Those crazy cats at Tangible Media in MIT’s Media Lab under the tuition of Hiroshi Iishi have just released their vision of a 3D interface under the the moniker inFORM.   Using linear actuators that are linked via cables to the interface ‘pins’, the interface is linked to a Kinect.

As in my own efforts, the integration of the sensors into the device is a problem, with the Kinect an imposing addition.

Actually I had considered this typology quite early in my process (and made some animations using Solidworks), but thought that it would feel a little clumsy on the hands, but had not contemplated that other objects might be manipulated……

 

inFORM – Interacting With a Dynamic Shape Display from Tangible Media Group on Vimeo.

Direct and gestural interaction with relief: a 2.5D shape display from Tangible Media Group on Vimeo.