Kinect-Projekte
ProtUbique
We developed a prototyping and evaluation framework for ubiquitous interactive systems designed to support rapid prototyping of interaction concepts in ubiquitous environments. Based on the Microsoft Kinect, the framework focuses and provides different interaction channels and creates an abstraction layer for the prototyping engineer for easy handling.
Up to now, we implemented four interaction channels to support rapid prototyping of interactive ubiquitous systems. These are: Postures, Gestures, Speech and Interactive Surfaces and Volumes. They are configurable via graphical user interface and therefore easy to use. The graphical user interface also offers a view in which it is possible to record a user test.
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Gesture based interaction for older users
With the increasing networking of systems combined with the ubiquity of information technologies, which are still growing, the information in itself will become ubiquitous. This information has to become accessible to users with the help of ubiquitous technologies. Using natural interaction concepts, the user is able to explore and investigate information sets.
This thesis focuses on product presentation on large displays or projection surfaces, already in use in showrooms or trade fairs. Gesture-based concepts had developed, that intend to make the rich information space of products available to customers using natural interaction concepts. The field of application of this thesis lies in the product data of caravans. This focus includes people older than 55. Usually, people of that age and older do have little experience in dealing with computer technologies. The lack of experience in using computers affects the usage of computing technologies and is an access barrier to information technology. Natural gesture interaction concepts aim at overcoming these barriers. To illustrate the user-centered developed interaction concept, a prototypical application will be implemented by using the Microsoft KinectTM sensor.
Ubitouch
UbiTouch is a reusable framework for the development of prototypes allowing for combined gesture and multitouch input. The 2D multitouch space on a MS PixelSense is extended to 3D by adding Kinect skeleton tracking above the table. Global coordinates are created by calibrating the touch table in the Kinect coordinate system. Digital shade is a demo application used to visualize the coordinate transformation between the two systems. An object appearing above the table is projected to the surface of the PixelSense and shown as a shade. The size of the shade visualizes the distance of the object from the surface. Using Kinect skeletal tracking, multiple objects can be tracked at the same time. The framework was used to create the prototypical game "TowerBuilder", where multiple players have to erect a tower out of building blocks on a touch table. The different players can be distinguished by using skeletal tracking, the building blocks are trackable on the surface using fiducial markers.