VIDEOTOUCH: AN INNOVATIVE SYSTEM-USER INTERFACE

THIS IS A PROPOSAL FOR VIDEOTOUCH, AN INNOVATIVE SYSTEM-USER INTERFACE. A LIVE VIDEO IMAGE OF THE USER'S HANDS IS SUPERIMPOSED ON A DISPLAYED GRAPHIC WORKSPACE. THE SYSTEM DETECTS WHEN THE VIDEO HANDS TOUCH GRAPHIC DATA OR OBJECTS AND USES THAT EVENT AS A CONTROL INPUT THAT CAN BE USED FOR MENUING, DRAWING OR TO DUPLICATE THE FUNCTION OF ANY TRADITIONAL INPUT DEVICE. IN ADDITION, VIDEOTOUCH CAN PROVIDE MULTIPOINT CONTROL. A PROTOTYPE OF THE VIDEOTOUCH SYSTEM EXISTS. IN PHASE I, THE PROTOTYPE WILL BE MODIFIED TO OPERATE WITH AN OVERHEAD CAMERA AIMED AT THE USER'S HANDS ON A FLAT WORK SURFACE. IN THIS CONFIGURATION, THE SYSTEM CAN BE USED AS AN OPERATOR CONSOLE OR AS THE INTERFACE TO AN ELECTRONIC DESK. THE PROPOSERS WILL EXPLORE TWO-HANDED INPUT TECHNIQUES AND IMPLEMENT A SIMPLE APPLICATION THAT WILL DEMONSTRATE THE SYSTEM'S PRACTICALITY IN THE WORK ENVIRONMENT. VIDEOTOUCH WILL PROVIDE AN INTERFACE ALTERNATIVE THAT FREES THE USER TO INTERACT WITH MACHINES INSTINCTIVELY. THERE IS NOTHING TO HOLD, NO ENTANGLING WIRES AND NO PARTS TO WEAR OUT. WITH FURTHER DEVELOPMENT, VIDEOTOUCH WILL PROVIDE A TOOL FOR MONITORING OPERATOR ACTIVITY ON EXISTING EQUIPMENT. IT ALSO SUGGESTS APPLICATIONS FOR TELECONFERENCING AND THE HANDICAPPED.