Those MIT guys are good

This TED talk (found via Thought Gadgets) shows off a fascinating new way consumers could soon be interacting with virtual information in the real world - without pulling out a laptop or iPhone.

Pranav Mistry, a student at MIT Media Lab, has created something that will change your world in a few years: A wearable device that allows you to interact with the web while you walk through reality. His mockup (demoed above by Pattie Maes) uses about $350 of off-the-shelf components -- a small projector, camera and mirror hung from the user's neck, and a cell phone with wireless internet access. The simple combination allows you to match images from the real world around you with cloud-based profile information, to find out if the tissue paper in the grocery store is good for the environment or whether your new college roommate likes to snowboard. Pattie Maes, a teacher at the MIT Media Lab, describes the technology as a sixth sense.