Sweet screen

Ender[CotC] · Post by **Ender[CotC]** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 2:39 pm

Check out this video of a brand-spanking-new touch screen that may, after some work, put the DS touch screen to shame:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 8353654549

imagine how this will affect future video games!

Post by **Akira** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 3:20 pm

Neat, but not really a screen. It is being projected from above.

Post by **Neophyte** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 3:46 pm

It is also using something similar to the virtual keyboard for tracking user input. Combining that with the video display is a cool idea. We're closer to that sweet bit of fantasy that Tom Cruise did in the movie Minority Report. Now, what can we do to improve the colors and reflective surface without having our oily human hands messing things up?

Ender[CotC] · Post by **Ender[CotC]** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 3:53 pm

Ive seen projectors before... that is a touch screen.

If it was a projector, the shadow would determine what happens on the "projected screen". Unless the panel the "screen" is projrcted onto, transmits the pressure sensitive reactions from your hand on the panel, and affects the projected output.

They didnt say too much about how it worked... just that it did work and it could do cool stuff.

unless i missed something.... *scratching chin*

Post by **Baron[CotC]** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 6:04 pm

I soooo want to play warcraft on that table... that looks so awesome.

Post by **Akira** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 7:02 pm

Pay attention to the light on the guys hand and arm, in relation to what is moving and being seen on the "screen". If it was indeed a video feed from the table, there wouldn't be the light I'm seeing projected on the back of his hand/arm.

Post by **Neophyte** » Thu Jun 15, 2006 9:51 pm

Yup, Akira's right... Video projected from the top, or the guy's wouldn't have light on the back of this hands and shadows under.

And it's not touch based either. The system uses a camera to "watch" the user's hands for input. That's what the "hand gestures" are for.

It's still a very cool way to interact with the computer.

This panel is more of what you were thinking about Ender...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zp-y3ZNaCqs

Ender[CotC] · Post by **Ender[CotC]** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 8:25 am

Yeah. I see the colors from the projector on the back of his hands.

But as to the commands controlled by a camera watching the hand gestures, i dont fully understand what you mean Neo.

It seems to me that the "gestures" are being used to control what is happening on the screen in conjunction with the screen itself. I saw, though, a delay between the touching of the screen and the actual response of the screen. But I believe you can atribute that to the fact that the computer is also waiting for any voice commands that the user may issue.

Could that be the case? that the screen really is a touch screen, but that it transmites the touch screen input and transferes it to the projector?

And that video you posted Neo was awesome. I guess that was more of what i was thinking about. I'd be cool to play games on either one!

Post by **Neophyte** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 9:09 am

The camera is looking for certain distortions in contrast from what the projector is displaying. If those appear as a finger extended, it will use a point command. If the hand is laid flat, it will interpret the input as a "pan" command. If they appear as the hand in a knife edge, it will interpret the "bimanual selection" command...

In reality, this technology would allow you to use any surface as a display with "touch" capability by hand gesture recognition.

Ender[CotC] · Post by **Ender[CotC]** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 4:46 pm

I guess Im confused on one point.

How does the camera distinguish between the hand gestures and the other parts of his upper appendages that are also in the projectors path, effectively distorting the picture the projector is displaying?

Post by **Baron[CotC]** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 5:55 pm

That could have been a touch screen rather than a camera watching his hands, even with the projector. Except maybe "touch pad" is a better term than screen. I didn't see the computer react to his hands at all except for when they made contact with the tabletop...

Post by **Neophyte** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 8:13 pm

I could go with that Baron... Perhaps a pad used after calibrating the video size. But then I wouldn't see how a touch-pad would recognise gestures. Sometimes the user's hands were resting on the table which would have thrown off accuracy. It gave me the impresison that a camera was being used instead of a multi-point touch pad.

Post by **Neophyte** » Fri Jun 16, 2006 8:17 pm

Ender[CotC] wrote:I guess Im confused on one point.

How does the camera distinguish between the hand gestures and the other parts of his upper appendages that are also in the projectors path, effectively distorting the picture the projector is displaying?

Something like OCR, or Optical Character Recognition. It's looking to match a pattern to an input. The shape of a finger extended, a flat hand, or the profile of your hand at the focus length of the camera would be picked-up and compared to recognised gestures. It's along the lines of how Sony Play Station 2's Eye-Toy works to allow you to pop balloon's or punch someone!

Post by **D.A.R.K.[CotC]** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 1:54 am

After watching it, and by what the guys would say about all the different commands they do by their hands, it is definately a touch screen.

The only thing being projected is the visual aspect of what you see, so you can at least see what you are doing, but the pad distinguishes between different commands, like a finger touching a spot, two fingers touching a spot, a whole hand touching a spot, or two hands touching the pad in general.

The eye-toy is filming a projection of you and transmutes that onto the screen. The problem with what you defined Neo is that the eye-toy can only recognize movements of your hand over a specified spot, it can't determine if you are actually pressing down on a spot, or multiple spots, only what your projected image is passing over. The video doesn't show this because many times while the guy is talking his hand passes over the screen, and when he actually does a command a lot of his body passes over the screen, but it is accurate to the point at which he touches the screen with the tip of his finger. The eye-toy technology would not work because that technology is too simple for this touch screen.

Another thing you can tell that it is touch sensitive is when he's playing Warcraft 3 and sends a worker to build something, you see the outline of the building on the screen when he's pointing it where he would like it built, and it is not set and built in the location until his finger lets off of the screen, which clearly shows that it is pressure/touch sensitive.

The video projected from the top is so you see what you're doing, but I agree that the touch pad has already been set up to simulated the real size of a screen so that your finger presses on the pad are accurate to what you see on the visual projection. It's like your monitor has become the projection on the table, and your cursor/mouse has become the touchpad/yourself.

Ender[CotC] · Post by **Ender[CotC]** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 3:06 pm

Ender[CotC] wrote:the panel the "screen" is projected onto, transmits the pressure sensitive reactions from your hand on the panel, and affects the projected output.

What Baron said was what I believe that is what i said here... kinda...

at least it's what i ment to say...