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Pico Projector Adapts To New Surfaces, Uses Random Objects As Input Devices

Posted by Soulskill on from the for-when-your-display-surfaces-keep-walking-away dept.

jpwilliams writes "This tiny projector can use any surface you have on hand to project an image. Using a webcam, it adapts to the surface, not just by adjusting keystone, but also following that surface and displaying different amounts of information (in certain cases). The guy in the video also uses a coffee mug as an app changer."

22 comments

  1. Pico by Hatta · · Score: 4, Funny

    Does it work with pine too?

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  2. Re:Display information by noh8rz2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of course it can. It's a pico projector.

  3. Re:Display information by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah, but can it project different amounts of information onto my dick?

    I'm sorry, I've watched the video and I suspect that it wouldn't be able to detect an object that small.

  4. Customisable Controls? by Fluffeh · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Okay, so switching the display by rotating a coffee cup or bottle is nifty, but could get annoying when any movement at a board presentation switches things around. I am much more interested in seeing if the input commands are able to be modified and changed around.

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    1. Re:Customisable Controls? by Tumbleweed · · Score: 2

      Okay, so switching the display by rotating a coffee cup or bottle is nifty, but could get annoying when any movement at a board presentation switches things around. I am much more interested in seeing if the input commands are able to be modified and changed around.

      Dude, just hold down the shift key. geez.

    2. Re:Customisable Controls? by TheCouchPotatoFamine · · Score: 2

      i think what the mug rotation shows is that they can associate real items with virtual ones. That's more impressive then the (relatively cheap) projector . with a top down projector, they could not only avoid projecting on /you/, but they could associate real sticky notes with virtual ones! I can think of some cool uses of that kind of rapid, free association of information you could do with it, like reading a book cover to prin a summary next to it. It's all about pointing the projector down, not sideways :)

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    3. Re:Customisable Controls? by Fluffeh · · Score: 2

      I think what the mug rotation shows is that they can associate real items with virtual ones.

      That's not quite the message that I walked away with. It looked as if rotating a mug (and later a bottle) simply switched the information being displayed. If rotating the mug had rotated a single object within the frame, I think it would be more interesting - such as manipulating common objects to manipulate individual models in a 3D app for example. What I saw seemed to imply that "look for something being rotated" translated to "ALT-TAB" for the environment.

      The idea of a top down projector is interesting, somewhat similar to that microsoft "desk" thing that I kept hearing (the one where your entire table was actually part of the PC desktop and moving documents around interacted with what was actually on your screen) about for a while, then it tapered off.

      Unless I am mistaken, this seems to be a (granted, novel and interesting) but simple business application similar to either a Kinect or whatever the Playstation equivalent was which also used a webcam from memory. I would be more impressed if someone put together an API (extra points for open sourcing it) to allow a PC and or presentation to be properly and intuitively controlled with a kinect-like controller.

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    4. Re:Customisable Controls? by danish94 · · Score: 1

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8lCetZ_57g

  5. Color? by stevenh2 · · Score: 0

    How about color? Can the projector adjust color, as well as shape?

    1. Re:Color? by DarwinSurvivor · · Score: 1

      Are you asking if it can detect a color change instead of a physical change? If so, I believe it can since the juice bottle was more or less uniform all around (no handle, etc) and it was able to detect that it rotated just fine.

  6. How... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How do you project picos?

  7. PBBBPHHHH by gottspeed · · Score: 0

    This is FARR to technical. Post something about politics or apple products please.

  8. How? by dutchwhizzman · · Score: 1

    Stand on one leg with your feet in the air the whole presentation? You'll only be able to switch slides by tapping your nose if you do that.

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    1. Re:How? by RivenAleem · · Score: 1

      How do you stand on one leg with Feet in the air? How many legs/feet do you have?

  9. Webcam hardly used, but Kinect? by dutchwhizzman · · Score: 1

    I can't really find the technology behind the trick in the paper. It does describe that a Kinect is used. That sounds a lot more plausible as the source for figuring out where to project, in what shape and for detecting object movement as a controller than a plain web cam. Could it be that the WebCam is only used to record contrast and color balance so they can project on "printed" surfaces?

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  10. Re:Display information by kelemvor4 · · Score: 1

    Of course it can. It's a pico projector.

    I'll wait for an elite projector next fall.

  11. RANDOM Objects? by RadioElectric · · Score: 1

    I'd much rather be able to predict where the image is going to end up. Maybe make it so you can project onto arbitrary objects?