A guy named Ben Wu sent us this video recently and it sort of blew our minds. Wu, an engineer and self-described dreamer, has spent the past year developing a program he calls Quantum Phantom — an Iron Man -inspired system that allows users to control a computer’s cursor using only an ordinary webcam . With his Windows software onboard, Wu can draw, write and move onscreen icons or widgets, simply by waving his camera in front of a set of dual monitors. The prototype is even sophisticated enough to recognize his own webcam-produced handwriting and automatically convert it to rich text. In most cases, the sensor relies upon an ordinary cursor to navigate a screen, but Wu has also developed a pointer-free solution, as demonstrated toward the end of the above, three-part video. Be sure to check it out for yourself and get lost in the magic. [Thanks, Ben] Quantum Phantom prototype lets you control your computer screen with a webcam (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink