Augmented reality

About: Augmented reality is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 36039 publications have been published within this topic receiving 479617 citations. The topic is also known as: AR.

Photorealistic rendering for augmented reality using environment illumination

Abstract: Mixing 3D computer-generated images with real-scene images seamlessly in augmented reality has many desirable and wide areas of applications such as entertainment, cinematography, design visualization and medical trainings. The challenging task is to make virtual objects blend harmoniously into the real scene and appear as if they are like real. Apart from constructing detailed geometric 3D model representation and obtaining accurate surface properties for virtual objects, adopting real scene lighting information to render virtual objects is another important factor to achieve photorealistic rendering. Such a factor not only improves visual complexity of virtual objects, but also determines the consistency of illumination between the virtual objects and the surrounding real objects in the scene. Conventional rendering techniques such as ray tracing, and radiosity require intensive computation and data preparation to solve the lighting transport equation. Hence, they are less practical for rendering virtual objects in augmented reality, which demands a real-time performance. This work explores an image-based and hardware-based approach to improve photorealism for rendering synthetic objects in augmented reality. It uses a recent technique of image-based lighting, environment illumination maps, and a simple yet practical multi-pass rendering framework for augmented reality.

Augmented Reality (AR) for Assembly Processes Design and Experimental Evaluation

Abstract: Augmented reality (AR) for assembly processes is a new kind of computer support for a traditional industrial domain. This new application of AR technology is called ARsembly. The intention of this article is to describe a typical scenario for assembly and service personnel and how they might be supported by AR. For this purpose, tasks with different degrees of difficulty were selected from an authentic assembly process. In addition, 2 other kinds of assembly support media (a paper manual and a tutorial by an expert) were examined in order to compare them with ARsembly. The results showed that the assembly times varied according to the different support conditions. AR support proved to be more suitable for difficult tasks than the paper manual, whereas for easier tasks the use of a paper manual did not differ significantly from AR support. Tasks done under the guidance of an expert were completed most rapidly. Some of the information obtained in this investigation also indicated important considerations fo...

Location based applications for mobile augmented reality

Abstract: In this work we investigate building indoor location based applications for a mobile augmented reality system We believe that augmented reality is a natural interface to visualize spacial information such as position or direction of locations and objects for location based applications that process and present information based on the user's position in the real world To enable such applications we construct an indoor tracking system that covers a substantial part of a building It is based on visual tracking of fiducial markers enhanced with an inertial sensor for fast rotational updates To scale such a system to a whole building we introduce a space partitioning scheme to reuse fiducial markers throughout the environment Finally we demonstrate two location based applications built upon this facility, an indoor navigation aid and a library search application

Global pose estimation using multi-sensor fusion for outdoor Augmented Reality

Abstract: Outdoor Augmented Reality typically requires tracking in unprepared environments. For global registration, Global Positioning System (GPS) is currently the best sensing technology, but its precision and update rate are not sufficient for high quality tracking. We present a system that uses Kalman filtering for fusion of Differential GPS (DGPS) or Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) based GPS with barometric heights and also for an inertial measurement unit with gyroscopes, magnetometers and accelerometers to improve the transient oscillation. Typically, inertial sensors are subjected to drift and magnetometer measurements are distorted by electro-magnetic fields in the environment. For compensation, we additionally apply a visual orientation tracker which is drift-free through online mapping of the unknown environment. This tracker allows for correction of distortions of the 3-axis magnetic compass, which increases the robustness and accuracy of the pose estimates. We present results of applying this approach in an industrial application scenario.

RollingLight: Enabling Line-of-Sight Light-to-Camera Communications

Abstract: Recent literatures have demonstrated the feasibility and applicability of light-to-camera communications. They either use this new technology to realize specific applications, e.g., localization, by sending repetitive signal patterns, or consider non-line-of-sight scenarios. We however notice that line-of-sight light-to-camera communications has a great potential because it provides a natural way to enable visual association, i.e., visually associating the received information with the transmitter's identity. Such capability benefits broader applications, such as augmented reality, advertising, and driver assistance systems. Hence, this paper designs, implements, and evaluates RollingLight, a line-of-sight light-to-camera communication system that enables a light to talk to diverse off-the-shelf rolling shutter cameras. To boost the data rate and enhance reliability, RollingLight addresses the following practical challenges. First, its demodulation algorithm allows cameras with heterogeneous sampling rates to accurately decode high-order frequency modulation in real-time. Second, it incorporates a number of designs to resolve the issues caused by inherently unsynchronized light-to-camera channels. We have built a prototype of RollingLight with USRP-N200, and also implemented a real system with Arduino Mega 2560, both tested with a range of different camera receivers. We also implement a real iOS application to examine our real-time decoding capability. The experimental results show that, even to serve commodity cameras with a large variety of frame rates, RollingLight can still deliver a throughput of 11.32 bytes per second.