A Real-time Finger-tapping Interface Using High-speed Vision System

In this paper, we propose a finger-tapping interface called FINGERTAP, which can estimate the contact states and forces on human fingertips in real time by using only the fingertip positions measured by high-speed vision cameras. In particular, we focus on the high-frequency component that develops at the moment a fingertip contacts something. We introduce a real-time estimation algorithm for the fingertip contact state and force by using frequency filtering to detect the high-frequency movement component of the fingertip positions. We also introduce a clickable pointing interface and a virtual musical instrument as a demonstration of an application using the FINGERTAP system.