Short Introduction
The gesture monitor is a mobile patient monitor that can be interacted with using gesture control. The demonstration shows the extent to which technology can be modernized in medical areas.
Description
The demonstrator was developed as part of the Interactive and Cognitive Systems group’s research into contact-free interaction. The research group is part of the Vision and Imaging Technologies department of the Fraunhofer Heinrich-Hertz-Institute. The gesture monitor is a demonstrator of the KIPos project, which aims, among other things, to enable contact-free and therefore sterile and ergonomic interaction with medical devices. On the one hand, this supports staff by making usage more efficient and, on the other hand, hygiene standards can be better adhered to.
The demonstrator can recognize the movements and gestures of the interacting person via a camera. Three distance ranges – far, middle, near – can be recognized. In far-mode, a general overview of the vital signs is displayed, in middle-mode more information can be accessed and in near-mode it is possible to use gesture control to access all data and displays and make simulated calls. As of yet, the demonstrator cannot recognize any specific gestures, so far it is only possible to control a cursor on the screen and select the individual displays using simple hand movements.
To enable control via specific gestures, KIPos creates a hand gesture data set. This can be used to develop methods for automatic gesture recognition and ultimately be used for various fields of application.
Use-Case
The demonstrator shows that it is perfectly possible to make medical processes more efficient and hygienic. Thanks to gesture control, the patient monitor no longer needs to be controlled using a mouse and keyboard, making constant cleaning with disinfectants redundant. In addition, important information about vital signs can be gathered from a distance and medical staff can even be contacted quickly in emergencies.
