Mesmerising over 1,000 delegates from the technology industry is no mean feat. But you can leave it to Pranav Mistry, innovator, SixthSense and research assistant, MIT Media Labs, to do exactly that. He unveiled his latest project, Tele Touch, which can transfer information between devices, just by touching. In a chat with Shivani Shinde on the sidelines of Nasscom India Leadership Forum, he talks about some of his latest work and his next innovation. Edited excerpts:
What are the recent technology projects you are working on?
We are still working on Tele Touch. This is the first time I showcased it in public. The inspiration came from our mythology and how people could change their form or see something miles ahead. What made me work on this was: Why can I not open the door by not walking to it? Or, switch a lamp on or off by sitting on the couch or surf TV channels with my mobile. Each product has a built-in IP, which allows it to be identified.
We managed to do this project in the MIT labs, with the hardware everyone uses. I think our ancestors created the architecture - we need to create solutions for it.
Sparsh is another project that will soon see some of its features being incorporated by some manufacturers. Sparsh-Touch, the cloud technology, is used by some technology manufacturers. It allows the user to transfer data by simply touching. In this is your individual cloud, where your body becomes the password. Both the devices are connected by the internet. Authenticity is ensured by a biometric or an iris scan or even a password. Tele Touch, on the other hand, is a very new concept.
How much of the innovation you worked on has been commercialised?
A lot has been incorporated. Most has been patented. Besides, patents have clauses, so firms use the technology in bits and pieces.
What is the next big thing you working on?
My aim is to find the next level of medium. Reason: The current one has limitations (the digital one has its own). The other issue with the current medium (digital, mobile, audio, etc.) is, as we go one step ahead, we become more and more disconnected with the direct medium. This would be a traditional mode of communication like writing. So, I am thinking of having a direct medium, with the speed of an indirect one.
In terms of working on an innovation, does the Massachusetts Institute of Technology provide you more freedom than Indian institutes?
More than half of the work I have done was when I was with IIT-Bombay or Amul. My first project of using gesture was when I was at IIT. So, I don’t think it is about resources. Rather, the lack of resources sometimes gives you more opportunities. The output will be cheaper.
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You talked about innovation being dictated by the people.
When the industry comes out with an innovation, their agenda is to make money. That is not wrong. So, you will notice, they always bring technology innovation in their project in phases, whether it’s Apple’s gizmos or the versions of Intel’s processor chips. Competition being fierce, many of these technologies are coming to the market faster.
How does culture help you innovate or think of creating technology solutions?
I travel at least 15 days a month, be it Japan, China or South Africa. I do research to know people and gain ideas that may impact. For instance, Japan has a very different culture. It is a country where tremendous amount of work is being done in robotics. Many there are using robotics for household chores. Some large companies there have started experimenting on human robots. The big question that came to my mind was: How do you communicate with robots? Every computing device requires hand movement (e.g. mouse). My work was to look at different modalities. We have worked on a modality of giving command to robots by blinking. Since we are talking about culture and how its impacts technology consumption, I think Nintendo’s Wii will be preferred by users in Japan than Microsoft’s Kinect, because Japanese homes are small. Wii users require very less movement.