ZeroTouch is a unique optical sensing architecture that enables precision tracking of hands, fingers, and objects within a 2D plane. The technology uses a modular framework of infrared light receivers and emitters to create a visual hull sensing system that can detect up to 30 simultaneous touch points at 80Hz. ZeroTouch's modular design allows it to scale to various display sizes while maintaining high temporal and spatial resolution. The system enables not only multi-touch interaction but also free-air interaction and pen+touch combinations when integrated with stylus-capable displays. Developed at the Interface Ecology Lab at Texas A&M University.

Published at CHI 2012, where it received an Honorable Mention for Best Paper.

My Contributions

Modular Sensing Architecture

• Developed a modular optical sensing hardware framework using daisy-chained sensor modules
• Created a scalable architecture supporting up to 2048 sensors with minimal interconnect complexity
• Designed a 1:8 LED-to-receiver ratio to optimize the temporal/spatial resolution tradeoff

Hardware Development

• Created PCB designs for modular sensor units with modulated infrared light receivers
• Designed the digital signaling protocol for efficiently sampling and transmitting sensor data
• Implemented high-speed data acquisition using a Cypress PSoC microcontroller with DMA

Visual Hull Reconstruction & Touch Detection

• Developed image reconstruction algorithms to visualize binary occlusion data
• Implemented touch detection pipeline based on visual hull reconstruction techniques
• Created software framework for integrating with various applications and input technologies