Remote-touch: A laser input user-display interaction technology

In this paper, we present a new user-display interaction technology in which a laser-pointer is used to select objects on a display screen. In this interaction technology, the user points to the object on the display, using a laser-pointer to make a selection. This allows interaction from a distance, which is an advantage over state-of-the-art touchscreen technologies. This interaction technology will be referred to as Remote-Touch. It consists of a laser-pointer, a transparent micro-structured light-guiding substrate, and position-sensitive detectors (PSDs). The substrate, which is patterned with a micro-structure of pyramid-shaped indentations, is put in front of the display. When the laser-light hits the display the micro-structure in the polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) substrate reflects part of the laser-light to the sides of the display screen. The PSDs at the edge of the PMMA substrate read-out the position of the laser-spot. This paper focuses on the optical performance of the micro-structured PMMA substrate.