Tabletop computers based on diffuse illumination can track fiducial markers placed on the table’s surface. We demonstrate how to do the same with objects arranged in a three-dimensional structure without modifying the table. Lumino is a system of building blocks. In addition to a marker, each block contains a glass fiber bundle. The bundle optically guides the light reflected off markers in the higher levels down to the table surface, where the table’s built-in camera reads it. While guiding marker images down, the bundle optically scales and rearranges them. It thereby fits the images of an entire vertical arrangement of markers into the horizontal space usually occupied by a single 2D marker. We have developed three classes of blocks and matching marker designs, each of which is optimized for different requirements. We have built three demo applications. One of them is a construction kit that logs and critiques constructions. The presented blocks are unpowered and maintenance-free, keeping larger numbers of blocks manageable.
Publications
Baudisch, P. Becker, T, and Rudeck, F. Lumino: Tangible Blocks for Tabletop Computers Based on Glass Fiber Bundles. In Proc. CHI'10, pp. 1165-1174. CHI 2010 BEST PAPER AWARD PDF (2.2M) | PPT+Video (46.6M) | MOV (11.0M)
Baudisch, P. Becker, T, and Rudeck, F. Lumino: Tangible Blocks Based on Glass Fiber Bundles. To appear in SIGGRAPH 2010 (Emerging Technologies demo paper), Los Angeles CA, July 25-29, 2010, 1 page.
If you are interested in making your own Lumino , please contact us, so we can tell you what materials work best and which details to pay attention to. We will also be happy to share code and help you get started making your own luminos.
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The Human Computer Interaction Lab
The objective of our work is to unify the virtual world of the computer with the physical world of the user into a single space.