Shadow dancing on the network

In the traditional Japanese home, Shoji or paper walls divide rooms providing privacy. As a result, people in adjacent rooms cast visible shadows.

This effect is something Japanese researchers hope to exploit for the future of offline social networking.

According to BBC News, Teleshadow works like a webcam, showing what friends and family are up to at home. But instead of showing them in full motion and color, it "turns them into shadow outlines projected on the inside of a small decorative lamp."

The result is a system that provides privacy "while reinforcing presence between rooms that are far apart rather than next door," an interesting proposition because it adds physical presence to new media.

Teleshadow was revealed at the Siggraph computer graphics convention in San Diego.