Embedded Media

The TED presentation on "6th Sense" ubiquitous computing is phenomenal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUdDhWfpqxg

"Embedded media" began as journalists given first person access to government missions. But this group has literally embedded media, and two-way media no less. The "Minority Report" aspect is cute, particularly the camera gesture, but there's more to this device than obsessive, personal focus on information. There's the social aspect.

What strikes me as really fantastic are:

1. Data superimposed on objects
2. Broadcast displays

Giving physicians a vital stats HUD or MRI overlays (think the iPhone medical apps, placed on the patient) and broadcasting the proceedings to medical students or consulting colleagues.

Masks for a costume party (tip of the hat to Vernor Vinge).

Family game time, the camera location and orientation as a Wii-like data source, the cellular units sharing game state via wireless sync, the multiple display outputs texturing the world-as-gameboard along multiple planes.

As always, education, both as training and reference, can benefit. Situational reference: overlay signs with translations. Historical tours: Texture locations with the layers reprising prior ages, say layers of sediment at Stonehenge or the a walk through the Greenwich Village. The video gives a great example for language pragmatics: Overlay social markers on discourse participants and, say for Japanese, provide a reference for relevant grammatical forms.