Daily Magazine

When the machine became ubiquitous in homes across America, a new kind of anxiety captivated consumers.

Household items could be the new way to take control of computer systems. Researchers from the MIT Media Lab have been busy developing a way to superimpose software functionality onto everyday objects – requiring only an iPad, simple processor and WiFi transceiver in the object you want to use as a physical control.

The software “maps” different functions onto the physical object you have chosen. Each area of the object can represent a different function and even movable parts can be used as controls thanks to motion tracking.

It’s a project that seems surprisingly easy – even the name “Smarter Objects” is straight forward – but when put into action probably has a lot more going on under the hood than most of us would want to think about.