How to compare a webcam image/video to a specific image/video?

Question

I am basically just starting out in computer programming; mostly fluent in basic Java. I have an idea of creating an ASL (American Sign Language) to English, and my initial problem is how to identify hand movement from a webcam then comparing them to Signs that is already stored as an image or another video. If the problem is a bit too advanced for me then please list any major concepts that I can learn. Please and thank you.

Answer 1

You clearly have a challenging problem ^^. Try to explain all you need to solve your problem would be very hard, mainly because there many ways to do this. I advice you to read a nice book about image processing (Gonzalez' book is a nice choice) and the OpenCV documentation (but it is implemented in C, C++ and has Python bindings; although it's a library that implements a lot of image processing techniques). Maybe you should focus your study on feature detection, motion analysis and object tracking. As sign language uses not just hand sign (static state) but also hand moviments (dynamic state) to express something, object tracking may be a good way to describe the signs.

I hope these informations help you, at least a little -^.^- Bye bye.

Answer 2

Look at OpenCV. They have a lot of libraries that you might find handy.

http://opencv.willowgarage.com/wiki/