Camera-based Interaction
Inition are constantly striving to
find new, more intuitive ways of interacting with computers.
We are at the cutting edge of an exciting
new technology that allows full-body, unencumbered interaction within
a virtual environment, enabling the user to interact using nothing more
than the movements of his/her body. This sort of interaction relies
on digital cameras interfaced to the PC to pick up motion.
Using high-end image-processing techniques
(only recently possbile on PCs), the images from the camera are converted
into useful data on how a person is moving. The captured video image
of the user is shown on a screen (anything from a CRT monitor to a large
projected display) embedded within the interactive environment (this
is sometimes called 'projected-reality'). Not requiring the user to
don a headset, gloves or tracking device, interactions using this technology
open up many new possibilities for bringing interactive virtual worlds
into a public setting.
For the first time, participants can
interact with a 3D enviroment completely unsupervised, and, because
of the intuitive nature of the interface, with little or no guidance.
There are no strict limits on the number of people that can interact
simultaenously with a virtual world of this type - anything from an
individial, to a large crowd. These qualities make this technology ideal
for use in retail enviroments, exhibitions, bars, night-clubs, etc.
The virtual fluid example below gives a glimpse of what is possible.
Virtual
Fluid
This application uses a webcam
to capture and display video which then undergoes image processing to
add real-time
graphics to the image. In this example, a variety of different fluid
effects are cascaded over the participant's limbs:
