Natural Interaction and Computer Graphics Applications

Abstract: Natural Interaction with computers has been a challenging topic of research since the very beginning of the digital era and refers to the possibility, on the user’s part, of exploiting natural abilities to control the machine and interpret its outputs. If in the infancy of computer graphics this meant using visual representation and pen pointing, nowadays more refined techniques are needed to fit the wide range of applications, from home entertainment to virtual and augmented reality. This paper describes some advances in gesture, tangible and surface computing, showing how such interaction models, if treated as a continuum, improve the usability, accessibility and overall experience of computer graphics applications.

Authors: S. A. Iacolina, A. Lai, A. Soro, R. Scateni.
Natural Interaction and Computer Graphics Applications.
EuroGraphics Italian Chapter 2010, 141-146.
Genova, Italia, Novembre 2010.

Interactive Calibration of a Multi-Projector System in a Video-Wall Multi-Touch Environment.

Abstract: Wall-sized interactive displays gain more and more attention as a valuable tool for multiuser applications, but typically require the adoption of projectors tiles. Projectors tend to display deformed images, due to lens distortion and/or imperfection, and because they are almost never perfectly aligned to the projection surface. Multi-projector videowalls are typically bounded to the video architecture and to the specific application to be displayed. This makes it harder to develop interactive applications, in which a fine grained control of the coordinate transformations (to and from user space and model space) is required. This paper presents a solution to such issues: implementing the blending functionalities at an application level allows seamless development of multi-display interactive applications with multi-touch capabilities. The description of the multi-touch interaction, guaranteed by an array of cameras on the baseline of the wall, is beyond the scope of this work which focuses on calibration.

Authors: A. Lai, A. Soro, R. Scateni.
Interactive Calibration of a Multi-Projector System in a Video-Wall Multi-Touch Environment.
UIST 2010 Adjunct Proceedings, 437-438.
New York, NY, USA, Ottobre 2010.