Technically I should be waiting until next week for another edition of Did You Miss It?, but this one was just too exciting for me to let slide. Students and researchers from Project Juvenile at Reality Media / Mobile Communications Lab at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto have made an augmented reality game based on the world of Dennou Coil. System includes an HMD and ‘Data Glove’ (made with InterSense IS900), and incorporates many functions and items seen in Dennou Coil, such as metatags. Documentation video and links just after the break.

Project Juvenile 2009 [JP]
PJ2009′s Dennou Coil [JP]
Setup Diagram [JP]

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.