The rumors about the next generation computers is something many people already know about. Let me list a few for example:

1. A memory chip will be put inside humans to make the brain work superfast

2. Robots will take over the world

3. The ageing process of humans will be stopped
In humans, and in all living organisms for that matter, there is a mechanism which makes us grow old. Till the age of 25 we develop, and after the age of 25 we start to self destruct to let way for the next generation. This self destruct process is what we call ageing. If we can stop this self destruct proces, then we can live forever.

4. We can grow wings, and many other features by taking the genes of other organisms

5. We can remove our physical parts and replace them with mechanical parts
This partially or wholly mechanical organism is called a cyborg

Considering all the facts above, what will be the future of human beings ? We are slowing making ourselves into mechanical monsters who sit in front of the computer 😛 Its surely not human to change ourselves into machines, nor is it human to make robots that can take over the world. And living for eternity by destroying the ageing process ? Its crossed the limits !

The sixth sense in the animal kingdom is a sense which tells animals about the dangers they may face. We humans have another way of realizing dangers, through technology. Whenever an earthquake or a natural calamity is going to strike us, we get to know about it through technology, while animals know it through their sixth sense.

The question was, could we develop a sixth sense ? A sense that will enable us to know all the info directly.

Knowing this, Pranav Mistry, a student at MIT Labs India, has made a device which he called the Sixth Sense. He made this device so that we may get the info we need, not making us inhuman in the process. “This device lets us interact with the physical world, by bringing a part of our digital world into our physical world” says Pranav Mistry. The possibilities of this device is beyond imagination which I cant explain in words, so here is a video explaining what this device can do:

Demo by Pattie Maes’ lab at MIT

You can even watch how Pranav Mistry made the Sixth Sense:

Pranav Explains about the Sixth Sense

This device is bound to pose a threat to the Microsoft Surface.

But the main reason Pranav made this device is so that we may not get carried away by technology. When we use a gadget, we really don’t need that gadget, but we need the information that the gadget gives us. And this was the main inspiration to the making of the Sixth Sense.

The good part is, the software for this device is open source. You can just about buy a camera, a projector, a mobile and put the Sixth Sense software in it, which you get free of cost. If you want to make a unique Sixth Sense, just call up Pranav and ask him to make it, and he will make it for you free of cost.

Lets see the advantage of this:
Portable Computer + Internet + Mobile Phone + Camera + Projector + Instant Access to Info = 350 $ or nearly Rs. 16,000.

Nowadays an iPhone itself will cost much more than that. This device was made keeping cost efficiency in mind.

But how will the Sixth Sense affect you ? Will you buy it if you see it in your nearest Departmental Store ? Give your comments…