Amazing 3-D Display Lets Video Chatters Interact With Remote Objects [Video]

inFORM may be the future of remote ball-rolling. Image credit: MIT Tangible Media Group The future of the Web, it seems, is not just sending data but transmitting actions. Telepresence robots and remote-control drones already let an internet user in one place control far-off gadgets in the physical world. Now another such device has emerged on the scene---a dynamic display that transmits 3-D shapes from the sender to the receiver. The device is called inFORM, a "dynamic shape display" developed by researchers at MIT. Think of it as a long, wireless line of communication. On the receiving end of this line is a surface comprised of 30 by 30 pins. Each pin has a tiny motor attached to its base, which can move it up and down independently of the 899 others. On the other end of the line, a depth-sensing camera records physical objects or movements and sends that ...