Jinha Lee: Reach into the computer and grab a pixel

Reach into the computer and grab a pixel

The border between our physical world and the digital information surrounding us has been getting thinner and thinner. Designer and engineer Jinha Lee wants to dissolve it altogether. As he demonstrates in this short, gasp-inducing talk, his ideas include a pen that penetrates into a screen to draw 3D models and SpaceTop, a computer desktop prototype that lets you reach through the screen to manipulate digital objects.

The line between physical reality and digital information is shrinking, now as thin as a touchscreen’s glass. Tools that let hands reach into 3D digital space or objects become programmable pixels are dissolving that boundary. A levitating, computer-controlled magnet can learn and replay human motion, making the virtual world tangible. As digital data starts to act within our environment, imagination becomes the only remaining limit.