Indian-born geek Pranav Mistry, now a researcher at the media lab of the Massachusetts Institute Technology, has developed a 'sixth sense' device – a gadget worn on the wrist that can function

as a 'touch screen' device for many modern applications. For example, the user can read the pricing 'bar code' on a book or other product by just pointing at it.

Already patented by MIT, the pendant-shaped mobile device, which costs a mere $350 to build, packs a tiny projector, mirror and web camera all in one. It has aroused much interest among IT giants like Microsoft, Google, Hewlett Packard and Samsung.

The gadget is capable of selecting a product either by image recognition or radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and project information, like an Amazon rating. It projects a keyboard to type on, and can even compare items on grocery shelves with online prices. The webcam and colour-coded finger-gloves worn on the index finger and thumb can recognise the movements of a user's hands, which enables commands with a gesture.

The user can stop by any wall or other surface and flick through photos displayed there. He/she can simply draw icons or symbols in the air using the index finger, and the device recognises those symbols as interaction instructions. For instance, drawing an '@' symbol will let a user check his/her mail.

"Many chief executives of small Indian companies, including some pharmaceutical companies from Hyderabad, have evinced interest in my project. I don't understand how companies work, but I would want to make the prototype cheaper for India," the Business Standard quoted Mistry as saying. He also maintains that the device could be used by anyone without even a basic knowledge of a keyboard or mouse.

Mistry says that his concept broadly comes under the ambit of 'wearable computing', a category that includes the ubiquitous cellphone. But as he elaborates, information is usually confined to paper or digitally, and the two do not communicate. The sixth sense device bridges this gap, "bringing intangible, digital information out into the tangible world, and allowing us to interact with this information via natural hand gestures".

"The possibilities are immense but it's a work in progress," Mistry told the media.

Mistry says he is ''surely coming back'' to India. He was born in Gujarat, where he studied computer engineering before moving to IIT Bombay. He has been researching at MIT to get closer to his childhood dream of melding the digital world with the physical one.

His dream is to bring meaningful computing to the masses. For instance, he believes India should leverage the power of technology, rather than giving every villager a computer which is difficult to operate.

He thinks Indians don't need to learn how to use a keyboard or mouse. One of his earlier projects, 'Sandesh', addresses the communication needs of such people. It postulates a new system using the public switched telephone network and simple interaction methods.