MIT researchers develop new interactive video technoloy.
With all recent advancements made in the field of virtual and augmented reality made by gaming companies, scientists aren’t going to let themselves be outdone. An MIT research team have managed to create an interactive video that can be affected by physical actions.
Scientists from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have had a breakthrough in their research regarding video formats. They developed an imaging technology that they’re calling Interactive Dynamic Video (IDV) which allows people to reach in the video, pull push and pole the objects inside it.
As if the technology alone wasn’t remarkable enough, it also works with traditional cameras and algorithms. By using these mediums, IDV is able to analyze the almost invisible vibrations of the objects it’s filming and come up with simulations which allow users the ability to interact with them. When the vibrations of an object from even a five-second video are analyzed by the algorithm, it is able to provide a realistic prediction of its reactions when new forces are acting upon them.
To demonstrate the technology’s capacity, scientists filmed a bush moving in the wind and afterward they could manipulate the bush themselves. According to researchers Abe Davis, the IDV technology has many applications, foremost in the entertainment industry. Filmmakers can use it to for visual effects by combining CG with real objects. IDV technology can even be used in architecture to see if buildings are structurally solid.
One of its most popular uses can be in improving the interactivity of augmented reality. The IDV technology would allow the Pokemon from the current extremely popular AR game, Pokemon GO, to interact with the objects around them. Currently, if you find a Pokemon in a patch of grass, the plant wouldn’t be affected at all, but if you have IDV technology, then your screen might show how the grass is being spread and trampled by the Pokemon.
This interactive video technology can become a cheap replacement for the current way to simulate the motion of an object in videogame or CG video, which is by building a 3-D model. The IDV technology won’t be available anytime soon since it will very likely require more research and testing before it’s released, but when it finally is, it can drastically improve the interactivity in videogames, videos, and other mediums.
What do you think about interactive videos?
Image source: MIT
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