Communications of the ACM
Italian Hi-Tech Software Teaches Perfect Pasta Skills
Photo courtesy of Marco Roccetti
University of Bologna researchers have developed Tortellino X-perience, a multimedia teaching game that combines a traditional video with a three-dimensional representation of the user's hands.
In the game, players watch a pasta maker demonstrate each step of the complicated tortellini-making process in a video, and then mimic every action with their own hands. Players' movements are tracked by gesture-recognition software using a webcam, so players can learn from their mistakes using stop-motion video.
The system's most important innovation is that it does not require a console. The game uses no hardware other than an off-the-shelf webcam and a PC, making it useful for interactive, public gaming, and other applications. "The software could easily be used in museums, schools, or exhibitions, allowing people to play games--hands-free and moving their entire bodies--without having to sit in front of their computer screens," says Bologna professor Marco Roccetti.
He also notes that the program's gesture-recognition software could be used in other applications. "There are other applications of these technologies, which can span from remote medicine to assistance in repairing very complex pieces of cars, aeroplanes, or other systems."
From BBC News
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