Touch Screen + Gesture + 3d = Beyond

via designboom.com

"while touchscreen devices are more ubiquitous than ever, really only allow users to draw in two dimensions. beyond is a concept that allows users to sketch in three dimensions of an interactive surface developed by jinha lee and hiroshi ishii of the MIT media lab. the system utilizes a collapsible input
device for direct 3d manipulation. the small pen-like tool collapses into the digital world when pressed against the screen, giving the illusion that it is inside the virtual space. by moving the pen around the screen and adjusting its height, users can draw objects in three dimensions. by adding an interactive glove element, the system can even be used to draw cubes, cylinders and other three-dimensional objects. while the concept is quite novel, it could become an indispensable tool for designers sketching digitally. "

MIT's take on the "Bus stop of the future"

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Below I have pasted the content from the Press PDF that can be found here

"Bus stop of the future" can sense its surroundings

Imagine if your local bus stop allowed you to check your e-mail, share community information on a digital message

board or monitor the local air quality? And perhaps best of all, what if it could tell you the

exact location of that bus that you're waiting for?

MIT architects and engineers just unveiled a design for such a bus stop this past Saturday, at the Genio Fiorentino

festival in Florence, Italy. (A more formal prototype will be unveiled this October.)Called

EyeStop and developed by the MIT SENSEable City Lab, it takes the tedium out of waiting for the bus and showcases

the potential of next-generation urban transportation design.

The EyeStop is partially covered with touch-sensitive e-INK and screens, and features state-of-the art sensing

technologies and a variety of interactive services. Riders can plan a bus trip on an interactive map, surf the Web,

monitor their real-time exposure to pollutants and use their mobile devices as an interface with the bus shelter. They

can also post ads and community announcements to an electronic bulletin board at the bus stop, enhancing the

EyeStop's functionality as a community gathering space.

"The EyeStop could change the whole experience of urban travel," said Carlo Ratti, Head of the SENSEable City Lab

at MIT. "At the touch of a finger, passengers can get the shortest bus route to their destination

or the position of all the buses in the city. The EyeStop will also glow at different levels of intensity to signal the

distance of an approaching bus."

In addition to displaying information, the bus stop also acts as an active environmental sensing node, powering itself

through sunlight and collecting real-time information about the surrounding environment.

"EyeStop is like an 'info-tape' that snakes through the city," said project leader Giovanni de Niederhausern. "It senses

information about the environment and distributes it in a form accessible to all citizens."

Unlike the typical mass-produced bus stop, EyeStop is designed to fit the physical characteristics of its surroundings. A

computer program generates a unique design for each bus stop, providing both optimal

sheltering for users and maximum sunlight exposure for power generation. Simple materials like steel, glass and gray

local stone ("pietra serena," as it is called locally), together with its minimalist design, will help the EyeStop blend into

the historic urban fabric of Florence, or wherever else it might be deployed.

"Since the Renaissance, there has been an interplay between the physical form of the city (urb) and its citizenship

(civitas)," added Carlo Ratti. "Today's technologies are adding new possibilities to

that age-long relationship, thanks to the addition of digital information to physical space. It is as if a new materiality

were emerging in architecture, with the seamless blending of bits and atoms."

EyeStop was developed at the SENSEable City Laboratory by Giovanni de Niederhausern, Shaocong Zhou, Assaf

Biderman and Carlo Ratti, in collaboration with the Province of Florence and the local public

transportation authority ATAF.