5* Magic Wand: An RGBD Camera-Based 5 DoF User Interface for 3D Interaction

This paper introduces the 5* Magic Wand: a user interface that provides an inexpensive way for input of 3D data. Drawing upon the metaphor of the "wizard", a user can point to places, perform gestures and cast "spells" to interact with the computer. We describe a computer vision technique that tracks the wand with 5 degrees of freedom. A prototype implementation, composed of a standard PC, a RGBD camera and a hand-made stick, is presented. Finally, a demo application showing how the wand may be used to navigate on planet Earth is presented.