Braynestorm is an augmented-reality device that seeks to make the initial creative process behind ideation more fun and productive. When initially researching and brainstorming a topic in preparation for a paper, assignment, or other project, we typically default to our old standbys of the mouse and keyboard setup, browsing Google for a host of information about our area of interest. This differs greatly from the brainstorming procedure behind sculpture, dance, or art, in which there is an innate physical component to the creative process (in addition to computer-aided research), freeing ourselves from the paradigm of screen, mouse, and keyboard, and allowing us to interact with our physical space as we explore different avenues.
Braynestorm seeks to reduce distraction during the creative process and improve efficiency by providing a large volume of information in varied forms, and allowing users to interact with their data in a tangible way in order to tap into the advantages of physical freedom. It does this by using a computer-vision aided process to create an augmented reality setup for the user.
The user first types in a relevant keyword or set of keywords for their desired topic, and presses “Braynestorm”, which prompts the program to automatically scour the internet for visual data (from Google images), and semantic data (facts from wikipedia, and news from Google news). When a red object is held up to the camera, the program tracks the position of the object and overlays images relating to the topic on the video feed. When a blue object is held up, news headlines are displayed, and when a green object is held up, facts are shown.
This allows users to physically interact with their information and potential ideas, and with a few modifications (such as gestures and other features to allow the user to download more information from the web without touching their keyboard or mouse), this device could grow to be very useful in the creative process, while demonstrating the power of computer vision, augmented reality, technology, art, and tangible user interfaces.