Realization Of A Spatial Augmented Reality System - A Digital Whiteboard Using a Kinect Sensor and a PC Projector

Recent rapid development of cost-effective, accurate digital imaging sensors, high-speed computational hardware, and tractable design software has given rise to the growing field of augmented reality in the computer vision realm. The system design of a 'Digital Whiteboard' system is presented with the intention of realizing a practical, cost-effective and publicly available spatial augmented reality system.

A Microsoft Kinect sensor and a PC projector coupled with a desktop computer form a type of spatial augmented reality system that creates a projection based graphical user interface that can turn any wall or planar surface into a 'Digital Whiteboard'. The system supports two kinds of user inputs consisting of depth and infra-red information. An infra-red collimated light source, like that of a laser pointer pen, serves as a stylus for user input. The user can point and shine the infra-red stylus on the selected planar region and the reflection of the infra-red light source is registered by the system using the infra-red camera of the Kinect. Using the geometric transformation between the Kinect and the projector, obtained with system calibration, the projector displays contours corresponding to the movement of the stylus on the 'Digital Whiteboard' region, according to a smooth curve fitting algorithm. The described projector-based spatial augmented reality system provides new unique possibilities for user interaction with digital content.