MIT shows off way cool interactive video tech, lets users touch objects in scenes and AR games like Pokemon GO

Ever wanted to reach out and grab an object in your favorite movie scene? Soon, you just might be able to! The bright minds at MIT have come up with a method to let users touch and manipulate objects embedded in videos. The technique captures the physical behavior of objects, letting users play with them in virtual space. It needs only five seconds of video content to capture the possible movements of an object using a normal, everyday camera like the one on the iPhone 6. With data obtained through the process, the object can be programmed to be interactive.

The researchers say that the technology can be incorporated in augmented reality games, such as Pokemon GO. They made an example of the latter, showing an interactive video where two Pokemon bounce around bushes and a climbing ramp, the bush is also moving as if the characters are really there.

Watch the video below to have a glimpse at the technology in use. The video is made using a mouse, but this is a prerequisite to enabling touch controls.