A few days ago I became a new member of the Natural User Interface Group (or NUI Group) forums. This forum specializes in all things multitouch, many of the members have put together their very own Microsoft Surface-like tables.
Most of the multitouch interfaces map mouse movements by tracking blobs of infrared light made on the surface. Those blobs of light are created in two main ways: Frustrated Total Internal Refraction (or FTIR) and Diffused Illumination (or DI). Both of these approaches are described more eloquently in this thread from the forum.
Both of these options require modifying a webcam to remove its infrared filter so it can see the infrafred light. I plan to use a cheaply had, yet easily modded Xbox Live Vision camera.
I had originally planned to skeletonize an LCD monitor for my display, which would’ve involved buying a big LCD monitor and ripping out everything except the LCD matrix. The biggest problem with that is there are no guarantees that I can dismantle the LCD properly, and there are several reports of the LCD matrix being prone to cracking once out of the casing (big shock there).
The other main approach is getting a projector and mounting it inside the table, then using a mirror (or series of mirrors) to project the image through the surface of the table. The bad part is that this is expensive. The good news is that I don’t need to do this part right away.
The first stage of the game for me is going to be getting the Xbox Live Vision camera, modifying it, and starting to play with some of these implementations to decide which one is right for me.
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