An IMU-Based Wearable System for Automatic Pointing During Presentations

Abstract Wearable motion capture systems using Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) based Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) are considered a promising low-cost technology that evolves rapidly over the last few years. A wearable pointing system that consists of a pair of IMUs with acceleration and angular velocity sensors is presented in this work. Each IMU is equipped with Bluetooth connectivity and both are mounted on the user’s arm. The system provides automatic pointing on the presentation screen by capturing the arm’s rotational movement and by exploiting the speaker’s relative to the screen position. In this paper, we present the system’s design and its evaluation along with a training method for estimating the user-screen distance and relative position. Experimental results show promising pointing accuracy and precision in a variety of different display sizes and distances making the system an effective solution for automatic on-screen pointing.