sciencedaily.com: A man stands in front of a large screen gesticulating in a seemingly hectic manner. As if by magic, images suddenly appear on the display. Their movements follow the actor’s gestures, rotate at the slightest turn of a finger, and become larger or smaller as desired. This scene will look familiar to anyone who has watched the science fiction film ‘Minority Report’. Paul Chojecki, scientist and project manager at the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut, HHI in Berlin, explains the iPoint Presenter in a manner reminiscent of the John Anderton character played by Tom Cruise.

At the heart of the system is a set of cameras which enable the computer to observe the person standing in front of the projection screen. The moment this person moves their hands, the computer reacts without being touched at all. “It begins by determining the position of the user’s index finger, then follows its movements,” Chojecki explains. [ read more ]