MIT's Interactive Dynamic Video (IDV) Explains How Virtual 'Pokemon Go' Creatures Meet Real World

A "Pokemon Go" like program was invented by researchers from MIT to allow virtual objects like Pokemons to interact with real-world environment. The technology is dubbed as Interactive Dynamic Video (IDV), which does not only allow animated characters to move about, but allow them to affect objects realistically in the environment.

MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory researcher Abe Davis said that the technique lets them capture the physical behaviour of objects. In "Pokemon Go" for instance, it gives them a way to play with them in virtual space. The MIT researcher added that by making videos interactive, they can predict how objects respond to unknown forces. It will also allow them to explore new ways to engage with videos, MIT News reported.

Davis believes that IDV has many possible uses from filmmakers who produce new kinds of visual effects to architects who determine whether buildings are structurally sound. He shows that IDV can go a step beyond what the "Pokemon Go" app can perform. Instead of just dropping virtual characters into real-world environments, IDV can enable virtual objects to interact with their environments in specific and realistic ways such as bouncing off the leaves of a nearby bush. In addition, the technique used in IDV also allows users to interact with a virtual world, as well as poke and prod at objects inside the video footage just like the "Pokemon Go" app.

IDV uses traditional cameras to analyze the invisible vibrations transmitted by certain objects in a frame. In order to create "Pokemon Go" like simulations, Davis analyzed video clips to find vibration modes at different frequencies, ZME Science reported. The vibration modes represent the way an object can move and by understanding these modes, researchers can predict how the object will move in a new environment.

Since "Pokemon Go" was launched, players have been inclined in the app's virtual reality capability. However, the new IDV technology proves how far researchers can go in terms of capturing and manipulating real objects in virtual space.