Natural Interfaces for Digital Entertainment

"Naturalness" is used to describe a subjective evaluation of interaction, meaning being "free from artificiality, affectation, or constraint". Natural interaction technologies utilise all human senses (vision, speech, touch, feel, emotion, thoughts etc.), allowing the user to interact with them the way they do with other people. This provides a more intuitive, engaging, and natural experience for the user. Not only have natural interaction technologies been used for human computer interaction, they are also one of the key means of communication between humans and robots - robotics is an industry that Bill Gates considers akin to the PC industry 30 years ago. The importance of natural interaction technologies cannot be overlooked.

This work involves the use of particle filters for tracking articulated hand for advanced human computer interaction. Users can interact with a virtual screen using bare hands and articulated movements of the hand and fingers are visually tracked and the corresponding actions interpreted.

Click an image below to see the associated hand tracking video demo.