Shadow lamps to connect friends

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The BBC says that instead of showing images in full color and motion, Teleshadow turns them into a shadow outline that is projected on the inside of a small lamp.

Created by Shunpei Yasuda, the shadow presence system is hoping to fill the gap between live video and static images.

Interestingly enough, the inspiration came straight out of Japanese history. Japanese homes have for many years, had Shoji or paper walls that divide rooms. The thin walls keep a certain level of privacy but the shadows cast on the paper as people move about also act as a reminder of a person's presence.

Teleshadow does the same thing. It keeps a certain level of privacy and yet reminds you of a neighbor's presence, though they be a bit further away in this case.

Why displayed in a styled lamp?

"As this is a new media that fits our daily life, it was important to make it as a piece of furniture," said Mr Yasuda.

The base of the lamp holds a projector that gets input from the camera that users of the Teleshadow system have in their homes. Software processing reduces the video input to an outline, so it appears as a simple shadow when projected on the inside walls of the andon lamp.

The lamp is square and can show the shadow-play of up to four friends. It also knows which shadows to show as the Teleshadow project uses smart cards to identify users that those taking part swap with each other.

You put the smart card in the base and it starts displaying that user's shadow.

The prototypes were able to be set up so that you could make a voice call to one of your shadows by touching the face, because they used touch screens.

Quite an interesting step in technology. Not a step forward, or even backward necessarily. Perhaps sideways. Very innovative. I know that alot of people are going to want more technology like this.