The good people over at Microsoft Research never fail to impress us with their sometimes-small-yet-meaningful innovations. Be it flying a device with a fan inside the office walls or a new social media platform, So.cl, they are always up to something new and interesting. IllumiShare can be discussed as the next interesting ‘thing’ inside MSR. It enables remote people to share any physical or digital object on any surface.
It consists of a low-cost, peripheral device that looks like a desk lamp, and just like a lamp lights up a surface at which it is pointed and turns it in to a shared space. This peripheral device comes with a camera-projector pair and in simple words, the camera catches the activity from one surface and transmits it to the other surface through this ‘lamp’, which in turn captures the reaction and sends it back to the first surface and this continues. As a result, users will be able to share/work on any physical/digital object across almost anywhere in the world.
After that impressive demo, it can be judged that some fine Microsoft researchers have been working on IllumiShare which throws up wide opportunities in sharing and communication of data across remote areas.
Through IllumiShare, I can play Dominos with a pal residing across the seven oceans; I can check the homework of a little kid while on my vacation; I can successfully conduct a brainstorming session with my college mates with all of them scribbling ideas on to the same surface.
That’s it? No, there is more; endless possibilities is the right word.
Educations possibilities surrounding remote areas will get a shot in their hand after adopting to use IllumiShare. Students can get to learn right on their desk or whiteboard, also maybe without a teacher. Sounds interesting, exciting and challenging too.
What do you feel?
