MAKE: Blog: Computer control with a laser pointer, a webcam, and a wall...

Computer control with a laser pointer, a webcam, and a wall...

Raphael writes "I wanted to be able to control my music player, xmms, using a laser pointer and a wall. I drew the symbols for rewind, stop, play, forward on paper sheets using fluorescent ink so it looks cool with a blacklight and sticked them on the wall. I coded a simple tool that monitors the wall for the presence of a small spot using a webcam. When the spot appears somewhere, if it is inside a defined hotspot, the appropriate command is executed". Link.

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Comments

Oldest comments listed first.

Posted by: JakeMcMahon on September 20, 2005 at 12:03 PM

That is FANTASTIC!

Posted by: CARP on September 22, 2005 at 1:26 PM

I already have the patent on that...
I hade the same idea, but wanted to control ANY Windows application.
I play games and surf the web.
Fun, huh?

Posted by: ashishRD on January 24, 2007 at 12:47 AM

I've done a similar project. Its a laser gesture recognizer. Instead of creating hotspots, it recognizes gestures made with a laser pointer anywhere in the camera's field of view. I use it to control Windows Media Player. Link: http://ashishrd.blogspot.com/2006/12/gesture-recognition-using-webcam-and.html

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