More waiting

Well after my last post I wanted to try illuminating my surface from behind with a few IR LEDs. I found that with everything I tried, the LEDs just put way too much focused light on the surface. After talking with cerupcat on the nuigroup forums, he mentioned the use of the GamFusion material from www.gamonline.com as a diffuser of the IR light. The stuff is pretty cheap so I ordered some along with some more LEDs.

On a more exciting note, I came into some unexpected funding for my project. I can finally afford to buy a projector :)

Change of Direction

Well a few days ago I recieved my silicone-rubber sheet from Gravano of nuigroup.com. After getting it setup on my table and doing some more work on my software I was able to get pretty good finger tracking. The problems came the next day, when my software went crazy because of a little bit of ambient daylight in the room. Since I want to use this technology someday in the classroom, this presents a roadblock.

So, I've now decided to shift my focus from FTIR (sides of acrylic lit with IR LEDs) to diffused illumination (front or rear lit with IR LEDs). So far the results are promising. I've uploaded a video of me testing out the surface.



I think this is definately the way to go. Just looking at the video, it's clear to see I get fairly accurate results using only ambient light. With a rear lit setup, I'm sure I can make this work even better. That's it for today.

Oh, and Happy Birthday Nation... I got you a giftcard.