cameras help turn tables into touchscreens - an interactive whiteboard

With the projection and camera system developed by Fujitsu, any paper document can be turned into an interactive touch screen.
The system allows users to copy them instantly by drawing a box around text and photos with their fingers.
You can then move, edit, and operate digital copies as you would on a tablet or a large touch screen.
Fujitsu said it hopes to release a commercial version of imaging technology in 2014.
The camera and projector that make up the system are built into a stand that sits on the desktop, monitoring the documents and the fingers in front of the user.
The camera can position the finger and use the software to explain what people want to do with maps, notes, photos or other paper documents.
The projector projects virtual buttons onto the desktop, and one can start copying or performing other operations by pressing them with the fingertips.
The projector also lights up the part that people want to highlight and projects a copy of the text or image they want to get.
You can "store" the virtual copy of the project to one side of the table and then move, expand, shrink, and operate by the user.
Fujitsu says the system helps organize notes for meetings or research projects.
A key breakthrough, it says, is to use cameras that are slightly offset from each other.
This helps them to better understand where the fingers are in order to accurately identify what the user wants to highlight or copy.
Fujitsu said the system could be used as a way to enhance the current computer interface system, or eventually replace the keyboard and mouse.
The company said it had tried to use expensive sensors before, but its system usedthe-
Projectors and cameras on the shelves, and even webcams, indicate that any business model is easy to produce.