Tools to Augment Your Reality

Aya — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:23:07 +0000

Does looking at all these demonstrations and examples of augmented reality leave you itching to make your own? Here’s a list of tools to get you started, for both marker and markerless AR. (See something missing? Let me know in the comments!)

ARmedia Plug-in for Google SketchUp (and ARexporter)
http://www.inglobetechnologies.com/en/products/arplugin_su/info.php

rtPozAR (Real-Time Poser AR) [JP]
http://foilskin.seesaa.net/article/119695691.html

ARDeskTop [JP]
http://wiki.livedoor.jp/wah_wah_hawah/

ARToolKit
http://www.hitl.washington.edu/artoolkit/

ARToolKit Professional & osgART
http://www.artoolworks.com/Home.html

NyARToolKit (Java ARToolKit) [EN/JP]
http://nyatla.jp/nyartoolkit/wiki/index.php

FLARToolkit (Flash ARToolKit) [EN/JP]
http://www.libspark.org/wiki/saqoosha/FLARToolKit/en

ATOMIC Augmented Reality Authoring Tool (Front end for ARToolKit)
http://www.sologicolibre.org/projects/atomic/en/index.php

LinceoVR
http://linceovr.seac02.it/

HandyAR
http://ilab.cs.ucsb.edu/projects/taehee/HandyAR/HandyAR.html

PTAM (Parallel Tracking and Mapping for Small AR Workspaces)
http://www.robots.ox.ac.uk/~gk/PTAM/

Expect revisions and additions to this list in the future.

“Let’s Squish Our Fruits Together” Part 1

Aya — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:10:50 +0000

For any of you confused about the title of today’s entry and its (loose) relevance to augmented reality, keep on reading — it’s a line from Improv Everywhere’s Grocery Store Musical. Over the past two years we’ve seen a lot of amazing functional and eyecandy examples of augmented reality all over YouTube and the “blogosphere”, showcasing augmented reality technologies such as Layar and SekaiCamera (to name a couple mobile examples) and ad or promotion based AR novelties from companies like BMW and General Electric. So, back to the title… while each of these AR examples are pretty cool on their own, from time to time, I wish we could squish all these fruits together. Yes, there are events like ISMAR which bring together augmented reality enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, researchers and scientists… but there a few examples of AR that I’d like, perhaps naively, to get mashed up into a single ‘platform’.

I’m going to be honest here and openly admit that my ideal mash-up is sort of aiming for a Dennou Coil-esque augmented reality platform, and why not? Dennou Coil‘s augmented reality world was such a delightfully playful yet fairly fleshed out vision of AR, and has been a source of inspiration and excitement for augmented enthusiasts everywhere.

Let’s jump right into the list…

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Computer Vision: Georg Klein’s PTAM (Parallel Tracking and and Mapping)

“PTAM (Parallel Tracking and Mapping) is a camera tracking system for augmented reality. It requires no markers, pre-made maps, known templates, or inertial sensors.”

PTAM is a very nice markerless tracking method. While I can easily imagine QR and other 2d barcode systems remaining active in an AR world, most of the augmented media should be markerless, using a combination of PTAM and GPS/compass data.

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Menus and object creation: wah_wah_hawah’s ARDeskTop (ARToolKit)

In this augmented reality world, we need menus and interfaces to customize, build, and interact with the media around us. ARDeskTop, built with ARToolKit, is one example of a feasible model of menus and interaction. This demo is stellar, but the markers and cellphone are pretty clunky for mainstream use, and I can’t imagine anyone wanting to wear a tracking marker taped to their finger all the time. This is where the next example fits in…

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Input devices: Taehee Lee and Tobias Höllerer’s HandyAR

I know, the pun just kills me. So now that we’ve set up a few technologies for computer-vision, and laying down the ‘virtual space’ into which we can add AR objects, we need a few modes of interaction. Using computer-vision, HandyAR looks for hands in the live video image, and allows a user to utilize said hands as a mode of input or interaction in an augmented reality environment through gesture and position.

This is one possibility for the future of interface for the next augmented reality world. Caveats: closed fists, unintentional gestures, etc.

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So, can anyone arrange a little lunch party for Klein, WahWahHawah, Lee and Hollerer? … Pretty please?

Stay tuned, coming soon: Let’s Squish Our Fruits Together Part 2 – Devices, frameworks, community.

AR.m-ato.me » ARDeskTop

Tools to Augment Your Reality

“Let’s Squish Our Fruits Together” Part 1

Computer Vision: Georg Klein’s PTAM (Parallel Tracking and and Mapping)

Menus and object creation: wah_wah_hawah’s ARDeskTop (ARToolKit)

Input devices: Taehee Lee and Tobias Höllerer’s HandyAR