Show HN: Open-source digital stylus with six degrees of freedom (github.com)

Article summary

A university student has created an open-source digital stylus that uses camera tracking and inertial measurements to achieve 6DoF inputs, allowing for precise drawing and writing on any flat surface. The stylus, called D-POINT, uses a combination of visual pose estimation and inertial fusion to track its position and orientation. The project was part of the student's undergraduate thesis in electrical engineering. The code and design files for the project are available online.

Main themes

• digital stylus
• open-source hardware
• computer vision
• inertial measurement
• VR and 3D modeling
• academic projects
• innovation and novelty
• applicability and usability

What commenters say

• The use of camera tracking and inertial sensors is a novel approach to creating a digital stylus, but it may not be entirely new.
• The project's open-source nature makes it accessible to others who can build upon and improve it.
• The stylus's accuracy and precision are not yet on par with commercial graphics tablets, but there is potential for improvement.
• Some commenters believe that the project would be more useful if it were integrated with existing software and APIs, such as OpenXR.
• Others argue that the project's value lies in its potential for use in specific applications, such as VR or 3D modeling, rather than as a general-purpose stylus.
• There is disagreement over the importance of scientific writing style versus applicability and novelty in academic projects.
• The project's use of rolling shutter compensation is seen as a notable achievement, and its potential for use in other applications is being explored.