Interactive shape-shifting display
In 2012, MIT’s Tangible Media Group proposed the idea of radical atoms, a new user-interface paradigm in which atoms become as manipulable as bits. This aspiration is a departure from the Graphical User Interface (GUI) that is common today, as well as the somewhat clunky Tangible User Interface (TUI) the group proposed in 1997. Radical atoms is a more extreme vision of analog-digital interactivity called a Material User Interface (MUI). According to the TMG website, “We no longer think of designing the interface, but rather of the interface itself as material.”
TMG researchers Daniel Leithinger, Sean Follmer, and Hiroshi Ishii have recently unveiled an initial proof-of-concept of an MUI: a dynamic shape display called inFORM. The interface projects remote 2D and 3D information. A flat panel display communicates live video, while a horizontal matrix of dynamic blocks communicates live physicality. A TMG demonstration shows a user interacting with a ball and flashlight in a remote location, and in real-time. Although the tabletop surface conveys low-resolution information akin to Minecraft and other lo-fi games, the effect is uncanny and has inspired ideas for many potential uses.
Preliminary applications include GIS mapping, urban planning, and architecture, as well as 3D printing and medical imaging. As this MUI technology advances, one expects the resolution to increase dramatically, just as we have seen in 2D displays. In addition, the tool may be devised as a two-way interface that enables remote physical embodiment on both sides (the current device is a one-way prototype), as well as haptic feedback that simulates actual physical interaction.
Imagine how MUI will change architectural practice. Will interactive, shape-shifting blocks replace computer screens and mice? Will client meetings become collaborative sandboxes? Will teams in various remote locations finally be able to interact as if they are physically present? And what about architecture itself: will MUI building surfaces transform static structures into dynamic objects? Will architecture no longer be a fixed entity, but rather an ever-morphing 3D interface capable of embodying multiple design concepts over time.
Contact: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
