THE AUTOMATIC REMOTE CONTROL

THE AUTOMATIC REMOTE CONTROL

Abstract:

With the use of WebCamera we have tried to create an alternative way of controlling a movie and sound-clip. We have succeeded in developing a system where you can play, pause and fast-forward the clip, zoom in/out and adjust the volume by using your hand and a red glove. We have used color tracking to track the red glove and afterwards performing blob tracking to output coordinates of the movements of the hand. These coordinates are used to perform decisions on which actions to do with the movie- and sound-clip. We encountered different problems during the experimental work. Some of them were predicted already in the starting phase such as camera noise, resolution, change in illumination, incoming objects and some Groundnut Problem. The only problem still standing is the problem concerning incoming objects with the same color as the glove. The well-known illumination problem was partly solved by using the HSI color model instead of RGB. The Groundnut Problem, where the system doesn’t know if it is active or not, were solved by defining an open/close command that included clenching the fist. All in all we have reached our goal, and we are satisfied with the outcome of the project and the final prototype of the Automatic Remote Control.

Introduction:

In this project we will try to create a Automatic remote control that will suit the purpose of a standard remote control, as we know them nowadays. However as we define the Automatic Remote Control (ARC) it is not going to fulfill all the needs of a common remote control, only some of the basic features. The future goal of the Automatic Remote Control (ARC) will be to teach the computer common human gesticulation. A computer will at best be able to recognize some patterns and respond to them accordingly. Therefore the aim of the project is not to produce a fully developed consumer product that will replace the standard remote control, but rather to make a prototype and to learn from the process of experimenting during the project. The report will serve as documentation of our experiments, both successful and not, and as a summary of the theory used.