Multitouch surface made out of box, webcam, and glass
Want your own multitouch control surface? Have a webcam, cardboard box, and photo frame? The folks at Hacknmod MacGyvered their own with just those materials. By simply pairing a fixed camera and controlled light surface, they were able to mimic what others have paid hundreds for, albeit in a decidedly less attractive package. Peep the somewhat uncomfortably porn-like vid after the break. Oh, and seriously, Hacknmod guys, what's with the sexy techno and slow-mo insertion of the USB cable?
[Thanks Dan S]
[Thanks Dan S]























wow, they should make a phone using this :s
They already have! It's called an iPhone.
Have you been living under a rock?
irony isn't one of your strong points is it :-)
Umm... I was begin sarcastic too.
I think bob meant a phone using the cardboard box method.
This is frikin' cool
OMFG!!!!!
im gonna try this when i get home!
my whole desk is made of glass!!!
Sweet!
Is all that software available free on their website?
I don't know, but a lot of the things like ripples, smoke, and the photo application were the same as that Multi Touch Tabeltop Surface demonstrated by Microsoft a few weeks ago...
Not very practical especially if you need to light up the whole room for the camera to detect anything. I will add that anyway to my list of DIYs consisting of homemade PDA and iPod projectors and mp3 alarms for mp3 players which do not have such features.
Yeah... Not so impressive when you don't come up with the ideas, hmm?
awesome job. I know I'll be building one of these at work to waste time with... fuck ya.
Gadgets as pr0n - FTW!
I like your style!
i like your moves!
Hey, it may not be useful, but it sure is imaginative. And for the price of a webcam and a piece of glass, I may try it just for kicks!
and this is Microsoft's version of innovation hmmm?
Well, no. You might have noticed that the people behind this are active in the open source community (easyer to understand: They know a lot about unix systems) so what has windows to do with anything?
And pretty finishing isn´t innovativ, it´s just that: pretty. If you want to be innovative with new techonology and design a product that will sell even to mactards, go ahead and do so.
Very nice. I can see a slightly evolved version of this being used for games, as a replacement for board games, or for other evolving purposes. Phoenix, the software is open source so it's freely available and hackable. Long live resourceful hackers!
I don't understand how this is "multi-touch". Can you use this glass/webcam/box like a keyboard? or to surf the internet?
I guess this could be used to create a huge multi touch screen
Same kind of thing, just using a projector from the PC pointing at the surface.
Just an idea I guess
My thoughts exactly!
could anybody tell me how to create an avatar etc?
Don't mind the people low ranking you, their dick got caught in a car door.
Click your own name (kie) and a page with your profile info will load, it'll be to the right.
....... and sophisticated video processing software
Couldn't you combine this with a projector overhead pointing down onto the sheet of glass to create some interesting board games, or DM'ing with serious style.
Sorry didn't spot the guy above with the same idea.
not a prob, i think i may try this! :)
the issue there is that your hand is blocking the projector...
It would only be blocking the projector while you were moving pieces etc.... Also you could always project from underneath and flip the image.
This has been done many times over - but here is a company that does games w/advertising using the same concept:
http://www.reactrix.com
@ Phoenix
guess you could have the projector from the back, but if you wanted to mount this on a wall it would need to be a deep wall with a hole in it, which isn't practical
but if it was then you would just flip the output
BORING.
I have done this before.
in fact I have done EXACTLY the same 2 months ago with help from the NUI Group (nuigroup.com).
and if someone says anything about credit to jeff han I will scream in there face!
So you are saying that you have been into this BORING activities yourself as well?
Way to write it down and back up your claims... Because you surely do not sound like some internet-douchebag who simply spouts off so-called 'knowledge' about something without any sort of proof to back them up.
Nope. So don't seem like that at all. None at all.......
I have actually been doing multitouch tables for 2 years now!
Wow Richard, you hunk! You are so superior.
No, seriously. I WANT YOU.
RichardR, I'm CERUPCAT on the NUIgroup forum and the creator of this video. I'm sure we know each other. If you look on the video, you will see credit to nuigroup. I've been wanting to make this video for over a year. Please support, not degrade.
Oh yeah well I've been doing multitouch for 5 years! Beat that!
I knew a guy that got arrested 6 years ago because of multitouch.
falsoman, I am laughing so hard I can't breathe.
let me see if I get this right! if I make a DIY 1024x768 projector and this with a 1.3MP webcam i got at multitouch screen in the higher end of the scala? for what? > 200§
It wouldn't be too difficult to build your own remote note-taking advice along these lines.
This looks awesome... you guys are all up for open source.. and stuff... thats nice... but with some work and stuff... you could even make money of this... patent it and stuff.... looks really cool... Kudos...
@ swingin' dick hero
i got it! yay! thanks for your help
No prob!
Pretty neat setup. I might wanna try this. I wonder if it can be any webcam?
Yes, any webcam will work. The better the cam, the better the results! =)
Could you throw in a projector and make a ghetto surface?
So many comments and noone refering to this guy?
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/