Brief
Within the education sector and financial sector especially, it has become extremely hard for speakers to communicate their ideas effectively over video platforms such as Zoom and Google Meets. We wanted to find a way to fix this and help Financial workers through a FinTech Hack hence why we created Smooth.ly
What is Smooth.ly
Smooth.ly is a chrome extension that allows to draw images and text with their fingers on a VR board screen. We also have white board features and sketching tool that lets users draw on a page they are screen sharing during meetings.
Our Features
Chrome extension.
VR Board.
White board.
Web sketching tool.
Here how it works
1 . Users must install smooth.LY as a chrome extension
- Users can now start drawing or explaining some concepts with their finger on a VR board while presenting the screen with other meeting members and interacting with them in real time.
- Smooth.LY also comes with a white board for users who don't feel comfortable showing their face on camera.
- Web sketch tool helps user to mark highlight relevant information during live presentation.
Creation process
For building a Chrome Extension we used Manifest v2.0 , We tried our best to build a clean, attractive and responsive UI using vanilla js and CSS. We took help from open source community and other helpful research sites.
UI/UX
To start our project properly, we decided to create a rough plan of what we wanted and where in order to visualize the outcome of the project. Here are a few pictures of what we designed using Figma.
Frames
VR Board
VR Board is a python application uses OpenCV library to track an object-of-interest (a bottle cap in this case) and allows the user to draw by moving the object.
To perform video tracking an algorithm analyzes sequential video frames and outputs the movement of targets between the frames. There are a variety of algorithms, each having strengths and weaknesses. Considering the intended use is important when choosing which algorithm to use. There are two major components of a visual tracking system: target representation and localization, as well as filtering and data association. (townrdsdatascience.com)
Video Tracking
Once the webcam starts feeding, our application looks for contour (in this case finger) and if the detection is successful we use the center of the contour to draw on the screen as it moves. we used a bunch of basic image processing tools and operations in OpenCV to create this Application,
Technologies
We used bunch of technologies and open source tools to create our highly sophisticated application
What's next for Smooth.ly
Next up we plan to take this product into the FinTech world to see how it helps with productivity and how it encourages creativity into the sector.
We also plan to include hand gestures detection to make it more smooth for user to interact with our virtual board.
Challenges we ran into
We found time very hard to manage as it was a complex project and we both live in different time zones.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are happy to have created a project that helps workers communicate their ideas effectively as well as increase productivity in the FinTech world.
What we learned
We learned how to create a Chrome Extension and embed Virtual Reality into our concept.
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