We strive to advance the state of the art of computer vision, and develop
flexible and robust techniques for human-computer interaction and real-time
communication and collaboration. In this talk, I will provide an overview of the
research projects I have been working with my colleagues in these areas. I will
cover the following topics:
* Face modeling with a webcam. We have developed a model-based face modeling
system. A 3D face model is built in a few minutes, and the model can be animated
immediately. We have successfully built 3D face models for Bill Gates, Steve
Ballmer, and many others.
* Eye-gaze correction for video conferencing: The lack of eye contact in desktop
video teleconferencing substantially reduces the effectiveness of video
contents. We describe a novel approach: Based on stereo analysis combined with
rich domain knowledge (a personalized face model), we synthesize, using graphics
hardware, a virtual video that maintains eye contact.
* Whiteboard Technology: While physical whiteboards are frequently used by
knowledge workers, they are not perfect. The content on the board is hard to
archive or share with others who are not present in the session. We have
developed a set of technologies which include automatic whiteboard note taking
by scanning with a web cam and by enhancing the images, automatic audio and
whiteboard meeting archiving and indexing, and live meetings with enhanced
whiteboard streaming.
If time allows, I will also show two more prototype systems. The first converts
an ordinary screen into a touch screen. The second converts a rectangular panel
(e.g., an ordinary piece of paper) into a virtual mouse, keyboard and joystick.