Yeah half of these are impossible..

1. Harry wakes up and it was all a dream.
2. Harry is eating breakfast when he chokes on some bacon and dies.
3. Harry says "Screw it" and joins Voldemort.
4. Voldemort is Harry's father and they both become good and other lame crap like that.
5. Harry blows up the world and everything dies.
6. Harry and Voldemort are twins separated at birth. Voldemort kills the person who killed their parents and takes credit.
7. Harry finds out that Voldemort is only evil because his Dell computer is so crappy. He introduces him to Ubuntu and everybody lives happily ever after
8. Voldemort is Bill Gates and pays Ron to kill Harry.
9. Voldemort and his posse of Death Eaters go to McDonalds for lunch. Voldemort throws a tantrum when he doesn't get a toy with his Happy Meal. He has a heart attack and dies.
10. The Death Eaters are hungry and they feast on Voldemort.
    

So I managed to test the camera today without the IR filter inside. It definately works and it definately detects infrared light. Shining a DVD remote at it works, and pointing it outside results in a pure white image. Now we need to filter out colour, so the camera only detects infrared, the exact opposite of what it is supposed to do. The cheapest way to do this is with film. Film is transparent to IR so it isn't destroyed by bright light and captures colour to get the image on it. So all you need to do is put a piece or two over the lense inside. But I didn't want to open the camera up again. Why? I had to test which worked better: Exposed colour film or exposed X-ray film.

Colour Film 

I found a set of negatives from some time ago, and there was a strip that was blank and one part was exposed, so it was pitch black. This was Kodack Gold 100 film, by the way. I taped this to the front of the camera and fired up the Microsoft Lifecam program. It worked okay, filtering out almost all colour. But it let a good bit of ambient IR in, resulting in a monochrome image inside. Pointing a DVD remote control at it resulted in a flickering image from the blinking IR LED. Outside the image is almost pure white. Putting multiple layers of film would probably have better results.

X-Ray Film 

My mom brought this home from her dental clinic for me to use. It was exposed for 30 seconds according to a note attached. I cut out a piece and trimmed it to fit over the front of the camera. This had better results. All colour and ambient infrared light was cut out indoors, and shining a DVD remote at it resulted in a flickering white blob and nothing more. Outside it resulted in a weird image, with white grass and leaves and a messed up sky. This worked overall much better than the Kodak film so I tested it with Touchlib. The Smoke app worked good, and with the Mousedriver I could kind of control the mouse with it. If the lamp didn't flicker I could probably have done it well.

Now that I know what film to probably use, I'll start looking for acrylic. If you know anywhere in Calgary that sells it, send me a message.

My work will have to go on a pause for now, as I will be in Toronto until next Saturday night. So stay tuned. 

So yesterday I bought a Microsoft LifeCam VX-1000. Why Microsoft? Because their cameras have good enough specs and are cheap. Someone on NUIGroup had also taken a VX-6000 apart and I think the bodies are the same. Here's what I bought and what I'm using today.

• Microsoft LifeCam VX-1000 $40 from Memory Express
• Touchlib Binaries from White Noise Audio Software
• Shoebox from the garage
• Flashlight from sister
• Tape from a drawer
  

I decided to make sure the camera and software worked together properly, so I thought of a good way to make sure the software works. First I got a shoebox from my garage and pot the camera inside. This would block out any visible light so things would be easier to work with. Then I put the camera inside. But every time I closed the lid, the stupid camera would fall over because the cord would be moved. So I taped it down to the floor of the box. But alas, closing the box was a pain because the cable would still be moved, and it would rotate the camera down. So then I cut a slit in the hole I was stringing the cable through so when I lifted the lid the cable wouldn't go with it. I also taped the cable down on the inside.

Touchlib is a program that uses video from your camera to make data containing how many touches there are on screen and where they are, and if they're moving, etc. So to make sure Touchlib processes what are really touches and what aren't you have to configure it. So I plugged in my camera, ran the config app, and pressed 'b'. That told Touchlib that whatever the camera sees is the background and not touches. Then I messed around with the rectift6 window so that the light coming from the flashlight would be as sharp as possible. Once that was done, I pressed Enter to go into the calibration. This would make sure that if I touched something on my screen that it would be projected exactly where I touch. I haven't built my screen yet, so I just pressed Escape to finish configuration and save it.

Now my camera was working with Touchlib and Touchlib knew what was the background. So I started the smoke demo and shined the light in. Alas, it worked! Streams of smoke poured out of a few circles. I decided to experiment a little and opened the box. That was a bad idea. Too much light poured in and the program froze. I'm not doing that anymore. But pointing it out the window had good effects, loads of random smoke trails and I didn't have to hold the flashlight. Another great way is to run the config app, but cover the hole when you're definining the background. That way, when you run the smoke app, the ambient light coming in the hole would be sensed as touches.

So that's it for this entry, later I'll post some pictures and videos to explain things better. But I don't want to leave you dissapointed, so here's a teaser.

Edit: I promised pictures so here they are.

Steps to remove the IR filter on your own VX-1000 (Probably works with any VX series camera)

1. Unscrew the sole screw below the USB cable on the back of the camera.
2. Use a flathead screwdriver or something thin to pry the front cover off.
3. Unscrew the lens assembly by hand.
4. Turn the assembly over to reveal the IR filter.
5. The filter is stuck in there hard and there's no room to pry it out with anything, so I crushed an edge to fit in a screwdriver.
6. Pry the filter out.
7. Screw the lens assembly back in. If you know what filter you're using to filter out colour, glue it to the lens assembly or something.
8. Snap the front cover back on. It can be really hard to do.
9. Screw the screw back in. This isn't necessary as it just keeps the front cover from popping off when dropped. Don't screw it in if you plan on going back inside again.
   

In regards to the previous post, many of you don't know how these displays work. The principle behind them is quite simple, and there are a few different ways. Here they are:

Method 1: FTIR aka Frustrated Total Internal Reflection

This method is probably the most common. The display is made of acrylic or glass. (Whether or not glass works is being discussed) Shining into the display from the sides is infrared light, usually from IR LEDs. The IR light bounces around forever, hence the Frustrated Total Internal Reflection. When you put a finger on the display, the IR light is reflected straight down. Underneath the display is a camera, usually a web camera (But they can be regular video cameras) that senses only IR light. The result is a white blob on a dark background. Software such as vvvv or TouchLib processes this video and outputs the data to other programs to be used as input.

Many displays have a projector beside the camera, so the image can be projected onto the acrylic to look like an actual touchscreen. But acrylic is clear, so a material has to be put on the display that can both display the projected image and still allow the IR light to reflect, but only when something touches it.

A basic diagram of how FTIR works. Image by Jefferson Y Han and friends.

Method 2: Diffused Illumination

The camera and projector are set up the same as FTIR, but the IR light comes from LEDs or another IR source from behind the display. The IR light passes through the display, and is only reflected into the camera when you touch it. (I think) This setup has a great advantage, that being that there is nothing on the sides of the display, so you can have a great HUD-effect like Microsoft has made.

Another way to do this is by having the IR light come from the front, and thus having an inverted image in the software which is inverted back to normal with a software filter. This is a really good way to do illumination because you could use ambient light like the sun as a source,

Method 3: Bag and Water aka DyeSight

This is a really primitive method of multi-touch and is largely proof-of-concept. But either way, it looks fun and costs very little. All that you do is fill a bag of coloured water and lay it on a glass table. Put a plain old web camera underneath pointing at it. When you press down, the water is pushed away and the software can see where your finger is as a result. A cool video and explanation can be found at the creators blog here.

So there you have it, the most popular open-source multi-touch methods. I'll be using either FTIR or Diffused Illumination. But the camera will be IR sensitive either way.

Okay now I'm thinking of different ways to get IR light into the acrylic. (To be explained later why)

Method 1

I guess this would be rear illumination, but why use LEDs when you could use an IR heater? Those shoot out IR light like crazy and no wiring is needed.

Method 2

Instead of using IR LEDs, use any thin light such as cold cathodes, neon (that's a far stretch and I don't know if they emit IR) or fluorescent and put film on the edges to block out all light except IR.

Method 3

This is really, really stupid and I doubt it would ever work, but somebody could try putting mirrors on the edges of the acrylic to reflect ambient IR into it. Yeah it's weird.

This probably sounds really weird and aimless if you don't know how multi-touch displays work. But it's late, so later today I will explain how they work and you should understand.

More ideas later if I think of any.

At the end of grade eight, I thought to myself, "Let's do something cool and geeky this summer. Let's make a multi-touch display." So I started research to find out how to build one, what software would be used, etc. I'm about done that stage now, and I'm about to start construction. Here is a video of what a multi-touch display is, and another showing approximately what I should have when I'm done.

Here's my roadmap on what I will do.

1. Modify web camera to be only IR sensitive, use with software (Complete! 07/07/06)
2. Get acrylic and LEDs, make display (Testing complete! 07/09/07)
3. Implement projector, add surface to acrylic

Now more than ever there are loads of cheap, good electronics. I will list now a large list of stuff I want to buy. (This list is kind of reasonable. No supercomputers here but lots of stuff beyond my budget)

• Apple Macbook Pro 17"
• Apple Mac Pro
• Apple Cinema HD 30" x4
• Apple iPod Nano Black 8GB
• Apple Airport Extreme
• Sanyo Xacti HD2
• Canon Digital Rebel XTi
• Sony VAIO TZ
• Kohjinsha SA1F00W
• Sharp Zaurus SL-C3200
• Archos 605 WiFi 160GB
• Art Lebedev Optimus Maximus Keyboard
• Logitech MX Revolution
• Wacom Intuos3 12x19
• Nintendo DS Lite
• Sony PSP
• Nintendo Wii
• Sony PS3
• Apple iPhone
• Nokia E61i
• Nokia E90
• Nokia N95
• Nokia 8600 Luna
• Nokia 7500 Prism
• Nokia 6500 Classic
• Nokia E65
• Nokia 6110 Navigator
• Nokia 6120 Classic
• Samsung U300
• Samsung U100
  
• Sony Ericsson K850
• Sony Ericsson P1
• Sony Ericsson T650
• Sony Ericsson S500
• Sony Ericsson W880
• LG KE770 Shine
• LG KE800 Chocolate Platinum
• LG KE820
• Sharp 913SH
• Sharp 912SH
• Sharp 910SH
• Sharp 815SH
• Toshiba 911T
• Panasonic 810P
  

Nokia E61i

Here we are, 8th week, and I have another QWERTY phone featured. The E61i is clearly a business oriented phone designed to compete with RIM's Blackberries. There is a nice large display, QVGA resolution with 16 million colours. The QWERTY keypad is right underneath, completing the front. It has a very elegant overall design, with straight edges and solid colours. The back has a 2MP camera, something the E61 and E62 were lacking. The WiFi stays, being the key selling point of this series, but the FM radio is missing. Overall a formidable phone, especially the incredible 9 hour talk time and 400 hour standby time.

GSMArena Spec Page

Who this is for:
 

-Geeks (Symbian OS)

-Those with briefcases and boardrooms to be in

-People who want a Blackberry alternative

Who this is not for:

-Tweens

-Girly girls

-People wanting a basic phone

-Idiots

Nokia 6120 Classic

This week's phone is very new, announced by Nokia a few days ago. It fills the niche of "I need a smart phone but not a monster phone like a Blackberry but not a little piece of junk like a RAZR." The specs are impressive, a 369MHz processor, standard microSD card slot and 16 million colour screen, and Bluetooth. HSDPA is packed in so it'll work with Roger's Vision plans because it also has a QVGA video call camera (I'm a sucker for those). The normal camera is okay, at 2MP. All in all, it packs quite a punch for it's size, 66cc and 89g.

GSMArena Spec Page

Who this is for:

-People entering the smartphone market

-Someone who wants to balance power and function with size

-Businessmen who like conventional bar phones and smartphone power

Who this is not for:

-People who don't need smartphones

-People who must have a fashionable phone

-Tweens