Title:  Image Based Interactions in Augmented Environments and Related Optimization Issues

This talk addresses Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) issues in the context of mobile and wearable computing focusing on tangible, image based interactions in augmented environments. Computer interfaces evolved from a mere typewriter console, through specialized keyboards and text displays, mice and graphical displays, to multifunctional touch screens and cameras with embedded accelerometers, GPS, and many other functionalities. But is the world around us also becoming a genuine part of such computer interfaces? We do interact with the world around us- we look at, touch, move, and show physical objects surrounding us, so can we control our gadgets and interact with them in a similar way? In other words, we would like to augment physical objects and surrounding environments, to enable them with new functionalities, and ultimately to make them serve as tangible interface components in HCI.

The method presented in this talk is based on digital object enhancements through durable surface and undersurface encoding by printing and laser marking. While such augmented physical objects preserve their usual functionality, they become easily recognizable and tractable by optical means. Applications involving text, audio, images, and video will be discussed and novel approaches specifically designed for efficient and robust digital encoding of physical surfaces will be presented. Examples of macro-scale environment aware encoding based on specialized codes for seamless integration and encoding of large-scale environmental surfaces will be given. Micro-scale surface encoding employing laser marking and engraving techniques will also be illustrated.