Researchers at MIT have released an open-source platform that allows people to bestow a flexible augmented user interface on physical objects. Using HTML tools, the software enables users to create AR content without the need for knowledge about 3D Programming. Using a drag-and-drop paradigm the functionality of objects can be connected to create intuitive control.
InAVate reported on the development of the technology back in
2013 when MIT’s Fluid Interfaces Group unveiled its vision of Smarter Objects; everyday devices that are programmable and controllable using tablets and AR.
Making these devices smart requires a small processor and a Wifi connection to a server. When the user points their smart phone or tablet at a physical object, the AR application recognises the object and offers an intuitive graphical interface to program the object's behavior and interactions with other objects. Once reprogrammed, the Smarter Object can then be operated with a simple tangible interface such as the physical knobs and dials.
The release of Open Hybrid –
a free app - is intended to make programming devices to sit in an IoT environment as easy and intuitive as using them. All objects that the user builds with the platform will be compatible with any other object built with it. The platform uses Web standards with no proprietary protocols and all the data regarding interfaces and connections are stored within the objects themselves.