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h2h: The Hand2Hand Human-Computer Interaction Project

Check out the ProjectStatus to see how things are coming along!

The Problem

Modern human-computer interfaces (such as the mouse, keyboard, joystick and gamepad) are very good at performing certain tasks, but usually involve subtle, bound movements over small spaces (think about the total area one uses moving a mouse or trackpad, or the stationary position of the hands while touch-typing). Interacting with environments that involve motion across spatial areas often require a kind of mental rewiring. The primary spatial environments users interact with using computers and the associated interface are video games, so they provide the best example of this. Game-playing often involves very little human motion: usually it is just constrained to the digits, and often just to the thumbs. This not only puts undue stress on a particular part of the human body and encourages boredom or inactivity, but it also precludes the possibility of a high level of interactivity and physical expression to go along with the high level of mental involvement most gamers experience during gaming.

Very passionate gamers may often be seen losing control of this bound movement, for example when vainly pushing their game controller down through the air as they try to get off some special move in a fighting game. There must be a better way.

Taking Advantage of Natural Human Motion

Motion Capture and Computer Vision techniques provide a way to allow a user to interact with a computer by way of more complex and energetic motion. Hand2Hand (h2h) is an attempt to provide one such mode of interaction. In short, the project provides the user with two quite natural controls: the human hands. By the movement of one hand from a base position in various directions, the user can control the speed and direction of movement. By the use of a combination of motion and gestures with the other hand, the user can provide two kinds of input: specific actions and intensity of action.

These two controls provide enough information to play games and use applications involving movement through space--modern non-game examples of which may be Google Earth, or 2D spatial or 3D interactive file system navigation.

Tentative Deliverables

Timeline

This project is currently researched, maintained and worked on by Andrew J. Montalenti.

Using the Wiki

This is an open source project, and if you have any ideas, feel free to write them here. This wiki should be seen more as a "whiteboard" than as an actual "project homepage." I'll make a real homepage when we have some real deliverables.

Interesting starting points:

How to use this site

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last edited 2005-12-21 05:31:31 by 207-237-123-189