Remote student localization using audio and video processing for synchronous interactive e-learning

The advancements in the field of wireless technology has led to a widespread acceptance of multimedia on wireless networks. The increasing popularity of multimedia networking applications such as e-learning has brought in more requirements in educational institutions for the students to learn online Current e-learning systems do not facilitate synchronous learning i.e., there is no interaction like that of a real class. However to impart effective learning, interaction between a student in the remote class-room and the teacher in the main classroom is mandatory. To enhance this virtual classroom, an automatic e-learning system is been proposed. Wireless technology which consists of collection of audio and video sensors tracks and identifies the speaker of interest in the classroom so that the lecturer on the other end will be able to effectively interact and can have a one to one communication with the focused student. We describe in this paper an automated system for student localization using audio and video processing, as a first step towards achieving such an automated system.