inFORM is a Dynamic Shape Display; It can render 3D content in such a manner that users can interact with digital information in a tangible way. Ultimately, with this device, someone can pick up a flashlight (or any other object) when they are miles away. Can you roll a ball without touching it, or you mold an object with a wave of the hand? MIT's Tangible Media Group has made them both reality.

Indeed, inFORM can interact with the physical world around it; it can, for example, move objects across a table’s surface. In fact, with this system, remote participants in a video conference can be displayed physically, allowing for a strong sense of presence and the ability to interact physically at a distance.

Dynamic Physical Affordances and Constraints with the inFORM system are built on top of a state-of-the-art shape display, which provides for variable stiffness rendering and real-time user input through direct touch and meaningful interaction. A set of example applications demonstrates how dynamic affordances, constraints and object actuation can create novel interaction possibilities... Very cool.

See Also: 

• Introducing the “Sea Tree”
• 15 Futuristic Technologies You’ll Probably See In Your Lifetime
• NASA Tech That You Probably Use Every Day (infographic)
• 10 Real Technologies That Could Help Make Us Immortal
• New Technology Shows Nurses Where Your Veins Are

(From MIT's Tangible Media Group)