Apparatus and method for detecting a pointer relative to a touch surface
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus for detecting a pointer relative to a touch surface comprising:
- at least two spaced imaging devices having overlapping fields of view, each of said imaging devices having a field of view that looks back at the touch surface such that said imaging devices see said touch surface in three-dimensions as a perspective view including the boundaries of said touch surface, said imaging devices acquiring overlapping images from different viewpoints, each imaging device comparing acquired images with a model describing the boundaries of said touch surface thereby to determine a subset of pixels in each acquired image and processing each pixel subset to generate image data; and
processing structure processing image data generated by at least one of said imaging devices to determine the location of the pointer.
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Abstract
An apparatus for detecting a pointer relative to a touch surface includes at least two spaced imaging assemblies having overlapping fields of view encompassing the touch surface. The imaging assemblies see the touch surface in three-dimensions as a perspective view. The imaging assemblies acquire overlapping images from different locations. A processor receives and processes image data generated by at least one of the imaging assemblies to determine the location of the pointer relative to the touch surface.
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Citations
75 Claims
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1. An apparatus for detecting a pointer relative to a touch surface comprising:
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at least two spaced imaging devices having overlapping fields of view, each of said imaging devices having a field of view that looks back at the touch surface such that said imaging devices see said touch surface in three-dimensions as a perspective view including the boundaries of said touch surface, said imaging devices acquiring overlapping images from different viewpoints, each imaging device comparing acquired images with a model describing the boundaries of said touch surface thereby to determine a subset of pixels in each acquired image and processing each pixel subset to generate image data; and processing structure processing image data generated by at least one of said imaging devices to determine the location of the pointer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A camera-based touch system comprising:
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a generally rectangular passive touch surface on which contacts are made using a pointer; camera devices removably mounted adjacent at least two corners of said touch surface, each of said camera devices being disposed in front of the plane of the touch surface and having a field of view looking across and back towards said touch surface, the fields of view of said camera devices overlapping over said touch surface such that said camera devices see said touch surface and the boundaries thereof in perspective views, said camera devices acquiring images of said touch surface from different viewpoints, each camera device comparing each acquired image with a mathematical model describing the boundaries of said touch surface as seen by said camera device to determine a subset of relevant pixels of the acquired image corresponding generally to said touch surface and processing the subset of relevant pixels of each acquired image to generate image data; and a processor receiving and processing said image data to determine the location of said pointer relative to said touch surface via triangulation. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
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59. An apparatus for detecting a pointer relative to a generally rectangular touch surface comprising:
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at least two spaced imaging devices having overlapping fields of view encompassing said touch surface, said imaging devices being spaced in front of said touch surface and looking back to see said touch surface in three-dimensions as a perspective view with the perspective view including at least the four corners and sides of said touch surface, said imaging devices acquiring overlapping images from different viewpoints, each imaging device comparing each captured image with a mathematical model describing the boundaries of the touch surface to determine a subset of relevant pixels within the captured image and processing the subset of relevant pixels in each captured image to generate image data, said relevant pixel subset encompassing said touch surface; and a processor receiving and processing image data generated by at least one of said imaging devices to determine the location of the pointer relative to said touch surface using triangulation. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. An apparatus for detecting a pointer relative to a touch surface comprising:
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at least two spaced imaging devices having overlapping fields of view, each of said imaging devices being in front of the touch surface and looking back at the touch surface such that said imaging devices see said touch surface in three-dimensions as a perspective view including the boundaries of said touch surface, said imaging devices acquiring overlapping images from different viewpoints; and processing structure processing image data generated by at least one of said imaging devices to determine the location of the pointer, wherein each imaging device is calibrated to establish the relationship between points (X,Y,Z) in its perspective view and points (x,y) in acquired images, each imaging device generating pointer co-ordinate data when a pointer exists in an acquired image and wherein during calibration external orientation parameters (X0,Y0,Z0) and (ω
,φ
,κ
) of each imaging device are determined where;(X0,Y0,Z0) is the spatial location of the optical center of the imaging device; and (ω
,φ
,κ
) are the orientation angles of the optical axis of the imaging device with respect to the three-dimensional co-ordinate system of the touch surface. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75)
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Specification