Matt's Idea Box » noodlenav

IASTED-HCI conference was a success

Matt Derry — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 05:30:41 +0000

I successfully presented my thesis work at the IASTED-HCI conference in Maui. What a trip! Hawaii was absolutely beautiful and my hosts were a true delight. I have to admit is was a little challenging making it to the conference activities with all of the fun things to do in Maui. But I got to meet some really interesting people and see some really interesting work that is being done.

I’ve been a little lax in updating this blog lately, so I’m going to try to catch up with a few posts in a row.

Paper Accepted!

Matt Derry — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 18:36:08 +0000

I just received word that my NoodleNav paper was accepted to my first ever conference, the IASTED-HCI conference in Maui from August 23rd to the 25th. Needless to say, I am excited.

NoodleNav – Tracking Head Gestures for Panning Google Maps

Matt Derry — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 18:49:21 +0000

In case anyone is curious about seeing the system I created for my thesis in action, I have posted it for all to use.

You can try it out here.

Screenshot of NoodleNav

It requires that your web browser has the Adobe Flash player installed and that you have a webcam available for it to use (it has to track your head gestures somehow!). The main idea is that you train it by clicking the train camera button, then place your head in the box indicated (kind of a dumb training algorithm, but for now it serves its purpose), then click done. It will take a snapshot and then lock on, once you see the small box appear, hopefully around you eyes and nose area, then it will track the direction you look. This then gets translated in to panning movements on the underlying Google Maps that corresponds to the direction you turn your head. I have plans to enhance this proof of concept, but this is what I used for my thesis, so enjoy!