Jef Koh Builds Animated Interactive Liquids

Abstract

The world has increasingly become connected. Global networks such as GPS can tell us where we are in relation to others. Mobile telecommunications and the Internet allow us to exchange data at a dizzying rate. While we have become masters of graphic, video and voice representation, which allows us to transfer information and ideas, we still do not have a viable means to exchange deeper emotions. In the Mixed Reality Lab at the National University of Singapore, researchers are developing new technologies for interaction, which address the need for novel forms to communicate more then ideas but also feelings. We do this by engaging all our senses over the network. Research into areas such as remote haptic communication, food teleportation, interfaces build from three-dimensionally animated liquids, and even smell and taste communication are currently being conducted at the Mixed Reality Lab. In this talk for TEDx Zurich, I will outline the motivations and implementations of various technologies and behavioral models that will shape the way we as a species will communicate in the future.