The Future of Augmented Reality Gaming

Entertainment systems are one of the successful utilisations of augmented reality technologies to real world applications. This chapter provides my personal insights into the future directions of the use of augmented reality with gaming applications. This chapter explores a number of advances in technologies that may enhance augmented reality gaming. The features for both indoor and outdoor augmented reality are examined in context of their desired attributes for the gaming community. A set of concept games for outdoor augmented reality are presented to highlight novel features of this technology.

Social and Physical Interactive Paradigms for Mixed Reality Entertainment

In this chapter, we explore the applications of mixed reality technology for future social and physical entertainment systems. Throughout the case studies that will be presented here, we will show the very broad and significant impacts of mixed reality technology on variety aspects of human interactivity with regards to entertainment. On the technological aspect, the various systems we would be touching on incorporated different technologies ranging from the current mainstream ones such as GPS tracking, Bluetooth, RFID to pioneering researches of vision based tracking, augmented reality, tangible interaction techniques and 3D live mixed reality capture system. We will discuss each projects in detail in terms of their motivations and requirements of the particular application domain, their system description and design decisions, as well as their future impacts on the human social and physical entertainment field.

Creating Augmented Virtual Environments

An augmented reality fuses computer graphics onto images or direct views of a scene. In a new alternative augmentation approach a real scene is captured as video imagery from one or more cameras, and these images are used to augment a corresponding 3D scene model or virtual environment. This arrangement is termed an Augmented Virtual Environment (AVE) and it produces a powerful visualization of the dynamic activities observed by cameras. This chapter describes the AVE concept and the major technologies needed to realize such systems.

The Evolution of a Framework for Mixed Reality Experiences

This chapter describes the evolution of a software system specifically designed to support the creation and delivery of Mixed Reality (MR) experiences. We first describe some of the attributes required of such a system. We then present a series of MR experiences that we have developed over the last four years, with companion sections on lessons learned and lessons applied. We conclude with several sample scripts that one might write to create experiences within the current version of this system. The authors’ goals are to show the readers the unique challenges in developing an MR system for multimodal, multi-sensory experiences and to demonstrate how developing MR applications informs the evolution of such a framework.

Mobile Phone Based Augmented Reality

Mobile phones are evolving into the ideal platform for Augmented Reality (AR). In this chapter we describe how augmented reality applications can be developed for mobile phones and the interaction metaphors that are ideally suited for this platform. Several sample applications are described which explore different interaction techniques. User study results show that moving the phone to interact with virtual content is an intuitive way to select and position virtual objects. A collaborative AR game is also presented with an evaluation study. Users preferred playing with the collaborative AR interface than with a non-AR interface and also found physical phone motion to be a very natural input method. This results discussed in this chapter should assist researchers in developing their own mobile phone based AR applications.

Lessons Learned in Designing Ubiquitous Augmented Reality User Interfaces

Ubiquitous augmented reality (UAR) is an emerging human-computer interaction technology, arising from the convergence of augmented reality and ubiquitous computing. In UAR, visualizations can augment the real world with digital information. Interactions can follow a tangible metaphor. Both should adapt according to the user’s context and are distributed on a possibly changing set of devices. Current research problems for user interfaces in UAR are software infrastructures, authoring tools and a supporting design process. We present case studies of how we have used a systematic design space analysis to carefully narrow the amount of available design options. The next step in our approach is to use interactive, possibly immersive tools to support interdisciplinary brainstorming sessions. Several tools are presented. We conclude by summarizing the lessons we have learned while applying our method.

Real-Time 3D Design and Modelling of Outdoor Structures Using Mobile Augmented Reality Systems

This chapter presents a series of new augmented reality user interaction techniques to support the capture and creation of 3D geometry of large outdoor structures. Named construction at a distance, these techniques are based on the action at a distance concepts employed by other virtual environments researchers. These techniques address the problem of AR systems traditionally being consumers of information, rather than being used to create new content. By using information about the user’s physical presence along with hand and head gestures, AR systems can be used to capture and create the geometry of objects that are orders of magnitude larger than the user, with no prior information or assistance. While existing scanning techniques can only be used to capture existing physical objects, construction at a distance also allows the creation of new models that exist only in the mind of the user. Using a single AR interface, users can enter geometry and verify its accuracy in real-time. Construction at a distance is a collection of 3D modelling techniques based on the concept of AR working planes, landmark alignment, constructive solid geometry operations, and iterative refinement to form complex shapes. This chapter presents a number of different construction at a distance techniques, and are demonstrated with examples of real objects that have been modelled in the physical world.

An Introduction to Head Mounted Displays for Augmented Reality

This chapter introduces design and principles of head mounted displays (HMDs), as well as their state-of-the-art examples, for augmented reality (AR). Section 2 introduces a brief history of head mounted displays, human vision system, and application examples of see-through HMDs. Section 3 describes designs and principles of HMDs, such as typical configurations of optics, typical display elements, and major categories of HMDs. Section 4 gives typical characteristics of HMDs, such as resolution, field of view, and distortion. Section 5 describes human perceptual and health issues such as depth perception and safety. Finally, Section 6 gives conclusions with future challenges and prospects. For researchers, learners and HMD developers, this chapter is a good start point to learn basics, state of the art technologies, and future research directions of HMDs. For system developers and end-users, this chapter will give a good insight to HMDs to choose a suitable HMD for their purposes.

Vision Based 3D Tracking and Pose Estimation for Mixed Reality

Mixed Reality applications require accurate knowledge of the relative positions of the camera and the scene. When either of them moves, this means keeping track in real-time of all six degrees of freedom that define the camera position and orientation relative to the scene, or, equivalently, the 3D displacement of an object relative to the camera. Many technologies have been tried to achieve this goal. However, Computer Vision is the only one that has the potential to yield non-invasive, accurate and low-cost solutions to this problem, provided that one is willing to invest the effort required to develop sufficiently robust algorithms. In this chapter, we therefore discuss some of the most promising approaches, their strengths, and their weaknesses.

Projector-Based Augmentation

Projector-based augmentation approaches hold the potential of combining the advantages of well-establishes spatial virtual reality and spatial augmented reality. Immersive, semi-immersive and augmented visualizations can be realized in everyday environments – without the need for special projection screens and dedicated display configurations. Limitations of mobile devices, such as low resolution and small field of view, focus constrains, and ergonomic issues can be overcome in many cases by the utilization of projection technology. Thus, applications that do not require mobility can benefit from efficient spatial augmentations. Examples range from edutainment in museums (such as storytelling projections onto natural stone walls in historical buildings) to architectural visualizations (such as augmentations of complex illumination simulations or modified surface materials in real building structures). This chapter describes projector-camera methods and multi-projector techniques that aim at correcting geometric aberrations, compensating local and global radiometric effects, and improving focus properties of images projected onto everyday surfaces.