Inexpensive Webcam Research Articles

Wireless Cursor Controller: Hand Gestures for Computer Navigation

Abstract: This research paper presents a wireless cursor controller system that uses hand gestures to navigate and control a computer's cursor without the need for a traditional mouse. The system employs a fixed position, inexpensive webcam with a high-quality recording feature installed on the top of a computer monitor or a fixed laptop camera. It uses Media-Pipe package for hand tracking and OpenCV for recording motions using computer vision. The system is capable of recognizing hand gestures to perform actions such as left-click, right-click, drag and drop, scroll, and adjust volume or brightness. The proposed system is expected to provide a simple and natural way of communicating for people with hand problems, as well as for those who want to interact with computers more efficiently.

An automated colorimetric inline titration of CO2 concentrations in solvent flow streams using a Teflon AF-2400 tube-in-tube device

Using a number of open source software components (Python, SciPy, OpenCV, PySerial), together with an inexpensive webcam device, an automated inline colorimetric titration methodology was developed to measure CO2 concentration levels in organic flow streams emerging from a Teflon AF-2400 tube-in-tube device. A bisection search algorithm was used in combination with a curve-fitting approach to determine colorimetric titration endpoints. The results obtained are consistent with a simple ‘negative exponential’ model of permeation/dissolution.

A study of CR-39 plastic charged-particle detector replacement by consumer imaging sensors

Consumer imaging sensors (CIS) are examined for real-time charged-particle detection and CR-39 plastic detector replacement. Removing cover glass from CIS is hard if not impossible, in particular for the latest inexpensive webcam models. We show that $10-class CIS are sensitive to MeV and higher energy protons and α-particles by using a 90Sr β-source with its cover glass in place. Indirect, real-time, high-resolution detection is also feasible when combining CIS with a ZnS:Ag phosphor screen and optics. Noise reduction in CIS is nevertheless important for the indirect approach.

Chemical Bonds Visualization using Particle Effect and Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) is a research area that allow to overlay multimedia contents such as text and visual information onto real world through camera views. AR can be used to as an educational assistance to help student acquire a deep conceptual understanding and spatial intuition. The course material can be enriched by viewing multimedia content, as well as in tabletop AR environment. We present this paper an AR system for teaching chemical problem solving especialy chemical bonds to highschool students. Our system is built based on inexpensive webcams and open-source library. Chemical bonds are visualize through marker. By combine different markers, student can get different result and visualization. A survey was conducted after experience the AR chemical bonds, show great acceptance of system and visualization.

Objects Centroid Correlation Using MATLAB's Neural Network Toolbox for Visually-Guided Object Manipulation

Since a pick-and-place task plays an important role in an automatic process, it normally requires machine vision to locate an object for grasping. This paper presents a practicable method used to visually guide an object grasping a group of small, 1.1 mm diameter, screws by using an inexpensive webcam with a resolution of 640 x 480. A basic feedforward neural network is utilized to make a fitting function which associates pixel coordinates of the camera to the physical coordinates of the robot while the method of linear least squares is used for comparison in parallel. The result from the feedforward neural network shows that fifty screws can be completely manipulated from a tray after their physical coordinates are loaded into the robot while the result from the method of linear least squares shows failure when picking two of the samples.

An optical multi-sensing system for detection of cardiovascular toxicity

A mini-microscope-based system for multisite detection of cardiovascular toxicity was developed. The mini-microscope consisted of an image sensor and lens module extracted from an inexpensive webcam. The flipped lens module enabled cells to be magnified and monitored during testing. The portability and compactness of this system enables short-term and potential long-term experimentation inside a conventional incubator. The toxicity test results demonstrated that the normalized beating rates of cardiac muscle cells selected from multiple regions increased over time when treated with 100 nM isoprenaline. The presented system could be a promising cost-effective cell-based testing tool for discovering and screening drugs.

On-Chip Imaging of Schistosoma haematobium Eggs in Urine for Diagnosis by Computer Vision

BackgroundMicroscopy, being relatively easy to perform at low cost, is the universal diagnostic method for detection of most globally important parasitic infections. As quality control is hard to maintain, misdiagnosis is common, which affects both estimates of parasite burdens and patient care. Novel techniques for high-resolution imaging and image transfer over data networks may offer solutions to these problems through provision of education, quality assurance and diagnostics. Imaging can be done directly on image sensor chips, a technique possible to exploit commercially for the development of inexpensive “mini-microscopes”. Images can be transferred for analysis both visually and by computer vision both at point-of-care and at remote locations.Methods/Principal FindingsHere we describe imaging of helminth eggs using mini-microscopes constructed from webcams and mobile phone cameras. The results show that an inexpensive webcam, stripped off its optics to allow direct application of the test sample on the exposed surface of the sensor, yields images of Schistosoma haematobium eggs, which can be identified visually. Using a highly specific image pattern recognition algorithm, 4 out of 5 eggs observed visually could be identified.Conclusions/SignificanceAs proof of concept we show that an inexpensive imaging device, such as a webcam, may be easily modified into a microscope, for the detection of helminth eggs based on on-chip imaging. Furthermore, algorithms for helminth egg detection by machine vision can be generated for automated diagnostics. The results can be exploited for constructing simple imaging devices for low-cost diagnostics of urogenital schistosomiasis and other neglected tropical infectious diseases.

Real-time eye-gaze estimation using a low-resolution webcam

Eye detection and gaze estimation play an important role in many applications, e.g., the eye-controlled mouse in the assisting system for disabled or elderly persons, eye fixation and saccade in psychological analysis, or iris recognition in the security system. Traditional research usually achieves eye tracking by employing intrusive infrared-based techniques or expensive eye trackers. Nowadays, there are more and more needs to analyze user behaviors from tracking eye attention in general applications, in which users usually use a consumer-grade computer or even laptop with an inexpensive webcam. To satisfy the requirements of rapid developments of such applications and reduce the cost, it is no more practical to apply intrusive techniques or use expensive/specific equipment. In this paper, we propose a real-time eye-gaze estimation system by using a general low-resolution webcam, which can estimate eye-gaze accurately without expensive or specific equipment, and also without an intrusive detection process. An illuminance filtering approach is designed to remove the influence from light changes so that the eyes can be detected correctly from the low-resolution webcam video frames. A hybrid model combining the position criterion and an angle-based eye detection strategy are also derived to locate the eyes accurately and efficiently. In the eye-gaze estimation stage, we employ the Fourier Descriptor to describe the appearance-based features of eyes compactly. The determination of eye-gaze position is then carried out by the Support Vector Machine. The proposed algorithms have high performances with low computational complexity. The experiment results also show the feasibility of the proposed methodology.

Augmented Chemistry: Interactive Education System

knowledge delivery methods in education should move away from memory based learning to more motivated and creative education. This paper will emphasize on the advantages tangible interaction can bring to education. Augmented Chemistry provides an efficient way for designing and interacting with the molecules to understand the spatial relations between molecules. For Students it is very informative to see actual molecules representation 3D environment, inspect molecules from multiple viewpoints and control the interaction of molecules.We present in this paper an Augmented Reality system for teaching spatial relationships and chemical-reaction problem-solving skills to school-level students based on the VSEPR theory. Our system is based on inexpensive webcams and open-source software. We hope this willgenerate more ideas for educators and researcher to explore Augmented Reality technology in the field of interactive education.

Image stacking approach to increase sensitivity of fluorescence detection using a low cost complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) webcam

Optical technologies are important for biological analysis. Current biomedical optical analyses rely on high-cost, high-sensitivity optical detectors such as photomultipliers, avalanched photodiodes or cooled CCD cameras. In contrast, Webcams, mobile phones and other popular consumer electronics use lower-sensitivity, lower-cost optical components such as photodiodes or CMOS sensors. In order for consumer electronics devices, such as webcams, to be useful for biomedical analysis, they must have increased sensitivity. We combined two strategies to increase the sensitivity of CMOS-based fluorescence detector. We captured hundreds of low sensitivity images using a Webcam in video mode, instead of a single image typically used in cooled CCD devices.We then used a computational approach consisting of an image stacking algorithm to remove the noise by combining all of the images into a single image. While video mode is widely used for dynamic scene imaging (e.g. movies or time-lapse photography), it is not used to capture a single static image, which removes noise and increases sensitivity by more than thirty fold. The portable, battery-operated Webcam-based fluorometer system developed here consists of five modules: (1) a low cost CMOS Webcam to monitor light emission, (2) a plate to perform assays, (3) filters and multi-wavelength LED illuminator for fluorophore excitation, (4) a portable computer to acquire and analyze images, and (5) image stacking software for image enhancement. The samples consisted of various concentrations of fluorescein, ranging from 30 μM to 1000 μM, in a 36-well miniature plate. In the single frame mode, the fluorometer's limit-of-detection (LOD) for fluorescein is ∼1000 μM, which is relatively insensitive. However, when used in video mode combined with image stacking enhancement, the LOD is dramatically reduced to 30 μM, sensitivity which is similar to that of state-of-the-art ELISA plate photomultiplier-based readers. Numerous medical diagnostics assays rely on optical and fluorescence readers. Our novel combination of detection technologies, which is new to biodetection may enable the development of new low cost optical detectors based on an inexpensive Webcam (<$10). It has the potential to form the basis for high sensitivity, low cost medical diagnostics in resource-poor settings.

An inexpensive digital infrared camera

Details are given for the conversion of an inexpensive webcam to a camera specificallysensitive to the near infrared (700–1000 nm). Some experiments and practical applicationsare suggested and illustrated.

Tracking the structural and functional development of a perennial pepperweed ( Lepidium latifolium L.) infestation using a multi-year archive of webcam imagery and eddy covariance measurements

The continued spread of invasive weeds is threatening ecosystem health throughout North America. Understanding the relationships between invasive weeds’ key phenological phases and structural and/or functional canopy development is an essential step for making informed decisions regarding their management. We analyzed a three-year image archive obtained from an inexpensive webcam overlooking a perennial pepperweed ( Lepidium latifolium L.) infestation in California to explore the ability of red (R)–green (G)–blue (B) color space information to track the structural and functional development of the pepperweed. We characterized structural and functional canopy development through surface roughness length ( z 0 m ; a proxy for canopy height and leaf area index) and canopy photosynthesis ( F A ), respectively, both of which we derived from eddy covariance measurements. Here we demonstrate the use of cross-correlation functions to determine the temporal lags between chromatic coordinates and two color indices, all calculated from RGB brightness levels, with z 0 m and F A . We found that these color metrics fail to represent the structural and/or functional state of the canopy. In contrast, relative luminance ( CIE Y) appears to be a better indicator for z 0 m and especially for F A . We calculated CIE Y from pepperweed RGB brightness levels in relation to hypothetical horizontal reference RGB brightness levels. We obtained the latter by applying the ratio between horizontally measured and hypothetical incoming solar radiation on a vertical surface to RGB brightness levels of a vertically oriented reference of invariant light-grey color. We conclude that webcam image archives may provide an inexpensive tool for making informed decisions regarding the timing but not for assessing the effectiveness of invasive plant control measures such as mowing.

Body sway measurement during standing and walking for fall risk assessment using inexpensive webcam

Body sway measurement during standing and walking for fall risk assessment using inexpensive webcam

Controlling a robot with intention derived from motion.

We present a novel, sophisticated intention-based control system for a mobile robot built from an extremely inexpensive webcam and radio-controlled toy vehicle. The system visually observes humans participating in various playground games and infers their goals and intentions through analyzing their spatiotemporal activity in relation to itself and each other, and then builds a coherent narrative out of the succession of these intentional states. Starting from zero information about the room, the rules of the games, or even which vehicle it controls, it learns rich relationships between players, their goals and intentions, probing uncertain situations with its own behavior. The robot is able to watch people playing various playground games, learn the roles and rules that apply to specific games, and participate in the play. The narratives it constructs capture essential information about the observed social roles and types of activity. After watching play for a short while, the system is able to participate appropriately in the games. We demonstrate how the system acts appropriately in scenarios such as chasing, follow-the-leader, and variants of tag.

The need for an essential acoustics curriculum and its delivery via distance education

Many individuals have identified a need to better educate engineers, industrial hygienists, and architects with an essential acoustical curriculum including noise control techniques. There are less than a dozen major programs training these individuals, and demand far exceeds the supply of education suppliers. One effective method of providing education to busy professionals who otherwise would not be exposed to an essential curriculum is distance education. Approximately 10 years ago Penn State developed a series of noise control engineering courses delivered through CD‐ROM. Now with DSL and cable modems more common, full motion video streaming is a preferred delivery method. Students currently take graduate level courses in acoustics at Penn State via resident education, continuing education, and distance education. There is no reason why an essential acoustical curriculum could not be delivered similarly. One benefit of video streaming is an opportunity for both live and archived lecture material. Students can attend live recitation sections while retaining the ability to see archived material on demand. Technology such as high‐bandwidth connections, inexpensive webcams, and microphones also allows two‐way audio and video for direct student‐instructor interaction.

Demonstrating a web-design technique in a distance-learning environment

Objective: To lead a brief training session over a distance-learning network Type of speech: Informative Point value: 20% of course grade Requirements: (a)