Real-time pen input system for writing utilizing stereo vision

A system that captures handwritten words on a piece of paper utilizing two cameras which observe and track a pen’s tip lateral movement is presented. The system tracks the pen’s tip in real-time based on the two images vision using colored markers. The stereo camera is calibrated for accurate threedimensional (3D) positioning of the pen’s tip. Pen’s tip 3D coordinates are then being used to re-construct the handwritten input into computer image. Experimental results show that the system can detect and track handwriting within 1mm accuracy on the y-axis and 7 mm accuracy on the x-axis (depth)

An Introduction to 3D User Interface Design

3D user interface design is a critical component of any virtual environment (VE) application. In this paper, we present a broad overview of three-dimensional (3D) interaction and user interfaces. We discuss the effect of common VE hardware devices on user interaction, as well as interaction techniques for generic 3D tasks and the use of traditional two-dimensional interaction styles in 3D environments. We divide most user interaction tasks into three categories: navigation, selection/manipulation, and system control. Throughout the paper, our focus is on presenting not only the available techniques, but also practical guidelines for 3D interaction design and widely held myths. Finally, we briefly discuss two approaches to 3D interaction design, and some example applications with complex 3D interaction requirements. We also present an annotated online bibliography as a reference companion to this article

Gesture Recognition and Control Part 1 - Basics, Literature Review & Different Techniques

This Exploratory paper series reveals the technological aspects of Gesture Controlled User Interface (GCUI), and identifies trends in technology, application and usability. It is found that GCUI now affords realistic opportunities for specific application are as, and especially for use rs who are uncomfortable with more commonly used input devices. It further explored collated chronograph research information on which covers the past research work in Literature Review . Researchers investigated different types of gestures, its uses, applic ations, technology, issues and results from existing research

Towards Developing an Eye-tracker Based Virtual Reality Application for Supporting Vision Screening

Statistics from 2014 show that 35 to 75 percent of school age children suffer from some sort of vision problem. Of these children, around 25\% have normal visual acuity, however, their problems relate to low performance of their vision system. This low performance can be due to, e.g., eye musculature, nerve problems, cognitive problems etc. Such deficiencies may get worse as the person gets older, and it is important that we strive to treat these issues while the person afflicted is still young. Standardized vision control is performed on children at the age of 4 or 5 in most European countries. This screening can miss functional vision problems. The identification of these requires additional expertise and resources. By providing better aids supporting vision screening, we can help to catch problems that standardized screenings do not prioritize. A previously developed laptop application (C&Look) managed to target certain aspects of the screening battery identifying oculomotor problems (OMDs), a usual functional vision problem. However, C&Look's functionalities are limited by the size of the screen and the lack of depth, two important issues influencing how our vision functions. Separation of vision problems and the lack of focus from the test person is another not addressed issue, as there is currently no way to distinguish between these. This thesis addresses these issues by developing a Virtual Reality (VR) version of C&Look with the possibility of identifying the lack of focus before measuring functional vision problems. Evaluation with a vision expert indicates that VR technology provides great promise for further assisting the current vision screening battery, however, focus was deemed too correlated with functional vision fatigue for an attention test to be used for separating the issues. User experience evaluation from seven possible end-users shows that the VR version of the screening application is considered usable compared to the original version. This process also helps to highlight the benefits and weaknesses of a transition from 2D to 3D. A simulated environment makes the process feel more like a real screening process which can increase participants' focus. A clear drawback is the limitation of head-mounted displays (HMDs) capability of measuring distances of the gaze, but also less confidence in results and worse performance. Creating a screening application is feasible in VR and can help cover more parts of the vision screening battery than a laptop application allows.Masteroppgave i Programutvikling samarbeid med HVLPROG399MAMN-PRO

merging the video with the whiteboard stream for remote lectures

In the system we use for recording and transmitting lectures over the Internet, the board content is transmitted as vector graphics, producing thus a high quality image, while the video of the lecturer is sent as a separate stream. It is easy for the viewer to read the board but the lecturer appears in a separate window. To eliminate this problem, we segment the lecturer from the video stream and paste his image onto the board image at video stream rates. The lecturer can be dimmed from opaque to semitransparent, or even transparent. This paper explains the techniques we apply to achieve this and argue that it can also compete with state of the art image segmentation used for foreground extraction in still images. The approach does not only provide a solution to the divided attention problem which arises when board and lecturer images are transmitted in two different streams, it can also be applied to a variety of other problems where a foreground object must be segmented

Rehabilitation Engineering

Population ageing has major consequences and implications in all areas of our daily life as well as other important aspects, such as economic growth, savings, investment and consumption, labour markets, pensions, property and care from one generation to another. Additionally, health and related care, family composition and life-style, housing and migration are also affected. Given the rapid increase in the aging of the population and the further increase that is expected in the coming years, an important problem that has to be faced is the corresponding increase in chronic illness, disabilities, and loss of functional independence endemic to the elderly (WHO 2008). For this reason, novel methods of rehabilitation and care management are urgently needed. This book covers many rehabilitation support systems and robots developed for upper limbs, lower limbs as well as visually impaired condition. Other than upper limbs, the lower limb research works are also discussed like motorized foot rest for electric powered wheelchair and standing assistance device