The cool geeks over at MIT never ceases to amaze me – makes me regret (just that ‘lil bit) spurning cold MIT for sunny Stanford when I was choosing my Masters back in 2005.
This is like Tom Cruise in Minority Report, albeit several light years behind in sophistication. It’s still a really good job though! Pranav Mistry, a student at MIt, spent US$350 and cobbles a camera, mini-projector and other electronics into a device worthy of its name – Sixth Sense. I’m expecting this project to easily attract VC funding and spin out from MTI’s labs in a few years’ time (or faster).
Although the parts appear to be off-the-shelf, the software behind the Sixth Sense device certainly isn’t! Pranav Mistry’s work is proof of my belief that Singapore needs a stronger Computer Science faculty in order to effectively compete in the global innovation race. The Bio-tech sector needs too many zeroes at the back of the cheque; Clean-tech ain’t that hot now with oil prices greatly depressed from its heights, and the Financial sector (with our horde of engineers doubling up as CFA students) is highly cyclical.
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