hi,
finally i managed to find some time to prepare a little sample video of my latest application. it was built as part of a project presentation for a design course. the project itself can be found here.
i hope you enjoy the video and, as usual, please leave a comment for any further questions.
Showing posts with label mobile. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mobile. Show all posts
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
sample video - apartment shadow scene
hi everybody,
i just posted a new video demonstrating the implementation of some light scenarios into an augmented reality application. it was built on base of the shadow demo project from unity that can be downloaded here. for performance and usability reasons i removed the interaction possibilities with the model.
the model has about 6000 polygons and 8 light maps with 1024x2048px each. on my xperia x10 the app reaches about 17 fps while on a samsung galaxy s it's about 50 fps.
for any further questions or suggestions please leave a comment or send me a message.
i just posted a new video demonstrating the implementation of some light scenarios into an augmented reality application. it was built on base of the shadow demo project from unity that can be downloaded here. for performance and usability reasons i removed the interaction possibilities with the model.
the model has about 6000 polygons and 8 light maps with 1024x2048px each. on my xperia x10 the app reaches about 17 fps while on a samsung galaxy s it's about 50 fps.
for any further questions or suggestions please leave a comment or send me a message.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
current methods of augmented reality - geo tags vs. trackables (part2)
hi,
following my previous post this time i will write about the second widely used method to generate augmented reality. in this case this is done using so called trackables. this is also the method i used in my sample videos [1, 2] so far.
the general idea behind is the following. you take a 2d image with a lot of contrast points and preferably sharp edges between the elements on the picture. you can take basically any picture but the results might be not so good if you don't follow these rules. next you have to establish a spatial correlation between this trackable and the 3d model you want to show in your augmented reality application.
as i'm no mathematician or computer scientist i can't provide you with in depth information on how the tracking is exactly done but i will try to update my link collection as soon as i find some time. just about the basic principle. the application with the predefined trackable, the 3d model and the spatial relation uses the camera to get information about the surrounding. within the camera view the app uses algorithms to search for patterns of contrast that can also be found on the trackable. this is done in order to generate the correct 2d representation of the 3d model and to place it at the right position of the screen. as this happens each frame the viewer gets the impression of real time motion according to the motion of the device around the trackable.
to get a better impression how it works just have a look at my previously mentioned videos. as i'm still working a lot on that topic be sure that further clips will follow.
current methods of augmented reality (part1)
the general idea behind is the following. you take a 2d image with a lot of contrast points and preferably sharp edges between the elements on the picture. you can take basically any picture but the results might be not so good if you don't follow these rules. next you have to establish a spatial correlation between this trackable and the 3d model you want to show in your augmented reality application.
as i'm no mathematician or computer scientist i can't provide you with in depth information on how the tracking is exactly done but i will try to update my link collection as soon as i find some time. just about the basic principle. the application with the predefined trackable, the 3d model and the spatial relation uses the camera to get information about the surrounding. within the camera view the app uses algorithms to search for patterns of contrast that can also be found on the trackable. this is done in order to generate the correct 2d representation of the 3d model and to place it at the right position of the screen. as this happens each frame the viewer gets the impression of real time motion according to the motion of the device around the trackable.
to get a better impression how it works just have a look at my previously mentioned videos. as i'm still working a lot on that topic be sure that further clips will follow.
current methods of augmented reality (part1)
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
current methods of augmented reality - geo tags vs. trackables (part1)
hi,
i want to talk about two basic methods that can be used to create augmented reality apps on mobile devices. today i will write about the first one. the other one will be covered in another post soon.
let's take it as given that the current method to generate augmented reality is to use the camera view and generate an overlay. this is usually done by using tags to present additional information or by calculating the correlating view of a 3d model.
the first method is already in use since quite a while. i'm talking about geotagging. the basic idea behind is that 2d tags or 3d models are stored in a database with their according geographical location information (gps coordinates, hight above ground). to view the tags and models in their correct location on the screen for the current camera view some values have to be measured from three sensors:
the combination of these values should provide the application with all necessary data to display the elements in the correct position.
while this method seems to work quite well in general (similar solutions can be found in apps like layar or wikitude), there are some serious problems. they are actually all related to accuracy and responsiveness and are caused by two facts. the first one is the general problem when working with gps. as long as you are in a rather open area the positioning works pretty well, but as soon as you are in a city with high buildings accuracy and speed of repositioning seems to decrease rapidly. Another problem is caused by the fact that data from three different sensors is used. this gives a lot of possibilities for mistakes or responsiveness issues and might affect the final result drastically. one more issue related to 3d models is, that occlusion by real world objects can't be taken into account so far. if the radius to display models is set too high, you can easily end up seeing a 3d model which shouldn't be visible (because it should be covered by a real building). so this technology works best with a very small radius and a low density of 3d models at once.
finally, as gps only works outdoor properly, this method can't be used inside a building unless another technology is used for the positioning.
i hope this gives you some idea about this method. the second part can be found at the link below.
current methods of augmented reality (part2)
i want to talk about two basic methods that can be used to create augmented reality apps on mobile devices. today i will write about the first one. the other one will be covered in another post soon.
let's take it as given that the current method to generate augmented reality is to use the camera view and generate an overlay. this is usually done by using tags to present additional information or by calculating the correlating view of a 3d model.
the first method is already in use since quite a while. i'm talking about geotagging. the basic idea behind is that 2d tags or 3d models are stored in a database with their according geographical location information (gps coordinates, hight above ground). to view the tags and models in their correct location on the screen for the current camera view some values have to be measured from three sensors:
- gps: to get the actual position of the device; user can set a range around this location in which models or tags are shown.
- compass: to get the horizontal orientation of the device
- accelerometer: to calculate the vertical orientation of the device.
the combination of these values should provide the application with all necessary data to display the elements in the correct position.
while this method seems to work quite well in general (similar solutions can be found in apps like layar or wikitude), there are some serious problems. they are actually all related to accuracy and responsiveness and are caused by two facts. the first one is the general problem when working with gps. as long as you are in a rather open area the positioning works pretty well, but as soon as you are in a city with high buildings accuracy and speed of repositioning seems to decrease rapidly. Another problem is caused by the fact that data from three different sensors is used. this gives a lot of possibilities for mistakes or responsiveness issues and might affect the final result drastically. one more issue related to 3d models is, that occlusion by real world objects can't be taken into account so far. if the radius to display models is set too high, you can easily end up seeing a 3d model which shouldn't be visible (because it should be covered by a real building). so this technology works best with a very small radius and a low density of 3d models at once.
finally, as gps only works outdoor properly, this method can't be used inside a building unless another technology is used for the positioning.
i hope this gives you some idea about this method. the second part can be found at the link below.
current methods of augmented reality (part2)
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
qualcomm - the future of mobile applications
hi,
this video clip is from february but i just thought about it.
the clip and quoted text were taken from this site.
in the video they mention a super market as example. you could get additional information on nutrition or cooking instructions as well as advertisements for related stuff by facing your camera towards a product.
but there are also completely different possibilities to use such technologies. by implementing geo-referenced 3d buildings you could be able to see different states of a certain area during time. just imagine walking through a city like rome with your mobile phone in your hand. it could give you the possibility to see how the street you just walk along looked a few hundred years ago. in addition you can still get information that might be of interest for you (see layar or wikitude).
of course the same also applies for future projects or unbuilt alternatives that can be shown with such an application.
this is one of the areas i want to work on in the near future. so if you have any suggestions, ideas or critics(!) please leave a comment.
this video clip is from february but i just thought about it.
"Liat Ben-Zur, Senior Director at Qualcomm, believes that in the future, mobile applications will be able to bridge the physical and virtual worlds through augmented reality and contextual capabilities."
the clip and quoted text were taken from this site.
in the video they mention a super market as example. you could get additional information on nutrition or cooking instructions as well as advertisements for related stuff by facing your camera towards a product.
but there are also completely different possibilities to use such technologies. by implementing geo-referenced 3d buildings you could be able to see different states of a certain area during time. just imagine walking through a city like rome with your mobile phone in your hand. it could give you the possibility to see how the street you just walk along looked a few hundred years ago. in addition you can still get information that might be of interest for you (see layar or wikitude).
of course the same also applies for future projects or unbuilt alternatives that can be shown with such an application.
this is one of the areas i want to work on in the near future. so if you have any suggestions, ideas or critics(!) please leave a comment.
Friday, December 17, 2010
augmented reality in an urban scale
hi,
i'll present you two platforms for mobile devices that i want to investigate during the next weeks according to their possibilities in presenting architectural projects. they have quite a similar approach, but offer different possibilities.
the first platform i want to show is wikitude. the basic idea is that you get overlay tags to your live camera view. the information for these tags is taken from a wide range of databases. according to the interest of the user they are shown or not. the used databases include wikipedia, twitter, youtube, Flickr, archINFORM and many more. some of them prepare global content and location based information, but there are also examples where wikitude is used as a navigation help. one would be the University of Bath. they put tags for their main campus buildings into wikitude.
the second platform is layar. they have an even larger number of databases connected. especially many companies use it to guide customers to their shops. even though they look similar at first sight there are two obvious differences. one is, that you could offer paid content at layar. the second one is much more interesting for architectural visualisation. layar gives you the chance to place textured 3d models with geo-coordinates. the restrictions to these 3d models are a maximum of 5000 polygons and a texture size of up to 512x512px. this doesn't allow high quality models to be placed but i think it would be worth to give it a try.
if you didn't do already you can search for these apps on your smartphone. both are available for android and iphone.
i'll present you two platforms for mobile devices that i want to investigate during the next weeks according to their possibilities in presenting architectural projects. they have quite a similar approach, but offer different possibilities.
the first platform i want to show is wikitude. the basic idea is that you get overlay tags to your live camera view. the information for these tags is taken from a wide range of databases. according to the interest of the user they are shown or not. the used databases include wikipedia, twitter, youtube, Flickr, archINFORM and many more. some of them prepare global content and location based information, but there are also examples where wikitude is used as a navigation help. one would be the University of Bath. they put tags for their main campus buildings into wikitude.
 |
| property of www.wikitude.org |
the second platform is layar. they have an even larger number of databases connected. especially many companies use it to guide customers to their shops. even though they look similar at first sight there are two obvious differences. one is, that you could offer paid content at layar. the second one is much more interesting for architectural visualisation. layar gives you the chance to place textured 3d models with geo-coordinates. the restrictions to these 3d models are a maximum of 5000 polygons and a texture size of up to 512x512px. this doesn't allow high quality models to be placed but i think it would be worth to give it a try.
 |
| property of www.layar.com |
if you didn't do already you can search for these apps on your smartphone. both are available for android and iphone.
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