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Gesture-Controlled LuminAR Robotic 'Lamp' Is a Personal, Projecting Assistant

by Matthew Zuras on June 13, 2010 at 04:00 PM

luminar robotic task lamp
Well, those crazy kids at MIT have done it again. We're pretty floored by this video (after the jump) of student Natan Linder's LuminAR robotic assistant, which looks like a desk lamp married to the Terminator's exoskeleton. And a task lamp was, in fact, Linder's inspiration for this gesture-driven droid, as he essentially replaced the traditional incandescent bulb with a state-of-the-art projection system.

We wrote back in January about Light Blue Optics' interactive projection system Light Touch, which spent six long years in development, and can use any flat surface as a display. Linder's robot assistant seems to incorporate a very similar pico projector-cum-camera apparatus, and we'd wager that he didn't have a team of engineers behind him to help build it. The base of the bot contains a wireless computer, which gives real-time access to e-mail and the Web. Like the Light Touch, the integrated camera -- which is really an entirely separate component built into a standard bulb socket -- tracks the user's movements, like tapping and swiping, and essentially creates a computer interface wherever one wants. The mechanical swinging arm of the lamp body can even locate a surface unmarred by your desk junk, eliminating your daily excavation for your keyboard. Check out the video after the break to see Linder's amazing robot in action. [From: Engadget]

Tags: camera, interactive, light blue optics, LightBlueOptics, LightTouch, luminAR, mit, NatanLinder, PicoProjector, projector, robot, robotics, TaskLamp, top

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