Light Sensor Interface

Hi everybody,

I’m working on a project and want to make a device which enables you to browse wirelessly and contactless through different slides in a slideshow. The idea is that you make some gestures like making a swype kind of movement horizontally with your hand from the right to the left to go to the next slide.

I’ve already tried to do this with a leap motion, (https://www.leapmotion.com/) but this turned out to overcomplicate it a bit so now I’m trying to look for another way to realize this project.

The idea I have now is to make this with light sensors. I think that if I place two light sensors in a housing this can be the solution. It has to work like this: when you move your hand from the right to the left over the housing, the sensors will notice that the right sensor gets dark first and then the left sensor. A computer has to recognize this as a gesture and ‘plop’ the next slide will be shown.

My knowledge in electronics is not that good and I think I have to program some software to run this thing. Does anyone have tips or suggestions for this project? It will be appreciated a lot, thanks in advance! :-D

Welcome to the forum!

Swiping requires advanced 3D motion detection, and that's not easy to do. If you're thinking of a short range application then there are capacitive solutions like Microchips famous MGC3130 chip. On a longer range optical techniques are the best choice, including the Kinect from Microsoft for example.

Ok, thank you very much, I'll see what I can do, maybe the chip will be the solution.