[Exi-can] spring

[Tudor Oprea]

On Sat, 2004-05-01 at 16:26, Helen Cook wrote:

> > http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3647437.stm
> 
> Yes!  I saw this a few days ago.  In the case of the car manual, the
> article doesn't specify if there is any attempt to use image recognition
> to align the schematics directly over the real image of the part.  For
> $4k I doubt not, but regardless this is very exciting technology.  I
> also wonder how seamless the interface is to use -- if it's just a
> translation of a standard paper manual (requiring the user to turn
> pages), or if they have done something far more clever and intuitive.

The former, I think.  The company's web page is at
http://www.microvision.com/nomadexpert/ , and I don't see any evidence
of capabilities other than scanned-schematic projection.

I'd be inclined to see it as a new display technology (as in, no
external-looking sensors), which can be programmed to behave in any way
one would wish.  My interest would lie in developing the heads-up
interface itself (from the article: "signals from data or an image
source, say a web page or a video camera").  I don't see any mention of
interactivity in the article, but technology currently exists that could
be used to integrate a control scheme into the package.  Canon has used
a variant of it in its higher-end EOS cameras for a while, allowing you
to select the autofocus zone by looking at the appropriate part of the
image.  I'm thinking of some sort of point-and-blink interface.

As for overlaying schematics directly onto objects in one's field of
view... I guess that's a two-stage process.  Stage 1 is image aquisition
-- and until the optic-nerve interface comes about, this would likely be
done with a laser grid projected from the eyepiece, or a digital
camera.  Stage 2 is image recognition, which is a big problem domain
which can, however, be drastically reduced if we focus only on specific
applications (engine schematics for instance).

Overall, I can't wait to be able to buy one of these things, and get my
hands on the SDK :)

-Tudor