Augmented Reality

Focus Area:

Sensing, Communication, and Control

Overview:

Augmented Reality (AR) is technology for displaying computer graphics overlaid upon the real world. At CSM we have developed a handheld AR system that uses 3D fiducials (orange cones) for registration, along with a supplementary mems-based gyros that supply rotational velocity information. The fiducials are segmented using color and shape. A fast absolute orientation algorithm determines the camera position relative to the default triangular model of the cones. An Extended Kalman Filter is used to fuse the pose information obtained from fiducials with the gyro data to obtain a final pose estimate that is used to correctly place the virtual object in the scene. The system runs at frame rate (30Hz) on a PC with dual core processor and mid-range graphics card.

Project Staff:

Tyrone Vincent, Principal Investigator
Bill Hoff, Co-Principal Investigator
John Steinbis, Co-Principal Investigator
Bao Nguyen, Co-Principal Investigator

Description:

Augmented Reality (AR) is technology for displaying computer graphics overlaid upon the real world. Different mechanisms can be used to displaying the graphics. One option, called optical see through, is to use head mounted transparent displays, where the graphics are projected onto clear lenses using mirrors or other technology, allowing the user to view the world and graphics at the same time. However, accurately registering the graphics with the world requires eye tracking, which can be difficult. Another option is called video see through. In this case, a camera image is digitized, overlaid with graphics, and then displayed to the user. The user display could also be head mounted in this case, but hand held displays are another attractive option. For example, a PDA or tablet PC with integrated camera is a natural hand held AR platform, and a more likely candidate than head mounted displays for future proliferation of this technology.
At CSM we have developed a handheld AR system that uses 3D fiducials (orange cones) for registration, along with a supplementary mems-based gyros that supply rotational velocity information. The fiducials are segmented using color and shape. A fast absolute orientation algorithm determines the camera position relative to the default triangular model of the cones. An Extended Kalman Filter is used to fuse the pose information obtained from fiducials with the gyro data to obtain a final pose estimate that is used to correctly place the virtual object in the scene. The system runs at frame rate (30Hz) on a PC with dual core processor and mid-range graphics card.