An idea was born, I’ll record it here so it doesn’t get forgotten. It doesn’t really have a serious application, probably. Just for fun, as they say.
A camera (a regular phone will do) is mounted over any chess board. Then players play chess. And the phone films and – recognizes and records the moves. Later, the players receive an analysis of the game. Where the first bad move was made, what would have been a better move, etc.
The twist here is that it doesn’t really matter to the mobile app what kind of chess is being played. It doesn’t recognize the pieces. It compares “screenshots” of the board before and after the move, from which it understands what was moved. Since the initial setup is by definition fixed, the rest is just a matter of technique. Recognizing the pieces can be added as an additional mechanism – mainly it is enough to recognize the color of the piece, if at all bothering with it.
Technically, it’s quite simple. Theoretically, you could even do dynamic recalibration if, by accident, you moved the phone or a nearby elephant ran by and shook everything.
That’s the idea.
On the useful side, theoretically, such developments could be used in parking lots to monitor available spaces.
UPDATE: I’m not the first (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxlLuyTXVQI
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 