto the page that provides more information about the topic he's reading.
Absolutely amazing technology. And thanks Wired