Applying color recognition techniques to achieve low-cost portable digital board functionalities

Area of Science:

• Educational Technology
• Computer Vision

Background:

• Digital teaching boards offer innovative ways to manipulate objects for concept learning.
• High acquisition costs and deployment inflexibility hinder widespread adoption of digital boards.
• Existing educational environments often lack the budget for advanced digital teaching tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a low-cost alternative to traditional digital boards for educational settings.
• To enable digital board functionalities using readily available hardware and software.
• To create a flexible system adaptable to diverse classroom configurations and needs.

Main Methods:

• A color recognition algorithm processes images captured by consumer-grade webcams.
• A colored pointer object is identified and its actions are interpreted in real-time.
• Recognized actions are converted into standard user interface (UI) commands for computer interaction.

Main Results:

• The system successfully replicates key digital board functionalities at a significantly lower cost.
• A prototype was deployed in a real classroom, demonstrating effective use with modest hardware.
• The setup proved flexible, adapting to various classroom sizes, spaces, and configurations.

Conclusions:

• Color recognition-based systems offer a viable, budget-friendly solution for digital teaching support.
• This approach democratizes access to interactive learning tools in resource-limited educational environments.
• The technology provides a flexible and adaptable solution for modern classroom needs.