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# T(ether)
- URL: https://www.protein.xyz/t-ether/
- Published: 2012-05-25T09:40:12.000Z
- Updated: 2025-05-28T11:02:31.000Z
- Description: The T(ether) project lets a person see a virtual three-dimensional design through an iPad screen as if it's placed in front of them in the room
- Author: Protein
- Tags: Seeds, Technology, #protein, #Import 2024-06-11 13:15, #author-change-2025-05-28

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/fc/71/fc716215-5729-441a-bd07-e2b50bc413b1/content/images/S3/protein/4025/f0400687-829d-47a0-a739-3dcaf51565d1.jpg)

Last week we featured a project from the [MIT Media Lab](http://www.media.mit.edu/?ref=protein.xyz) that explored how [everyday objects could function as a keyboard](http://prote.in/feed/2012/05/makey-makey?ref=protein.xyz). Here's another project from the experimental technologists, this time looking at how we might interact with virtual objects using our mobile devices.

The [T(ether)](http://kiwi.media.mit.edu/tether/?ref=protein.xyz) project, devised by students Matthew Blackshaw, Dávid Lakatos, Hiroshi Ishii and Ken Perlin, lets a person see a virtual three-dimensional design through an iPad screen as if it's placed in front of them in the room. It's a bit like Augmented Reality in that you use a computer screen to see digital information that exists within a physical space. But unlike AR, the digital informationin T(ether) is purely virtual, rather than existing as a layer within a visual of the real world. In other words, the iPad functions as a window to see an otherwise invisible virtual world in front of you.

What's more, a person using the system can change the virtual design using a special glove, which they wear while they hold up the iPad. The software can even let two different people simultaneously manipulate digital the form. The system could therefore be a useful tool for designers who create 3D objects using CAD software, giving them a much more realistic perspective.