Mouse Simulation Using Two Coloured Tapes

International Journal of Information Sciences and Techniques (IJIST) Vol.2, No.2, March 2012
DOI : 10.5121/ijist.2012.2206 57
Mouse Simulation Using Two Coloured Tapes
Kamran Niyazi1
, Vikram Kumar2
, Swapnil Mahe3
and Swapnil Vyawahare4
Department of Computer Engineering, AISSMS COE, University of Pune, India
kamran.niyazi@gmail.com1
vikrambag.kumar@gmail.com2
swapnilmahe@gmail.com3
swapnilvyawahare@gmail.com4
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we present a novel approach for Human Computer Interaction (HCI) where, we control
cursor movement using a real-time camera. Current methods involve changing mouse parts such as adding
more buttons or changing the position of the tracking ball. Instead, our method is to use a camera and
computer vision technology, such as image segmentation and gesture recognition, to control mouse tasks
(left and right clicking, double-clicking, and scrolling) and we show how it can perform everything as
current mouse devices can.
The software will be developed in JAVA language. Recognition and pose estimation in this system are user
independent and robust as we will be using colour tapes on our finger to perform actions. The software can
be used as an intuitive input interface to applications that require multi-dimensional control e.g. computer
games etc.
KEYWORDS
HCI, Ubiquitous Computing, Background Subtraction, Skin Detection, HSV Color Model.
1. INTRODUCTION
One of the important challenges in Human Computer Interactions is to develop more intuitive and
more natural interfaces. Computing environments presently are strongly tied to the availability of
a high resolution pointing device with a single, discrete two dimensional cursor. Modern
Graphical user interface (GUI), which is a current standard interface on personal computers
(PCs), is well-defined, and it provides an efficient interface for a user to use various applications
on a computer. GUIs (graphical user interfaces) combined with devices such as mice and track
pads are extremely effective at reducing the richness and variety of human communication down
to a single point.
While the utility of such devices in today’s interfaces cannot be denied, there are many users who
find that the capability of GUI is rather limited when they try to do some tasks by using gestures.
There are opportunities to apply other kinds of sensors and techniques to enrich the user
experience of such users. For example, video cameras and computer vision techniques may be
used to capture many details of human shape and movement. The shape of the hand may be
analyzed over time to manipulate an onscreen object in a way analogous to the hand’s
manipulation of paper on a desk. Such an approach may lead to a faster, more natural, and more
fluid style of interaction for certain tasks.

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Ubiquitous computing is devoted to changing the relationship between humans and the computers
with which we interact, towards allowing computers to become invisible and recede into the
periphery of people’s lives.
Our project, Mouse Simulation Using Two Coloured Tapes is an attempt in ubiquitous
computing. Here, we will be using two colour tapes on our fingers. One of the tapes will be used
for controlling cursor movement while the relative distance between the two coloured tapes will
be used for click events of the mouse. Thus, the system will provide a new experience for users in
interacting with the computer.
2. RELATED WORK
A lot of research is being done in the fields of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Robotics.
Researchers have tried to control mouse movement using video devices for HCI. However, all of
them used different methods to make mouse cursor movement and clicking events.
One approach, by Hojoon Park [1] used index finger for cursor movement and angle between
index finger and thumb for clicking events. Also, Erdem et al [2], used finger tip tracking to
control the motion of the mouse. A click of the mouse button was implemented by defining a
screen such that a click occurred when a user’s hand passed over the region. Another approach
was developed by Chu-Feng Lien [3]. He used only the finger-tips to control the mouse cursor
and click. His clicking method was based on image density, and required the user to hold the
mouse cursor on the desired spot for a short period of time. Paul et al [5], used another method to
click. They used the motion of the thumb (from a ‘thumbs-up’ position to a fist) to mark a
clicking event thumb. Movement of the hand while making a special hand sign moved the mouse
pointer. S Malik [4] developed a real-time system that can track the 3D position and 2D
orientation of the thumb and index finger of each hand without the use of special markers or
gloves. His system could be used for single pointing and pinching gestures. In robotics Asanterabi
Malima et al. [6] developed a finger counting system to control behaviour of a robot.
A study of the existing systems for on-screen choice selection reveals that people are still limited
to the use of devices such as mouse, touchpad, joystick, trackball and touch screen. All these
devices need contact of hand with them. Our proposed approach is touch-free.

59
3. SYSTEM OVERVIEW
Figure 1: System Architecture
3.1. Hand Recognition and Colour Tape Detection
The first step of our system is to separate the potential hand pixels from the non-hand pixels. This
can be done by background subtraction scheme which segments any potential foreground hand
information from the non-changing background scene. At the system startup, a pair of
background images is captured to represent the static workspace from camera view. Subsequent
frames then use the appropriate background image to segment out moving foreground data. [4]
After background subtraction, the process of skin segmentation is done. Here, a histogram-based
skin classifier assigns each of the RGB pixels in the training set to either a 3D skin histogram or
non-skin histogram. Given these histograms, the probability is computed that a given RGB color
belongs to the skin or non-skin classes. [4]
The skin segmentation process outputs an image which is ready for detection of color tapes in the
finger. For this an algorithm based on HSV color space is used which is very effective to select a
certain color out of an image. The idea is to convert the RGB pixels into the HSV color plane, so
that it is less affected to variations in shades of similar color. Then, a tolerance mask is used over
the converted image in the saturation and hue plane. The resulting binary image is then run
through a convolution phase to reduce the noise introduced. [10]

60
Figure 2: Yellow colour tape for cursor movement
3.2 Mouse Cursor Movement
We are using the index finger with yellow colour tape as a cursor controller to control mouse
cursor movement. Two different approaches for moving the mouse cursor can be used. The first
method is position mapping the index finger on a camera screen to a desktop screen position. But
this method incurs a problem. If the resolution of the desktop window is greater than the camera
resolution, then the cursor position cannot be accurate because while converting camera
resolution to the desktop window resolution, intermediate values are lost. The expected ratio of
jumping pixel is up to 4 pixels. The second method is known as weighted speed cursor control.
Here the difference of the finger of the current image and the previous image is found and the
distance between the two is computed. Next, the mouse cursor is moves fast if the gap between
the two finger images (current and previous frame) is far or, if the gap is close then the cursor
moves slow. There is a problem associated with this algorithm also. Some machines which cannot
achieve image processing more than 15 fps do not work smoothly because computing the image
center and the hand shape takes time. In this paper, we are concerning the first method which uses
absolute position of finger tips because it is more accurate than the second method. [1]
3.3. Click Events
The click events for the mouse are mapped with different hand gestures. The idea focuses on
processing the distance between the two coloured tapes in the fingers. The click events are
detailed in the subsequent sub points.
3.3.1 Left Click
At the very first step, the system records the distance (say D) between the yellow and red tapes in
the index finger and the thumb respectively. Here, the index and thumb must be apart as much as
possible so as to get maximum distance (Figure: 3). This distance is regarded as the threshold
distance for the event. Now, as the thumb moves towards the index finger, the distance between
the finger tips or in other words, the distance between yellow and red tapes is decreases. In the
second step, when the thumb is close to the index finger the system records the reduced distance
(say D’) between them (Figure: 4). When the distance between the tapes is reduced to D’ or less
we consider the event as the left click event of the mouse cursor.

61
Thus mathematically,
D’ < D
Suppose the distance between the tapes at any time is d then for left click event
d ≤ D’
Figure 3: Initialisation of threshold distance(D)
Figure 4: Reduced distance (D’)
3.3.2 Right Click
The right click event of the cursor is simulated using the concept of waiting time. If the yellow
tape on the index finger is waiting for 7 seconds(say) in front of the camera pointing at the same
location, then the event is recognised as the right click event of the mouse cursor. Here, the
distance between the red and yellow tapes should be between D and D’ respectively. The required
hand gesture is depicted in Figure: 3.
Thus, for right click event
D’ < d ≤ D
Waiting time = 7 sec.

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3.3.3 Double Click
The double click event of the cursor is also simulated in the same way as the right click event
considering the waiting time. The only difference is that the finger gesture used for double click is
as shown in Figure: 4. If both the colour tapes are waiting for the time 7 seconds (say) and the
distance between the colour tapes is D’ (reduced distance) or less then the event is recognised as
double click event of the mouse cursor.
Thus, for double click event
d ≤ D’
Waiting time = 7 sec.
4. DISCUSSIONS
In this system, we have proposed to use colour tapes on the fingers and all other functions can be
done considering the relative distance of the tapes and the waiting time. This method has a greater
efficiency over all other methods used earlier in this regard, where bare finger tips are used.
Finger tip detection algorithms are not much effective as the colour of the tip of the finger cannot
be differentiated from the colour of hand. This requires use of complex algorithms. To avoid such
complex algorithms and make our system quick enough for real time computation, we have
proposed use of colour tapes on the finger tips. This completely distinguishes the finger tip from
the rest part of the hand. This distinction makes the colour detection algorithm [3] detect the tip
quite easily and map it for cursor movement. Thus, the complexity of computation is reduced and
overall results are improved.
5. APPLICATIONS
This technology can be used in robotics, gaming and developing systems which could understand
human behaviour based on their way of interaction.
6. CONCLUSIONS
The system that we have proposed will completely revolutionize the way people would use the
computer system. Presently, the webcam, microphone and mouse are an integral part of the
computer system. Our product which uses only webcam would completely eliminate the mouse.
Also this would lead to a new era of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) where no physical
contact with the device is required.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thank Prof. N. R. Talhar our guide in helping us to develop this concept. We
would also like to thank Prof. S. V. Athawale for guiding us how to write the research papers. We
would also thank the researchers, working in this field who in one way or another guided us in
achieving our goals. We would also like to express our appreciation and gratitude to all other
researchers at A.I.S.S.M.S College of Engineering, Pune who were kind enough to share their
views with us and offered some suggestions in improving this idea.

63
REFERENCES
[1] Hojoon Park, A Method for Controlling Mouse Movement using a Real-Time Camera,2008.
[2] A. Erdem, E. Yardimci, Y. Atalay, V. Cetin, Computer vision based mouse, A. E. Acoustics,
Speech, and Signal Processing, 2002. Proceedings. (ICASS). IEEE International Conference.
[3] Chu-Feng Lien, Portable Vision-Based HCI - A Real-time Hand Mouse System on Handheld
Devices.
[4] Shahzad Malik, Real-time Hand Tracking and Finger Tracking for Interaction , CSC2503F Project
Report, December 18, 2003
[5] Robertson P., Laddaga R., Van Kleek M., Virtual mouse vision based interface, January 2004
[6] Asanterabi Malima, Erol Ozgur, and Mujdat Cetin, A Fast Algorithm for Vision-Based Hand
Gesture Recognition for Robot Control.
[7] Y. Sato, Y. Kobayashi, H. Koike. Fast tracking of hands and fingertips in infrared images for
augmented desk interface. In Proceedings of IEEE, International Conference on Automatic Face
and Gesture Recognition (FG), 2000. pp. 462-467.
[8] J. Segen, S. Kumar. Shadow gestures: 3D hand pose estimation using a single camera. In
Proceedings of IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), 1999. Vol.
1, pp. 479-485.
[9] Hart Lambur, Blake Shaw, Gesture Recognition, CS4731 Project, December 21,2004.
[10] Stephen Tu, HSV Color Detection Algorithm, White Paper.
Authors
Kamran Niyazi is currently pursuing B.E in Computer Engineering at AISSMS College of Engineering
under University of Pune, India. His research interest areas are Computer Networks, Image Processing,
Database Management Systems and Data Structures.
Vikram Kumar is currently pursuing B.E in Computer Engineering at AISSMS College of Engineering
under University of Pune, India. His research interest areas are Image Processing and Algorithm Analysis.
Swapnil Mahe is currently pursuing B.E in Computer Engineering at AISSMS College of Engineering
under University of Pune, India. His research interest areas are Image Processing, Software Architecture
and Design and Analysis of Algorithm.
Swapnil Vyawahare is currently pursuing B.E in Computer Engineering at AISSMS College of
Engineering under University of Pune, India. His research interest areas are Image Processing, Computer
Neetworks and Design and Analysis of Algorithm.

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