Robotic Telepresence via Skype and Face Tracking with OpenCV

A few months ago I hooked up the robotic head I built to Skype. I called up my brother in Los Angeles and had him control it with his head. Based upon where he was looking and turning his head, the robotic head would then match his head motions. By permitting the user to control the robotic head with their head, the goal has been to create a natural user interface. Furthermore, the user sees through the robots perspective, making the interaction feel natural. Connecting these two technologies, Skype and robotic telepresence, people may converse while also fully engaging in the environment.

Robotic Head Part 2

This is an update on a previous post, the robotic head part 1. I added eyes today and stabilized some of the jittery motions in the neck. This project was particularly inspired by Golan Levin's opto-isolator and double-taker. Watch the video for a demo.

Robotic Head Part 1

I've finally gotten around to combining opencv, processing, an arduino, servos, and a webcam. I've placed two servos perpendicular to each other, and then mounted a web cam on top of that. As of now I've got the entire system zeroing in on any face it sees and then maintains that face at the center of its field of view. I'll be adding a face very soon, with eyes that will follow a person and eye brows to make it more expressive. Watch the video for a demo.

Tutorial for how to build a robotic head using opencv, arduino, and processing.