Webcam-based laser dot detection technique in computer remote control

Abstract

In this paper, the authors propose a method to detect the laser dot in an interactive system using laser pointers. The method is designed for presenters who need to  interact with the computer during the presentation by using the laser pointer.  The  detection technique is developed  by  using  a camera to capture the presentation  screen and processing every frames transferred to the computer. This paper focuses on the detection and tracking of laser dots, based on their characteristics to  distinguish a laser dot from other areas on the captured frames. Experimental results showed that the proposed method could reduce the rate of misdetection by light noises of a factor of 10 and achieve an average accuracy of 82% of detection in normal presentation environments. The results point out that the better way to describe the laser dots’ features based on visual concept is to use the HSI color space instead of the normal RGB space.