Laser spot location method for a laser pointer interaction application using a diffractive optical element

A diffractive optical element (DOE) is applied to effectively locate a laser pointer spot on a projection screen for laser pointer interaction applications. The DOE is placed in front of a digital web camera to blur the background image while transforming the laser spot into a large diffractive pattern, such as a circle. To calculate the diffractive pattern position on the screen, only a simple subtraction method using two successive digital images with the laser ON and OFF, respectively, is needed. This approach also improves the compressed digital image transmission latency.