Scale, Sony’s Concept Of Making Real Objects Virtual

Next-generation design development at Sony is focused on creating effective interaction design, tried and tested through rapid prototyping, in order to shape new lifestyles. Scale is Sony’s exploration into the relationship between real objects and their virtual/digital representation. The project originated from conversations in 2006 and sketches about how people communicate visually across a network. The name “Scale” is a play on words suggesting both the dimension and mass (as measured by a scale) of an object. Here is a demonstration video.

Scale consists of large interactive display to the left, and an illuminated scanning station to the right. Mounted above the scanning station is a high resolution digital camera, and below it is a digital scale.When an object is placed on the scanning station the camera takes a picture?Automatically, the scale records its mass, and additional metadata is derived such as the size of the object, the date, the time, and the name of the photographer. The object data is then classified and placed in a database according to such criteria as the size of the picture, its color, and brightness.The result is then displayed as a simple representation on the interactive display to the left.

The goal is to go beyond conventional 2D representation. Our aim is to communicate something of the objects physicality. For example, massive objects are rendered as if they’re sinking into the screen. The objects rate of deceleration, the amount of bounce that fluctuates while sorting, and the tonality of high and low sounds are all effected by the object’s size and mass.

By coordinating these displays and movements to act in correspondence with the physical world, it is possible not only to become visually aware of and to compare to the various physical properties of an object, but to also ‘feel’ them in a more natural way.