OpenNI

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OpenNI or Open Natural Interaction is an industry-led non-profit organization and open source software project focused on certifying and improving interoperability of natural user interfaces and organic user interfaces for Natural Interaction (NI) devices, applications that use those devices and middleware that facilitates access and use of such devices. [1]

In computing, a natural user interface, or NUI, or natural interface is a user interface that is effectively invisible, and remains invisible as the user continuously learns increasingly complex interactions. The word natural is used because most computer interfaces use artificial control devices whose operation has to be learned.

Organic user interface

In human–computer interaction, an organic user interface (OUI) is defined as a user interface with a non-flat display. After Engelbart and Sutherland's graphical user interface (GUI), which was based on the cathode ray tube (CRT), and Kay and Weiser's ubiquitous computing, which is based on the flat panel liquid-crystal display (LCD), OUI represents the third wave of display interaction paradigms, pertaining to multi-shaped and flexible displays. In an OUI, the display surface is always the locus of interaction, and may actively or passively change shape upon analog inputs. These inputs are provided through direct physical gestures, rather than through indirect point-and-click control. Note that the term "Organic" in OUI was derived from organic architecture, referring to the adoption of natural form to design a better fit with human ecology. The term also alludes to the use of organic electronics for this purpose.

Middleware computer software that provides services to software applications

Middleware is computer software that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It can be described as "software glue".

Contents

PrimeSense, who was founding member of OpenNI, shutdown the original OpenNI project when it was acquired by Apple on November 24, 2013; since then Occipital and other former partners of PrimeSense are still keeping a forked version of OpenNI 2 (OpenNI version 2) active as an open source software, primary for their own Structure SDK (Software Development Kit) which is used by their Structure Product. [2]

PrimeSense

PrimeSense was an Israeli 3D sensing company based in Tel-Aviv. PrimeSense had offices in Israel, North America, Japan, Singapore, Korea, China and Taiwan (China). PrimeSense was bought by Apple Inc. for $360 million on November 24, 2013.

Apple Inc. Technology company; developer of consumer electronics and multimedia platforms

Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services. It is considered one of the Big Four of technology along with Amazon, Google, and Facebook.

A software development kit is typically a set of software development tools that allows the creation of applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or similar development platform. To enrich applications with advanced functionalities, advertisements, push notifications, and more, most app developers implement specific software development kits. Some SDKs are critical for developing a platform-specific app. For example, the development of an Android app on Java platform requires a Java Development Kit, for iOS apps the iOS SDK, and for Universal Windows Platform the .NET Framework SDK. There are also SDKs that are installed in apps to provide analytics and data about application activity; prominent creators of these types of SDKs include Google, InMobi, and Facebook.

History

The organization was created in November 2010, [3] with the website going public on December 8. [4] One of the main members was PrimeSense, the company behind the technology used in the Kinect, a motion sensing input device by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 video game console.

Kinect

Kinect is a line of motion sensing input devices produced by Microsoft. Initially, the Kinect was developed as a gaming accessory for Xbox 360 and Xbox One video game consoles and Microsoft Windows PCs. Based around a webcam-style add-on peripheral, it enabled users to control and interact with their console/computer without the need for a game controller, through a natural user interface using gestures and spoken commands. While the gaming line did not gain much traction and eventually discontinued, third-party developers and researches found several after-market uses for Kinect's advanced low-cost sensor features, leading Microsoft to drive the product line towards more application-neutral uses, including integrating the device with Microsoft's cloud computing platform Azure.

Input device peripheral to provide data and signals to an information processing system

In computing, an input device is a piece of computer hardware equipment used to provide data and control signals to an information processing system such as a computer or information appliance. Examples of input devices include keyboards, mouse, scanners, digital cameras and joysticks. Audio input devices may be used for purposes including speech recognition. Many companies are utilizing speech recognition to help assist users to use their device(s).

Microsoft U.S.-headquartered technology company

Microsoft Corporation (MS) is an American multinational technology company with headquarters in Redmond, Washington. It develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services. Its best known software products are the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, the Microsoft Office suite, and the Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers. Its flagship hardware products are the Xbox video game consoles and the Microsoft Surface lineup of touchscreen personal computers. As of 2016, it is the world's largest software maker by revenue, and one of the world's most valuable companies. The word "Microsoft" is a portmanteau of "microcomputer" and "software". Microsoft is ranked No. 30 in the 2018 Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.

In December 2010, PrimeSense, whose depth sensing reference design Kinect is based on, released their own open source drivers along with motion tracking middleware called NITE. [5] PrimeSense later announced that it had teamed up with Asus to develop a PC-compatible device similar to Kinect, which will be called Wavi Xtion and is scheduled for release in the second quarter of 2012. [6]

Asus Taiwanese computer and electronics company

AsusTek Computer Inc. is a Taiwan-based multinational computer and phone hardware and electronics company headquartered in Beitou District, Taipei, Taiwan. Its products include desktops, laptops, netbooks, mobile phones, networking equipment, monitors, WIFI routers, projectors, motherboards, graphics cards, optical storage, multimedia products, peripherals, wearables, servers, workstations, and tablet PCs. The company is also an original equipment manufacturer (OEM).

Their software is currently being used in a variety of open-source projects among academia and the hobbyist community. Recently, software companies have attempted to expand OpenNI's influence by making working with and integrating the technology dramatically simpler. [7]

After the acquisition of PrimeSense by Apple, it was announced that the website OpenNI.org would be shut down on April 23, 2014. [8] Immediately after the shutdown, organizations that used OpenNI subsequently preserved documentation and binaries for future use. Today, Occipital and other former partners of PrimeSense is still keeping a forked version of OpenNI 2 (OpenNI version 2) active as an open source software for their Structure SDK for their Structure Product. [9]

Natural Interaction Devices

Natural Interaction Devices or Natural Interfaces [10] are devices that capture body movements and sounds to allow for a more natural interaction of users with computers [11] in the context of a Natural user interface. The Kinect and Wavi X-tion are examples of such devices.

OpenNI Framework

The OpenNI framework provides a set of open source APIs. These APIs are intended to become a standard for applications to access natural interaction devices. The API framework itself is also sometimes referred to by the name OpenNI SDK.

The APIs provide support for [12]

Organization

Pioneering Members

Middleware Partners

See also

Related Research Articles

Middleware in the context of distributed applications is software that provides services beyond those provided by the operating system to enable the various components of a distributed system to communicate and manage data. Middleware supports and simplifies complex distributed applications. It includes web servers, application servers, messaging and similar tools that support application development and delivery. Middleware is especially integral to modern information technology based on XML, SOAP, Web services, and service-oriented architecture.

Gesture recognition

Gesture recognition is a topic in computer science and language technology with the goal of interpreting human gestures via mathematical algorithms. Gestures can originate from any bodily motion or state but commonly originate from the face or hand. Current focuses in the field include emotion recognition from face and hand gesture recognition. Users can use simple gestures to control or interact with devices without physically touching them. Many approaches have been made using cameras and computer vision algorithms to interpret sign language. However, the identification and recognition of posture, gait, proxemics, and human behaviors is also the subject of gesture recognition techniques. Gesture recognition can be seen as a way for computers to begin to understand human body language, thus building a richer bridge between machines and humans than primitive text user interfaces or even GUIs, which still limit the majority of input to keyboard and mouse and interact naturally without any mechanical devices. Using the concept of gesture recognition, it is possible to point a finger at this point will move accordingly. This could make conventional input on devices such and even redundant.

The Speech Application Programming Interface or SAPI is an API developed by Microsoft to allow the use of speech recognition and speech synthesis within Windows applications. To date, a number of versions of the API have been released, which have shipped either as part of a Speech SDK or as part of the Windows OS itself. Applications that use SAPI include Microsoft Office, Microsoft Agent and Microsoft Speech Server.

Mobile app development is the act or process by which a mobile app is developed for mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants, enterprise digital assistants or mobile phones. These applications can be pre-installed on phones during manufacturing platforms, or delivered as web applications using server-side or client-side processing to provide an "application-like" experience within a Web browser. Application software developers also must consider a long array of screen sizes, hardware specifications, and configurations because of intense competition in mobile software and changes within each of the platforms. Mobile app development has been steadily growing, in revenues and jobs created. A 2013 analyst report estimates there are 529,000 direct app economy jobs within the EU 28 members, 60% of which are mobile app developers.

OpenGate is a communications platform designed to facilitate a fast development and deployment of robust wireless solutions, to be used as a M2M platform or as a mobile platform.

A mobile operating system is an operating system for phones, tablets, smartwatches, or other mobile devices. While computers such as typical laptops are 'mobile', the operating systems usually used on them are not considered mobile ones, as they were originally designed for desktop computers that historically did not have or need specific mobile features. This distinction is becoming blurred in some newer operating systems that are hybrids made for both uses.

Opticks (software)

Opticks is a remote sensing application that supports imagery, video, synthetic aperture radar (SAR), multi-spectral, hyper-spectral, and other types of remote sensing data. Opticks supports processing remote sensing video in the same manner as it supports imagery, which differentiates it from other remote sensing applications. Opticks was initially developed by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. and other organizations for the United States Intelligence Community. Ball Aerospace open sourced Opticks hoping to increase the demand for remote sensing data and broaden the features available in existing remote sensing software. The Opticks software and its extensions are developed by over twenty different organizations, and over two hundred users are registered users at http://opticks.org. Future planned enhancements include adding the ability to ingest and visualize lidar data, as well as a three-dimensional (3-D) visualization capability.

FBX (Filmbox) is a proprietary file format (.fbx) developed by Kaydara and owned by Autodesk since 2006. It is used to provide interoperability between digital content creation applications. FBX is also part of Autodesk Gameware, a series of video game middleware.

Smart TV television sets or set-top boxes with integrated Internet and Web 2.0 features

A smart TV is a traditional television set with integrated Internet and interactive "Web 2.0" features which allows users to stream music and videos, browse the internet, and view photos. Smart TV is a technological convergence of computers, television sets and set-top boxes. Besides the traditional functions of television sets and set-top boxes provided through traditional broadcasting media, these devices can also provide Internet TV, online interactive media, over-the-top content (OTT), as well as on-demand streaming media, and home networking access.

Android software development process of writing software for Android operating system

Android software development is the process by which new applications are created for devices running the Android operating system. Google states that "Android apps can be written using Kotlin, Java, and C++ languages" using the Android software development kit (SDK), while using other languages is also possible. All non-JVM languages, such as Go, JavaScript, C, C++ or assembly, need the help of JVM language code, that may be supplied by tools, likely with restricted API support. Some languages/programming tools allow cross-platform app support, i.e. for both Android and iOS. Third party tools, development environments and language support have also continued to evolve and expand since the initial SDK was released in 2008. In addition, with major business entities like Walmart, Amazon, Bank of America etc. eyeing to engage and sell through mobiles, mobile application development is witnessing a transformation.

Marmalade (software) cross-platform software development kit and game engine

Marmalade SDK is a cross-platform software development kit and game engine from Marmalade Technologies Limited that contains library files, samples, documentation and tools required to develop, test and deploy applications for mobile devices.

Sailfish OS mobile operating system

Sailfish OS is a general purpose Linux distribution used commonly as a mobile operating system combining the Linux kernel for a particular hardware platform, the open-source Mer core stack of middleware, a proprietary UI contributed by Jolla or an open source UI, and other third-party components.

Omek Interactive

Omek Interactive was a venture-backed technology company developing advanced motion sensing software for human-computer interaction. Omek was co-founded in 2007 by Janine Kutliroff and Gershom Kutliroff.

Dialogflow is a Google-owned developer of human–computer interaction technologies based on natural language conversations. The company is best known for creating the Assistant, a virtual buddy for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone smartphones that performs tasks and answers users' question in a natural language. Speaktoit has also created a natural language processing engine that incorporates conversation context like dialogue history, location and user preferences.

Intel RealSense Technology is a suite of depth and tracking technologies designed to give machines and devices depth perceptions capabilities that will enable them to "see" and understand the world. There are many uses for these computer vision capabilities including autonomous drones, robots, AR/VR, smart home devices amongst many others broad market products. RealSense technology is made of Vision Processors, Depth and Tracking Modules, and Depth Cameras, supported by an open source, cross-platform SDK called librealsense that simplifies supporting cameras for third party software developers, system integrators, ODMs and OEMs.

Swagger (software)

Swagger is an open-source software framework backed by a large ecosystem of tools that helps developers design, build, document, and consume RESTful Web services. While most users identify Swagger by the Swagger UI tool, the Swagger toolset includes support for automated documentation, code generation, and test-case generation.

References

  1. "About". openni.org. Retrieved 5 Jan 2011.
  2. "OpenNI To Close". I-Programmer.
  3. "News". openni.org. Retrieved 5 Jan 2011.
  4. Madhav K (9 Dec 2010). "OpenNI Standard Launched". kinecthacks.net. Retrieved 5 Jan 2011.
  5. Mitchell, Richard (2010-12-10). "PrimeSense releases open source drivers, middleware for Kinect". Joystiq.com. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  6. Murph, Darren (2011-01-11). "ASUS Wavi Xtion motion sensing control system demoed at CES (video)". Engadget.com. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  7. "Plug-and-Play Kinect". Eyeball OS. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  8. "OpenNI To Close". I-Programmer.
  9. http://structure.io/openni Structure.io
  10. "Natural Interaction and the Transformation of the Living Room Experience". primesense.com. Retrieved 5 Jan 2011.
  11. Uzi Breier (2 Sep 2010). "Natural Interaction and transformation of the living room experience". v-net.tv. Retrieved 5 Jan 2011.
  12. OpenNI User Guide (PDF), retrieved 17 Jan 2011