Trying Out Intel RealSense

This time, we'll talk about Intel's depth camera module. Intel is perhaps best known as a CPU maker for PCs, but they also provide packaged modules like this one. There are multiple depth cameras available as part of the Intel RealSense line, but here we'll talk about the SR300 and R200.

Intel RealSense SR300

Intel RealSense R200

The SR300 is shown below attached to the upper-right corner of a PC display (MS Surface Pro). We're running some sample data from the RealSense developer tools on the PC.

Unlike regular webcams, this camera module can use infrared rays to measure distances. This allows it to recognise human motions and gestures, as well as see the local area in 3D. The images below were taken with the RealSense SR300; the infrared camera image is on the left, and the normal camera image is on the right.

Putting these images together makes a number of things possible. For example, you can use it to read hand motions, as in the video below.

Video: Intel RealSense を使ってみた1

It can also recognise the motions of individual fingers, how they are being bent, whether the hand is balled into a fist or has a few fingers opened out and more besides.

Video: Intel RealSense を使ってみた2

Combining these abilities allows it to fully recognise any hand gesture.

In the video below, you can see how it recognises the hand as it is closed, then opened again. The left window shows white dots over the hand's position as the camera recognises the gestures.

Video: Intel RealSense を使ってみた3

A free RealSense development kit is available, including some easy-to-use sample code. This code was used to run the demonstrations shown above. See the document below for more details.

• Intel Official Tutorial
• Intel Official YouTube Channel