Towards Development of a Non-Touch Man-Machine Interface for Intelligent Presenter-Audience Collaborative Environment

A novel, non-touch, screen pointing interface is proposed for the use of intelligent presenter/audience collaborative environment. The underlying methodology for detecting a virtual passive pointer is described. The passive pointer or device does not have any active energy source within it (as opposed to a laser pointer) and thus cannot easily be detected or identified. The modeling and simulation task is carried out by generating high resolution color images of a pointer viewing via two digital cameras with a popular three-dimensional (3D) computer graphics and animation program, Studio 3D Max by Discreet. These images are then retrieved for analysis into a Microsoft’s Visual C++ program developed based on the theory of image triangulation. The program outputs a precise coordinates of the pointer in the 3D space in addition to its projection on a view screen located in a large display/presentation room. The computational results of the pointer projection are compared with known locations specified by Studio 3D Max for different simulated configurations. High pointing accuracy is achieved: a pointer kept 30 feet away correctly hits the target location within a few inches. Thus, this technology is useful in a large setting where presenter-audience collaborative applications are needed.