Working in Movement

I've been curious about our brain's plasticity with tools that we learn to use, as I wrote about here. One of the areas I've discovered is called tangible computing. There's even a tangible media group at the MIT Media Lab. MIT--they should be doing some serious stuff, right? Take a look at You're in Control: A Urinary User Interface before you make up your mind.

In the project, the "user" pees into a urinal that's been fitted with a sensor grid. The output of the grid goes thru a computer hooked to an LCD display at eye level above the urinal. In a bizarre adaptation of a popular carnival game, the "user" directs a stream of urine to "hit" animated moles, as in "Wack-a-Mole." When hit, the virtual moles turn yellow, scream and run away. There's even discussion of using the contraption in potty training.

Interestingly, the paper was given near April 1, so maybe ...