Virtualization of Tangible Interface Objects

Abstract

An example system includes a stand configured to position a computing device proximate to a physical activity surface. The system further includes a video capture device, a detector, and an activity application. The video capture device is coupled for communication with the computing device and is adapted to capture a video stream that includes an activity scene of the physical activity surface and one or more interface objects physically interactable with by a user. The detector is executable to detect motion in the activity scene based on the processing and, responsive to detecting the motion, process the video stream to detect one or more interface objects included in the activity scene of the physical activity surface. The activity application is executable to present virtual information on a display of the computing device based on the one or more detected interface objects.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 capturing, using a video capture device, an image frame of a video stream that includes an activity scene of a physical activity surface and one or more tangible interface objects present in the activity scene;   comparing, using one or more computing devices, the image frame of the video stream that includes the activity scene of the physical activity surface with a previously captured image frame of the activity scene of the physical activity surface at an earlier point in time;   determining, using the one or more computing devices, that a substantial difference exists between the image frame of the video stream and the previously captured image frame of the activity scene; and   processing, using the one or more computing devices, the image frame of the video stream to detect the one or more interface objects included in the activity scene responsive to the determination that a substantial difference exists.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein processing the image frame of the video stream to detect the one or more interface objects further comprises detecting that the one or more interface objects were not present in the previously captured image frame of the activity scene. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining that a substantial difference exists further comprises determining that differences between the image frame and the previously captured image frame exceed a predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the differences between the image frame and the previously captured image frame are calculated based on a number of pixels that are different between the image frame and the previously captured image frame. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein comparing the image frame of the video stream that includes the activity scene of the physical activity surface with the previously captured image frame of the activity scene of the physical activity surface occurs at a predetermined time periodicity. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 presenting, on a display of the computing device, virtual information based on the detected one or more interface objects included in the activity scene.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the virtual information is a digital representation of the one or more detected interface objects included in the activity scene. 
     
     
         8 . A physical activity surface visualization system comprising:
 a stand configured to position a computing device proximate to a physical activity surface, the computing device having one or more processors;   a video capture device coupled for communication with the computing device, the video capture device being configured to capture a video stream that includes an activity scene of a physical activity surface and one or more tangible interface objects present in the activity scene;   a detector, executable by the one or more processors to compare an image frame of the video stream that includes the activity scene of the physical activity surface with a previously captured image frame of the activity scene of the physical activity surface at an earlier point in time and determine that a substantial difference exists between the image frame of the video stream and the previously captured image frame of the activity scene; and   an activity application executable by the one or more processors to detect the one or more interface objects included in the activity scene responsive to the determination that a substantial difference exists.   
     
     
         9 . The physical activity surface visualization system of  claim 8 , wherein the activity application is further executable by the one or more processors to detect that the one or more interface objects were not present in the previously captured image frame of the activity scene. 
     
     
         10 . The physical activity surface visualization system of  claim 8 , wherein determining that a substantial difference exists further comprises the detector determining that differences between the image frame and the previously captured image frame exceed a predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         11 . The physical activity surface visualization system of  claim 10 , wherein the differences between the image frame and the previously captured image frame are calculated by the detector based on a number of pixels that are different between the image frame and the previously captured image frame. 
     
     
         12 . The physical activity surface visualization system of  claim 8 , wherein the detector compares the image frame of the video stream that includes the activity scene of the physical activity surface with the previously captured image frame of the activity scene of the physical activity surface at a predetermined time periodicity. 
     
     
         13 . The physical activity surface visualization system of  claim 8 , wherein the activity application is further configured to present, on a display of the computing device, virtual information based on the detected one or more interface objects included in the activity scene. 
     
     
         14 . The physical activity surface visualization system of  claim 13 , wherein the virtual information is a digital representation of the one or more detected interface objects included in the activity scene. 
     
     
         15 . A method comprising:
 capturing, using a video capture device, a first image frame of a first video stream that includes an activity scene of a physical activity surface;   capturing, using the video capture device, a second image frame of a second video stream that includes the activity scene of the physical activity surface with a tangible interface object at a later point in time than the first video stream;   comparing, using one or more computing devices, the first image frame of the first video stream with the second image frame of the second video stream to identify whether a substantial difference is present between the first image frame and the second image frame;   responsive to determining that the substantial difference is present, detecting the tangible interface object present in the activity scene of the second image frame; and   identifying, using the one or more computing devices, the detected tangible interface object present in the activity scene of the second image frame.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein identifying whether the substantial difference is present between the first image frame and the second image frame further comprises determining that the tangible interface object is present in the second image frame of the second video stream and not present in the first image frame of the first video stream. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein identifying that a substantial difference exists further comprises determining that a value of differences between the second image frame and the first image frame exceed a predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the value of the differences between the second image frame and the first image frame are calculated based on a number of pixels that are different between the second image frame and the first image frame. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 presenting, on a display of the computing device, virtual information based on the identity of the detected tangible interface object present in the activity scene of the second image frame.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the virtual information is a digital representation of the detected tangible interface object present in the activity scene.