MIT Students + iPad = Future

I saw this…and I was just blown away with how cool it is. Ok we’ve seen some funky stuff done with augmented reality and it does remind me a lot of the demo of SixthSense technology I saw awhile ago ago, but I believe that T(ether), as it is called, takes it to a whole new level.

Some students at MIT’s media lab have created a Minority Report-esque tool using a combination of an iPad, a glove, and a Vicon motion-capture system (instead of the iPad camera) that basically allows you to create objects in a virtual space that you can see through your iPad. Your iPad becomes a window or a key that reveals a magical three dimensional cyber-world.

But what’s really cool is the collaboration feature: together, you can view the same 3D objects and interact with them, even when they’re created by another iPad. This creates a completely virtual workspace that multiple people can work together in.

This set my imagination alight: imagine magical children’s stories built for the iPad, where kids could physically interact with their world – and could even play in the same magical world with their friends? Take that further up the scale and you start thinking about a fusion of MMORPGs and LARPing into one of the most amazing pastimes I can think of: virtual reality RPG.

If I were rich, I’d be pouring my money into funding the advent of VRRPG (as I am officially going to call it). And T(ether) seems to be the kind of tech that will be a pretty big stepping stone in that direction.

[Made by MIT Media Lab | Via Cult of Mac]