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Computational Video

Perceptual User Interfaces Using Nouse™

Image representing the Nouse project - Click for full view

Perceptual user interfaces (PUI) are systems that use users' motion - such as the motion of the face - to control a software program. These systems are widely used in a variety of applications, such as for disabled computer users, immersive environments, security and video-conferencing, to name a few.

To be operational, these systems must track human faces both robustly and precisely. Until the development of Nouse™, that robustness and precision had not yet been achieved.

A technology developed by NRC-IIT, Nouse™ - which stands for "nose as mouse" - is based on tracking the rotation and scale invariant nose feature, defined as the closest point to the camera.

Defined in this way, the nose feature is seen at all times, regardless of the face orientation. The nose can then operate as the mouse or joystick. Researchers have developed a few applications - such as NousePaint, multiple-user NousePong and an aim-and-shoot game - to demonstrate the technology. Please visit the Nouse™ web site for demonstrations.

Combined with the Face in Video tools such as blink detection, Nouse™ provides a complete intelligent hands-free alternative to conventional tangible input devices, such as the mouse or joystick.

Because it is rotation and scale invariant, Nouse™ can also extend PUIs into the third dimension. By using several cameras and the techniques developed in the Projective Vision Toolkit, it is possible to compute the epipolar constraint between the cameras, which, when combined with the rigidity constraint, can make 3D tracking robust and precise.

The result is StereoTracker, which uses two liberally positioned web cameras to track a face in 3D precisely. Its robustness allows rotations of a head of up to 40 degrees in all three axes of the head's rotation.

Hands-free computer interface with Nouse™

Nouse™ brings users with disabilities and video game fans one step closer to a more natural way of interacting hands-free with computers. Silicon Valley North, January 2002. Read the article.

Research Contact

Dr. Dmitry Gorodnichy
Research Officer
Computational Video
NRC Institute for Information Technology
1200 Montreal Road
Building M-50, Room C-330
Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6
Telephone: +1 (613) 998-5298
Fax: +1 (613) 952-0215
E-mail: Dmitry Gorodnichy

Business Contact

Dr. George Forester
Business Development Officer
Business Development Office, NCR
NRC Institute for Information Technology
1200 Montreal Road
Building M-50, Room 203
Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6
Telephone: +1 (613) 993-3478
Fax: +1 (613) 952-0074
E-mail: George.Forester@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca