New software converts camera phone to 3D mouse

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Researchers at two UK universities have developed prototype software which enables a camera phone to act like a 3D mouse and control a computer.

The software makes it possible to control onscreen items by waving the handset in front of the screen. The handset connects with the computer via Bluetooth.

The computer tracks where the phone is pointing by placing a reference point on the top of the normal video feed. The computer compares this to the phone’s picture and translates the phone’s movements into the actions of an onscreen cursor.

The user can interact with the computer both by movement and with the phone’s keypad. The phone can be used to perform tasks such as selecting an image with a phone button, and then resizing the image by moving the phone either away from the screen to make it larger, or towards the screen to make it smaller.

At the moment the prototype can be used to control a desktop computer, but the researchers plan to extend its use to other applications, such as allowing consumers to interact with video advertisements.

A paper on the prototype software will be presented at the International Conference on Computer Vision Theory and Applications in Madeira, Portugal this month.