Interactive Museum Exhibit Using Pointing Gesture Recognition

This paper describes a Mixed Reality-supported interactive museum exhibit. Using an easy and intuitive pointing gesture recognition system, the museum visitor is able to create his/her own exhibit choosing between different painters, artistic topics or just between different images. The usage of a video-based gesture tracking system ensures a seamless integration of Mixed Reality technologies into the environment of a traditional museum. Furthermore, it addresses even technically unversed users due to the fact that no physical devices need to be used and even no training phase is necessary for the interaction. The display of digitised paintings on an interactive screen is usable e.g. in museums that do not have the space to present all of their paintings in the traditional ways. Furthermore, direct interaction with art pieces leads to a deeper involvement with and understanding of the art pieces, whereas the manipulation of original paintings is obviously prohibited. Exploration of the paintings is achieved by giving the user the possibility of looking at details of paintings, which he/she normally can only see using tools like a magnifying glass.