A real-world machine vision application

Machine vision controlled drapes (curtains if you’re British). I’m not sure how practical this is, but it certainly makes for a fun video. (I’m not going to post the video here; I’d rather you used the link provided so you can read what the inventor/artist behind the project has to say about it.)

This is basically a people tracking system. The vision software detects the presence of passers-by in a video stream, tracks their motion, and directs a motor-pulley system to move a small curtain. In essence it’s not so different to those safety systems put out by companies like SICK,that identify people in a robot’s work envelope, or for that matter, dart-tracking demos that move a target to ensure every throw hits the bullseye.

It’s still cool though, and thanks should go to contributor harriv for bringing this to my attention.