(Left) Attjector concept (Right) Current working system housed in a backpack (via Sven Kratz, M. Rohs, F. Reitberger, J. Moldenhauer, University of Munich)
Small mobile projection systems have shown up lately to help users easily hold a presentation and point out their key points more readily and naturally. Most of the new methods for systems fail to provide the convenience of ease and point out the user's shaky hands rather than their principal notes. A team at the University of Munich led by Sven Kratz created a system that rests on the shoulder of the user and takes advantage of the features of Microsoft's Kinect. The system is called the Attjector, and looks to give users the ease and simplicity of pointing out key points with their fingers.
The Attjector has been carefully designed to let users concentrate on giving their presentation and not on managing the projection system. The Kinect powered system rests on the user's shoulder and uses a small system consisting of 3 servos, an accelerometer, and a gyroscope to hold a steady presentation display. In addition, their prototype had used an Arduino microcontroller to control the servo motors using values read in from the sensors in a pulse width modulation method. The projection display is directed from the user's dominant fingers tracked by the Kinect's depth sensor. Furthermore, the display can be set to appear a fixed distance from the user allowing the user to move around freely and access additional commands while presenting.
As well as presentations, Kratz has also suggested the system can be used for further applications. For example, the system can be implemented into areas such as augmented reality, navigation, and gaming (not to mention shoulder mounted weaponry - see the film Predator). The team also hopes to integrate an eye tracking system to follow the user's line of sight for further benefits. Whether or not eye tracking will increase accuracy is still a question to be worked out. The future of presentations may be small shoulder-mounting systems. We will become one with our presentations, it seems.
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