PROPOSAL FOR SUBMISSION

Research Topic:

Our research topic is about Augmented Reality. Augmented Reality is actually something not new and has already existed few years back then but most of us still do not know what augmented reality really is. Perhaps we have come across it once or twice but we never knew what it was and would treat it as something new and advance.

This technology, augmented reality is actually blurring the line between what is real and what is computer-generated by enhancing what we see, hear, feel and smell. We would want to know what is actually augmented reality and how is it applied into businesses. Take for example, some businesses allows customers to shop using this augmented reality technology as a different way to present their products. This technology is being adopted into the e-commerce, where it may eventually bring upon a revolution in the way on how people do their shopping.

We would want to know what is actually augmented reality and how is it applied into our life, such as the most popular iPhone itself has actually adapted to this technology, providing users of this technology through its applications. Some says that iPhone will be a key turning point in popularizing the technology. Take for example, in the Netherlands; users can use an application called “Layar” that uses the phone’s camera and GPS capabilities to gather information about the surrounding areas. This application will then show users the nearest locations on restaurants or other sites in the surroundings.

Video games can also be added graphics, sounds, and even smell to the natural as it exists. Cell phone and video games are now starting to turn their research and development to augmented reality. Everyone from tourist, to soldiers, and so on can now benefit from the ability to place computer-generated graphics in their field of vision. This technology is actually changing the way we view the world.

Rationale of topic choice:

Why is augmented reality an interesting topic to us? Most of us may have come across this technology but we never bother to know or even know what this technology is called. It is quite a disappointment when we know that this technology had already been around for quite some time already and before we knew this, we thought that it is actually some recent technology. Therefore, we are doing this topic in order to know more on this augmented reality technology and also its uses in different areas. We attempt to also research on the benefits and limitations of this augmented reality technology. Can this augmented reality pull up the standard of living of the human population? Or is it merely just a technology that goes no where? We are also interested in its application in e-commerce; on how it can help businesses to achieve better presentation of products to the customer, such as in shopping using this augmented reality technology.

In terms of not knowing augmented reality, is augmented reality not efficient? Or perhaps it is not suitable for users in dealing with our needs. We will attempt to research and to know what the benefits are and also limitations for this augmented reality technology. We will first of all introduce to how augmented reality is really functioned and also find how on how it can contribute to the society especially in e-commerce.

Once we get to know on this technology, we will have a better understanding of what augmented reality can really offers and perhaps it might be useful for us in the near future. Perhaps the next generation coming up will fully adapt to this technology and we, as the older generations by then are able to cope with this technology too.

Research paper’s objective:

• To understand how augmented reality is functioned, where this research introduces its appearance, how does it work and its approach to the users.
• To find out how can it contribute to the society in the business fields, especially in e-commerce, manufacturing line, education and also mobile. This overall discuss mainly on the cost and benefits that it can provide to the users as a whole.
• To analyse the issues involved, strategies and also the future direction of augmented reality (such as the effectiveness and benefits, limitations and also the current and future directions of the augmented reality).

Report Outline:

1.0              Introduction

1.1              Research objective

1.2              Definition of AR

1.3              Rationale of topic choice

2.0              Software of AR

3.0       Applications

            3.1       Business and Manufacturing line

            3.2       Education

            3.3       Mobile

            3.4       Current and Future

4.0       Issues

            4.1       Effectiveness and Benefits

            4.2       Limitations and Unexpected Dangers

5.0              Conclusion

6.0              Recommendations

7.0              References

Literature Review:

According to Roberts et.al (2002), Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology based on virtual reality where virtual data is placed over onto real life images, ensuing in a combination of the two background. AR fills the area between the real world and the virtual world. It takes the information character of the virtual world and makes them effortlessly reachable and relevant to the user. AR is not only a visually based coordination but another medium that is normally augmented onto reality is the element of sound (Roberts, 2000). AR can be thought of as the "middle ground" between virtual environments (completely synthetic) and telepresence (completely real) (Miligram et.al 1994).  In contrast, AR allows the user to see the real world, with virtual objects superimposed upon or composited with the real world. Therefore, AR supplements reality, rather than completely replacing it (Azuma 1997).

According to Peter Grad 2010, “Augmented reality — AR in techspeak — is becoming more of an everyday reality for millions of smart-phone users these days. AR is becoming a powerful weapon for consumers in search of good buys. The iPhone’s Red Laser application scans product bar codes and instantly displays a list of nearby stores and prices. And it does more: Scan a book bar code in a store, for example, and not only will you get competitor store prices, you will also be shown prices at online sites such as Amazon and half.com, that often offer books at steep discounts.” AR uses specially designed markers to regulate the camera and track the movement of the indicator for the augmentation of 3D product models. Only simple hardware is required for this system except a PC camera (Zhang, Navab & Liou 2002).

In recent years, Junaio is one of the examples of more user-centric world browsers allocating clients to tag and upload content as they come across it in the real world and to share and ascertain the information that other users have uploaded (Reynolds et.al 2010).  According to Paul Golding (2010), Junaio is the next-generation mobile augmented-reality browser for camera-equipped device.

According to Wagner & Schmalstieg (2007), during the past years, ARToolKit is the major low-cost optical tracking solution for many AR developers. It is fit for tracking solutions for many functions, as it works with one optical eye effective in the evident light range, therefore allows a handheld mechanism to work freely relying only on passive infrastructure, making it a first choice for a single tracking solution on mobile devices such as PDAs. ARToolKit employs computer vision method to estimate the real camera stance relative to a real world marker (Kato,Billinghurst &Poupyrev 2000). Besides ARToolKit, there are also many other AR platforms such as DART and Studierstube, which can also provide an easy to use tool allowing anyone who has or no AR background to rapidly develop AR applications from initial concept designs to final designs and developments.

According to Huang et.al (2010), AR has been used in multiple areas such as education, entertainment, advertisement, market shopping, etc. AR technique can be used in sales, advertisement of market where consumer can get plenty of product information and services. E-commerce based AR was developed to provide shopping assistance and personalized advertising. AR is particularly powerful for educational purposes when users are collocated and can use natural means of communication, but can also be mixed successfully with immersive VR or remote collaboration (Shelton 2002) According to Azuma (1997), assembly, maintenance, and repair of complex machinery are areas of AR application development. Instructions might be easier to understand if they were accessible, not as guidebook with text and pictures, but rather as 3-D drawings overlaying upon the actual equipment, showing gradually the tasks that required to be completed and how to enforce them. These overlay 3-D drawings can be dynamic, making the instructions even more precise.

As said by Lawrence Swaider, “Augmented reality will become easier and easier and become seamless parts of our lives”. Mobile phones would be the most convenient hardware for AR to work and would be the future trend of focus for AR yet more research has to be conducted for metaphors and techniques (Haller, Billinghurst & Thomas 2007)

Major References:

·         Ronald T. Azuma, Hughes Research Laboratories, “A survey of Augmented Reality”, viewed 28 October 2010.

This is a survey on the current state-of-the-art in Augmented Reality. It describes work performed at many different sites and explains the issues and problems encountered when building Augmented Reality systems. Sites referred to are such as in medical, manufacturing, visualization, path planning, entertainment and also military applications. It summarizes the tradeoffs and approaches taken so far to overcome these problems and speculates on future directions that deserve exploration. This article had aid us on discussing the application of AR in Business and manufacturing line. It provides us some guidelines and also how the AR helps in the manufacturing line. Besides that, it also allows us to know more or less on the limitations of the AR which give us roughly an idea that greatly assisted in our research.

·         R. Silva, J. C. Oliveira, G. A. Giraldi, National Laboratoty for Scientific Computation, “Introduction to Augmented Reality”, viewed 28 October 2010.

This reports an overview of basic aspects of Augmented Reality (AR) and the main concepts of this technology. It describes the main fields in which AR is applied nowadays and important AR devices. Some characteristics of Augmented Reality systems were discussed and this paper will provide an overview of them. Besides that, the future directions of AR were also discussed. We have learnt from this article some of the future applications and challenges that we take into account for our discussion when analyzing the current and also future directions of augmented reality.

·         S. K. Ong, M. L. Yuan, A. Y. C. Nee, Published by Taylor & Francis, “Augmented reality applications in manufacturing: a survey”, Mechanical Engineering Department, National University of Singapore, viewed 28 October 2010.

This paper provides a comprehensive survey of developed and demonstrated AR applications in manufacturing activities. The intention of this survey is to provide researchers, students, and engineers, who use or plan to use AR as a tool in manufacturing research, a useful insight on the state-of-the-art AR applications and developments. Therefore, it had actually provided us a lot of information for our discussion on augmented reality, especially on our discussion on manufacturing line and also businesses.

·         David Drascic and Paul Milgram, “Perceptual Issues in Augmented Reality”, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, viewed 28 October 2010.

The article identifies and discusses eighteen issues that pertain to Mixed Reality in general and Augmented Reality in particular. The paper also creates awareness on the problems that may be of the system and design systems around the weaknesses that these perceptual issues can create. This enables us to gain more understanding on the limitations on AR and also the solution to the problems of AR. It helped a lot in our discussion for the limitations and unexpected dangers of AR.

·         Wayne Pierkarski and Bruce H. Thomas, “Using ARToolKit for 3D Hand Position Tracking in Mobile Outdoor Environments”, University of South Australia, viewed 28 October 2010

This paper describes how we have used the ARToolKit to perform three degrees of freedom tracking of the hands, in world coordinates, which is used to interact with a mobile outdoor augmented reality computer. It aids us in discussing the problem of making ARToolKit to generate world coordinates, and the solutions we developed to meet the requirements for our tracking system. It also helps us to understand on how the ARToolKit has allowed integrating hand tracking into their outdoor modeling applications.

Other References:

Alan B.Craig, William R. Sherman, Jeffrey D. Will, Developing Virtual Reality Applications: Foundations of effective design, last viewed 28 October 2010, http://books.google.com.my/books?id=2P91gPYr5KkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=developing+virtual+reality+applications&hl=en&ei=yWKxTLawHY7-vQPt1q2mBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

ARToolKit, ARToolKit Home Page, last viewed 28 October 2010, http://www.hitl.washington.edu/artoolkit/

Christine Bardwell, Augmented reality boosts retail sales, but where is the ROI?, June 2010, last viewed 28 October 2010, http://mis-asia.com/opinion__and__blogs/bloggers/augmented-reality-boosts-retail-sales,-but-where-is-the-roi

Demystifyingusability, What’s next in mobile user experience? Augmented Reality, September 2009, last viewed 28 October 2010, http://www.demystifyingusability.com/2009/09/augmented-reality-user-experience.html

Dylan Schmorrow, Leah M.Reeves, Foundations of augmented cognition: third international conference, FAC 2007, last viewed 28 October 2010, http://books.google.com.my/books?id=P00EWiefUWQC&pg=PA440&dq=limitations+of+augmented+reality&hl=en&ei=cmaxTJfLF5TEvQOh1Pz4Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=limitations%20of%20augmented%20reality&f=false

EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative, 7 things you should know about Augmented Reality, September 2005, last viewed 28 October 2010, http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7007.pdf

Julie A. Jacko, Human-computer Interaction: Interaction platforms and techniques, last viewed 28 October 2010, http://books.google.com.my/books?id=N8deh8UXcGEC&pg=PA932&dq=human+computer+interaction:+interation+platform+and+technique&hl=en&ei=UWKxTIqOHomgvgPck5CABw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Junaio, Make the World Yours!, Metaio Inc. 2010, last viewed 28 October 2010, http://www.junaio.com/

Mark Billinghurst, Augmented Reality in Education, December 2002, last viewed 28 October 2010, http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/technology/billinghurst.htm

Metaio Augmented Solutions, Create Mobile Augmented Reality Experiences, last viewed 28 October 2010, http://www.metaio.com/products/mobile/

MIT Press, Augmented Learning – Ebooks at the MIT Press, last viewed 28 October 2010, http://mitpress-ebooks.mit.edu/product/augmented-learning

UTC by arn, Impressive Augmented Realitu Game Possibilities on the iPhone, GDC 2009, last viewed 28 October 2010, http://toucharcade.com/2009/03/26/impressive-augmented-reality-game-possibilities-on-the-iphone/

WSJ.com 2009, Esquire Experiments with a Digital Reality, last viewed 28 October 2010, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704222704574501122991439500.html?mod=article-outset-box

Yuka Yoneda, Solar Powered Augmented Contact Lenses Cover Your Eye With 100s of LEDs, 3/17/10, last viewed 28 October 2010, http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/03/17/solar-powered-augmented-contact-lenses-cover-your-eye-with-100s-of-leds/

Blog Discussion: Current & Future of Augmented Reality Applications

Current applications
Traditional e-commerce systems have reached a limitation that needs to be overcome, because they do not provide enough direct information for online shoppers, especially when they are shopping for products like furniture, clothing, shoes, jewellery and other decorative e-products. Therefore, I believe that AR would be the latest break through for a new era of e-commerce.

E-shopping

Online shopping has been in the trend for quite some time. But, problems such as items seen on the screen were not as expected. Therefore, with the use of AR, these problems can be solved. This technology has been used by some companies and is gaining quite a bit of positive response. Imagine you are shopping for clothes, what colors would suit you more? Try on the clothes while E-shopping was impossible in the past. But now, with AR applications, anyone can tryout the clothes without the real thing with you. The size and color would be the same. The only thing you can’t feel would be the texture of the cloth itself.

Advertising
In commerce, advertising is a point of decision of the success of a business. A successful advertising is more powerful than words, it’s a presentation of you product to the world. Therefore, a company can build up their strong brand name by promoting their products or introduce their products to the public that can create awareness to the public for their products. For example, The Wellington Zoo is a successful example of AR advertising. The advertising campaign led to a 32% increase in visitors to thee “Close Encounter” exhibit. The advertising has earned numerous awards and honors as well.

Future applications

The world is moving towards a new revolution. In no time, the age of computers would be over and comes a new era, the dawn of holograms, Augmented Reality. Computer screens would no longer be needed as the screen is brought into real life environment. Windows and icons would appear as virtual devices in real spaces by eye or gesture operated. The naked eye with an addition of camera device would show the person the world with a whole new prospective, the prospective of an augmented reality world.

The traditional screens would no longer be needed, along with the platforms of the computer. Only small pieces of devices which are compatible to be carried around in devices such as mobile phones would be needed. Such devices may one day be replaced by AR contact lenses as well to be fashion wise, yet compatibility and convenience. The view would no longer be what they were, but so much more add-ons with it. A historical monument would be tagged with the history of it in a dialogue box. All data would be without boundaries. The appearance of anyplace could be changed or replaced with a whole new panoramic view. Imagine, your bedroom usual wallpaper would no longer be dull, but with scenery of hilltops or in desert or just anywhere you please. With AR application, much more things such as virtual window dressing, posters, traffic sign, and advertisement towers can be improved.

All this will one day lead to virtual thingamajig. Any physical device currently produced to assist in data-oriented tasks such as the clock, radio, PC, PDA, PMP, informational posters, billboards, in-car navigation systems and so on could be replaced by virtual devices that cost nothing bits of devices such as a spectacle-like eyewear. The simplest example would be a virtual wall clock or a to-do list for the day beside your bed for you to look at first thing in the morning.


References:

http://books.google.com.my/books?id=N8deh8UXcGEC&pg=PA932&dq=human+computer+interaction:+interation+platform+and+technique&hl=en&ei=UWKxTIqOHomgvgPck5CABw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
http://books.google.com.my/books?id=2P91gPYr5KkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=developing+virtual+reality+applications&hl=en&ei=yWKxTLawHY7-vQPt1q2mBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://spectrum.ieee.org/
http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/03/17/solar-powered-augmented-contact-lenses-cover-your-eye-with-100s-of-leds/

Blog Discussion: Limitations & Unexpected Dangers of Augmented Reality

After years of research, AR has been developing in an amazing pace. In short years, it would surely dwell into our everyday life and become a part of it. Yet now, despite the innovative and promising character of AR applications there are still lots of barriers to overcome in order to ensure consistency and efficacy of the AR approach. Optical, technical and human-factor limitations are still at large to be resolved.

One of the limitations would be of the computer generated virtual objects must be accurately registered with the real world in all dimensions. Meaning, the objects in the real and virtual worlds must be properly aligned with respect to each other, or the illusion that the two worlds coexist will be compromised. Without accurate registration, AR will not be accepted in many applications, as the errors in this registration will prevent the users from seeing the real and virtual images as merged.

Registration errors are hard to adequately control because of the high accuracy requirements and the numerous sources of error, which are static error and dynamic error. Static errors are the ones that cause registration errors even when the user’s viewpoint and the objects in the environment remain completely still. On the other hand, either dynamic errors are the ones that have no effect until the viewpoint or the objects begin moving. Up to now, dynamic errors are by far the major contributors to registration errors, but static errors cannot be ignored either. According to Azuma, when the user is operating an AR system in a static, or fixed, context the errors are usually derived from distortion in the head mount display (HMD) optics, mechanical misalignments in the HMD, errors in the headtracking system.

Yet, the AR functions are believed to be too complex for commercial applications purposes. This is due to the low image quality and hardware limitations current camera adapted devices such as PDA, mobile phones or webcams. Technical limitations relating with movement tracking and display is still currently lacking accuracy. But, this is still solvable with powerful equipments. For instance, the camera on our mobile phones would be one of the ways to apply some basic applications. As such, it is firmly believed that due to the complexities in AR, even though engineers are able to have the potential ability to create a reliable system, as because of the hardware inconsistencies, error in human calculations, software failures, and response time delays, we will not ever have a perfect AR system.

All of this would be fixed, but with a lump sum of investment into it. Even after perfection, companies would still consider whether or not to invest into it as it would be costly at first to invest into all the machinery supplies. LEGO for example would have to purchase screens for the retail shops as well as the cameras to capture the movements of the customer and product on it. The costs of the software itself and the extra costs of the packaging itself is still yet to be counted in. Therefore, is there really any need for this new technology to be added on to products would still be a puzzle?

Over with the limitations, and now into the unexpected dangers of AR. First of all would be the privacy issues. AR, without doubt would arise privacy issues as it could invade the privacy of organizations into it. This would mean both internal as well as external users. Both would happen to have access to information of the business. For example, if used on persons in a dating company, all personal data would be revealed on the person to others, this means also to complete strangers causing unwarranted breaches of privacy. With the AR technology invented, it would not be just Twitter that lets users to “geotag” their online data, but everything will. With the rise of AR applications merged with “geotagging”, and “interesting” phenomenon will happen: there are going to be moments when you either reveal who you are, or where you are at exactly the most inopportune instant (Kit Eaton 2009). So, in the coming future, how are you going to protect your “geotagging” along with your other online data?

Social acceptance is also being seen as a dispute in this field. Given a system with ultimate hardware and an instinctive edge which is yet to be achieved, how can AR become an accepted part of a user’s everyday life, just like a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA)? Through the media, many people are familiar with images of simulated AR. However, enforcing this technology in our everyday life means arising number of issues. These range from public acceptance to privacy concerns. What if a person sees another and with the use of AR applications, withdraws the clothes from the images transmitted into the image capturing device and recorded it. Would it not be a crime to do so? Who would it be to judge. To date, little attention has been placed on these fundamental issues. However, these must be addressed before AR becomes widely accepted.

With this sort of AR technology, eventually the society would be totally different. There would be no more need of sales assistant in this society. Let’s think of it, schools would be without teachers, travel agency industry would no longer be needed and you should know about the shops, it’s without sales assistants. All of these would be replaced with holographic images of them. There would be no need of manpower anymore in these industries. . For this particular reason, one must think how it will be utilized for the sake of humankind, and how it will be able to get man involved into the total workforce as well. Otherwise all this technology brings not convenience to the human race, but a total nightmare.

References:

http://books.google.com.my/books?id=P00EWiefUWQC&pg=PA440&dq=limitations+of+augmented+reality&hl=en&ei=cmaxTJfLF5TEvQOh1Pz4Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=limitations%20of%20augmented%20reality&f=false

Blog Discussion: Effectiveness & Benefits of Augmented Reality

In augmented reality, virtual objects are combined with the real surroundings seen with the human eye with an addition of tidbit electronics. This advanced technology is firmly believed to have major potential and provide strong benefits as it can be used to retrieve real time data based on what is being captured with an input device, such as a camera and display the information layer over a screen. Therefore, the use of AR and wearable computer technology for the visualization of information or process and the direct manipulation of data associated with manufacturing processes has incredible potential for the manufacturing domain, predominantly assembly tasks. This is said because AR has the ability to visualize and project 3D data or textual information in the environment, which provides the user an intuitive means to interact with information, explore structures, parts, or data, in a way that has not been formerly available (Barfield, Baird, Shewchuk, and Ioannou, In Press).

In fact, AR technology has the ability to change dramatically the way we interact not only with computers but also with the real environment surrounding us, as well as with other human beings. AR can actually be used widely, in fields of business, entertainment, education, engineering, sales etc. As said by Anastassova in 2007, AR is thought to present certain advantages over more traditional ways of accessing information.

AR has recently been used effectively for real-time augmentation of broadcast video, primarily to enhance sporting events and to insert or replace advertisements in a scene. For instance, the PointTracker system highlights the location of hard-to-see balls as it moves rapidly across the field in the US Open 2006. This would be a chance for the sports television companies to enhance their companies systems to a whole new level. This would absolutely be the latest enjoyment for sports fans in front of the TV thus creating an opportunity for those who are willing to invest AR technology in the Television business.

As said by Roussos M et. al in 1999, one of the most important purposes of an educational environment is to promote social interaction among users located in the same physical space. The technology provides a simple way of progressing to the teaching, learning and training in education. AR is able to support seamless interaction between real and virtual environments, therefore able to transit smoothly between reality and virtuality. For instance, in the Shared Space interface users could manipulate 3D virtual objects simply by moving real cards that the virtual models appeared attached to (Poupyrev 2000). The 3D “pop-up” book would be a blast for children at their learning. Characters could move about on the top of the book pages while children are reading them creating a new atmosphere of studies.

From business viewpoint, AR can surely provide a more superior experience for shoppers, especially e-shoppers. For example, AR can provide an extremely meaningful insight when they go shopping. When they walk through the gallery for clothing, they can know their designer, place of manufacture, material and their season. All these would pop-up if they go shopping with their iPhones. Furthermore, even with online shopping, you can try up the clothes you pick before you pay for them. All of this is just with an addition of webcam and AR software. By using this sort of technology, a business can easily create its business and consumers awareness, achieve success in its branding and positioning as well as offering the company high competitive advantages; and hence, enhance its business profitability. The use of the mobile phones with AR applications is therefore able to improve the business in terms of enhancing the customer’s experiences as well as reducing costs as they do not need to hire salespersons that have to know-it-all, but just one who knows how to serve. For instance, Lego has recently used the technology in retail locations to display 3D models and customers are highly encouraged to hold the boxes in front of a “ Lego digital box” where a camera paired with custom software, by recognizing the packaging, would display a virtual rendering of the fully assembled model on a nearby monitor. Just like the following videos:







References:

Tang, A, Owen, C, Biocca, F, Mou, W 2003 “Comparative effectiveness of augmented reality in object assembly”, New Techniques for presenting Instruction and Transcripts, Vol. 5, no.1 pp. 74-75

Demystifyingusability, What's next in mobile user experience? Augmented Realit, viewed 8th October 2010, http://www.demystifyingusability.com/2009/09/augmented-reality-user-experience.html

Blog Discussion: AR application in Mobile

As a start, with advances in tracking and increased computing power, researchers are now going for mobile augmented reality systems, specially the iPhone which we are all familiar of. As the iPhone had engaged in adopting augmented reality – a combination of real-world and computer generated data, where computer graphics objects are blended into real footage in real time (GDC 2009). This may actually help consumers to have a whole load of entertainment no matter where they are at. Take for example, the Augmented Reality Virtual Pet Application where the iPhone can actually overlays an animated image of a dog on the real time video input from the iPhone’s Camera.

Besides that, from our research we also found that augmented reality when work together with iPhone, it actually brings a lot more, which is also convenience. AR is one of the most exciting technologies around. It can bring convenience to users let say for example the “Panoramascope”, which is also an augmented reality application that can give information about the user’s surroundings, which is great for those who are into outdoors, camping and beyond.

As for those who always have difficulties trying to remember where they parked their car, they can use the “augmented car finder” to show where their car is located. It is pretty much useful for those who are forgetful and always have difficulty in searching their car especially in a huge parking area. There is also another application called the “wikitude” that allows users to explore their surroundings effectively on their phone. This is actually very useful for traveller as they can provide information to users as users walk on the street. They can give users information on what is the building next to you, which area are they at and also how long does it takes for them to reach a particular destination. The use of “wikitude” can be illustrated in the video below:

However, there is one theory that we would like to open for discussion to all of you is regarding the entertainment with augmented reality. This is because from our research, MacIntyre had actually claimed reports that his research has found that those playing these Augmented Reality games with others were more social and interactive as compared to those playing more traditional games against each other. What do you people think? Can the change in technology bring impact to the society?

References:

Impressive Augmented Reality Game Possibilities on the iPhone, Touch Arcade 2009, last viewed 9 October 2010, http://toucharcade.com/2009/03/26/impressive-augmented-reality-game-possibilities-on-the-iphone/

30 Best Augmented Reality iPhone Applications, iPhoneNess 2010, Last viewed 2010, http://www.iphoneness.com/iphone-apps/best-augmented-reality-iphone-applications/

Blog Discussion: AR applied in Education

How can Augmented Reality be applied in Education? Simply look at the video below!

From the video, we can actually see that augmented reality has the potential to move learning out of the classrooms and into something that the students can actually feel its presence by its 3D appearance. We believe this can actually help young children to create their passion for learning. Instead of the boring and dull method of learning from words and only looking at pictures, we can stir up young children’s interest by allowing them the chance to get close to the subject matter. This is particularly an effective way in engaging students, extending learning to spaces that might help them form connections with content, the locations that provide the context for it and also the peers that they share with (EDUCAUSE 2005).

This can be illustrated in at example called the “MagicBook”. Young children, they often fantasize about being inside the fairy tale and becoming part of the story, allowing them to have full experience of the fairy tale itself. The “MagicBook” can actually make this fantasy turn into a reality by using a normal book as the main interface object. Of course young children can still turn the pages of the book, look at the pictures, and read the text without the AR technology being used, but however, if they look at the pages through a handheld AR display, they can actually experience a 3D virtual scene appearing out from the pages of the book. By turning the page of the book, the virtual models will change and hence, they will experience a new chapter of the book. Thus, how can learning and reading be not fun for young children?

Another video that we would like to share with you is as below:

However, another point of our discussion is that how does augmented reality in education bring its cost to the society? With the expensive development of AR and now also the increase of price and demand for education, we believe that to purchase such materials, i.e. AR textbooks, story books, encyclopedia references that have such technology would be costly for consumers. Take for example; an augmented learning book produced by Eric Klopfer with 251 pages will cost $26.95. However, they do also provide 1 month access and also 1 week access which differ in price also. Users can access to these books online but the cost we would think is relatively a lot higher compared to other learning materials. Thus, because of the costs itself, it would cause a success in developing AR in education left unknown for the future.

As a conclusion, augmented reality technology can have its potential in education as it offer sound interaction between the real and virtual world, which act as a means for transitioning between real and virtual worlds. This allows learning to be much more interesting and attractive if compared to traditional learning. Although by relying too much on technology may see its disadvantage, but in this case, we believe that a new way of learning can produce a much more effective and desirable result.

Perhaps one day, Swinburne would adapt to AR learning and we can all stay at home, take our own sweet time and look at what is supposed to be taught today at our own time. Forget all those lectures and tutorials because what we have now is a whole new revolution of learning. Wouldn’t it be great? *Wink*

References:

7 things you should know about Augmented Reality, EDUCAUSE, September 2005, last viewed 8 October 2010, http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7007.pdf

Augmented Reality in Education, Mark Billinghurst, December 2002, last viewed 8 October 2010, http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/technology/billinghurst.htm

Augmented Learning – EBOOKS AT THE MIT PRESS, last viewed 8 October 2010, http://mitpress-ebooks.mit.edu/product/augmented-learning

Blog Discussion: Application of AR in Business & Manufacturing line

What do you think of the application of Augmented Reality in Business and Manufacturing line? Will it be a success to firms and also to the society? Or simply the other way round?

What deal can augmented reality give to the businesses? It is the deal that locations, devices, even the human body are to be “augmented” by linking and overlaying additional information on top of “regular” reality (John Sviokla 2009).

First of all, in business field, it is very important for company to build up their strong brand name by promoting their products that can create awareness to the public. One of the ways that the company can achieve this is by advertising. It may be a great advantage in applying AR to businesses that requires massive advertising. Take for example, Hearst Corp.’s magazine which took advantage of augmented reality which mixes real-life images with graphics and other effects. With AR, Hearst Corp. can now market their magazine via an interactive, web-based AR application. If business nowadays uses the application of AR to their product, consumers may be able to experience and enjoy a higher standard of living and perhaps a beginning of a revolution. For example, if consumers glanced through an interesting article in a magazine and there is an advertisement with visual code on it, they may actually scan it with their phone, e.g. blackberry or iPhone and order it immediately. This may change the way that the society deal with buying and purchasing things. Hence it may bring a better standard of living for the society. What do you think? Do you think that it is a technology that can lead to a better standard of living or it is simply just an invention that will lead to nowhere?

Despites the benefits that AR can bring to businesses, we should also look at the cost that it may bring to business. The price, the cost that firms or maybe the society have to pay? We have to take all these consideration into account in evaluating AR. Augmented reality projects rely on specific or customized hardware, and thus the mechanism is actually often very complex and sophisticated. Therefore, the augmented reality projects are actually quite expensive to be developed and not to say, maintain. It may help to boost sales, but as for the return on investment point of view, it may actually take a longer period because the cost of developing and also maintaining is too high and are actually difficult to cover. Take for example the luxuries brand – Tissot. Tissot had actually increases their in-store sales by up to 85% with Holition augmented reality. This can be seen in a survey where an average of 190 shoppers per day tried on watches and directly interacted with Tissot using AR. However, a problem arises with this technology is from the high costs associated with AR campaigns actually limit sales ROI potential. Therefore it is actually worthwhile for firms to think whether it is proper for them to invest in this technology. What do you think?

In applying AR to manufacturing line, it may actually help some firms to increase productivity. Take for example, BMW in developing a concept for AR glasses that can assist their own mechanics in performing maintenance on the company’s high-performance cars. This can be illustrated in the video below:

Despite the potential that AR can make human’s life easier and better, but however, we should also consider some irregularities that sometimes technology is unable to solve. Technology, in our opinion, is only some sort of basic human knowledge. For example in this case, AR applications can only aids with a step-by-step audio and visual instruction. Therefore, what is something goes wrong in between? Such as a component went missing? Such irregularities would still need the work of human to solve.

Nonetheless, application of AR can indeed help increase the lifestyle of the society despite the cost. Try to imagine, an augmented reality glasses that could turn your surroundings into a zombie infected map and you can run around and play as a first person shooter. Wouldn’t that be cool? Perhaps one day the society will use this application as a way to exercise. Who knows?

References:

How will “Augmented Reality” Affect Your Business?, John Sviokla 2009, Harvard Business Review, last viewed 5 October 2010, http://blogs.hbr.org/sviokla/2009/10/how_will_augmented_reality_aff.html

Esquire Experiments with a Digital Reality, WSJ.com 2009, last viewed 5 October 2010, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704222704574501122991439500.html?mod=article-outset-box

7 things you should know about Augmented Reality, EDUCAUSE September 2005, last viewed 5 October 2010, http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7007.pdf

Augmented reality boosts retail sales, but where is the ROI?, Christine Bardwell,  June 2010, Last viewed 5 October 2010, http://mis-asia.com/opinion__and__blogs/bloggers/augmented-reality-boosts-retail-sales,-but-where-is-the-roi

Blog Discussion: Software of Augmented Reality

Just like everything else, Augmented Reality needs suitable software for it to work properly. Therefore, we would like to introduce to you 3 out of many softwares available. These softwares are ARToolKit, junaio and UNIFEYE Mobile 2.1.

ARToolKit
ARToolKit is a software library for building Augmented Reality (AR) applications. It was originally developed by Dr. Hirokazu Kato and is supported by University of Washington, University of Canterbury and ARToolworks, Inc. ARToolKit is now being used by over 300 researchers worldwide for a very diverse set of projects. Such project consists of The BlackMagic Kiosk, The MagicBook, ARCO as well as several others.

AR applications are in fact fantastic, yet such high-end technology is yet to be perfected. Flaws such as the problem of tracking users would be one main problem as the application needs to know where the user is looking in the real world, creating lags or imperfection of the 3D Visual projectile. This is when ARToolKit comes in. ARToolKit uses computer vision algorithms to solve this problem.The software calculates the position of the camera and the user to have the 3D projectile come in without problems. ARToolKit has also developed their software to be suitable for Microsoft Windows and it has recently been ported to the Android operating systems and iPhone to support mobile AR applications.

Several features of ARToolKit include:
• Single camera position/orientation tracking.
• Tracking code that uses simple black squares.
• The ability to use any square marker patterns.
• Easy camera calibration code.
• Fast enough for real time AR applications.
• SGI IRIX, Linux, MacOS and Windows OS distributions.
• Distributed with complete source code.

junaio
Many must be wondering what junaio is. It is actually an augmented reality browser, specifically designed for the next generation mobile camera equipped devices. It provides users with interactive web based information and services wherever they are.
With this software, any information would be just a shot away. For example, pointing your camera at a monument you would be able to click-and-view its history, or the cheapest nearby hotel, or the menu the restaurant next door. Besides those, Inserting graphics and 3D objects to your location or posting recommendations makes junaio a social experience.

junaio’s latest products would be junaio GLUE. GLUE is designed for the purpose of use of iPhone and Android phones. It not only may the user obtain information on nearby Points Of Interests (POI) such as shops, restaurants or train stations, but the camera's eye is now able to identify objects and "glue" object specific real-time, dynamic, social and 3D information onto the object itself.

Have a look on the clips below: 











UNIFEYE Mobile 2.1.
UNIFEYE Mobile 2.1 is software produced by metaio, which is also the same producer of junaio. The Unifeye Mobile platform is considered one of the best solutions to create augmented reality applications Featuring a high-level Application Programming Interface (API) and latest image recognition technologies it allows developers to produce high-quality applications with low efforts.

Its main supported platforms are iPhone, Android, Symbian OS and WinMobile. It features the latest image recognition (tracking) technologies, including a marker-based and robust 2D-texture tracking for arbitrary images. It is also an optimized component for mobile hardware. The libraries and algorithms written are taken into account of hardware limitations resulting it, Unifeye Mobile SDK as the fast and compact modular system.


Reference list:
http://www.junaio.com/
http://www.metaio.com/products/mobile/
http://www.hitl.washington.edu/artoolkit/

Blog discussion: What is Augmented Reality? -extension-

Augmented reality is a new emerging technology that involves the overlay of computer graphics on the real world where computer graphics objects are merged into real footage in reality (EDUCAUSE 2005). Unlike virtual reality, it does not create a simulation of reality. Instead, it takes a real object or space as the foundation and incorporates technologies that add related data to deepen a person’s understanding of the subject. In other words, this means that Augmented reality creates a simulation based on real-time objects and space instead of creating a virtual world which would be totally different.

The technology development for augmented reality systems has been maturing after years of hard work by technology related companies such as Total Immersion as well as universities. Companies such as Nissan and LEGO have already been testing it on the market. For example, LEGO has imprinted an AR barcode on the casing of the toy. Thus, consumers can have a sneak peek of what the blocks would look like after it has been set up. The simulation shown would have a 360 degrees view of it top to bottom and inside out. Besides using the Head-Mounted Display which is of course presents the best visuals, common optics such as webcams or even cell phone cameras could now present the visual effects of AR. The latest products with such capabilities would be iPhone and the android phones such as HTC Aria.

After viewing the videos shown, what do you think about AR? It is impressive or what? Is it persuasive enough to make you wanting to buy the products above or would you like the usual dull leaflet instead? This technology would be incredibly attractive for younger consumers as they would be more easily attracted by this new technology.

Therefore, uses of this in education are inevitably important. Think of it this way, if there would be not just normal text books, but books with 3D graphics or video visual popping out from the text book. Wouldn’t you wish you could have a book like that in your schooling years? Now, it is all possible.

Reference list:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/mar/21/augmented-reality-iphone-advertising

http://www.t-immersion.com/

http://io9.com/5305769/more-augmented-reality-software-that-will-change-the-future

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7007.pdf

http://www.tech-faq.com/augmented-reality.html

http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/914752/Behind-scenes-BMWs-augmented-reality-campaign/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH

Research Objectives

Halo everyone,  

In previous posts, we start by just a brief introduction about our working title, by what augmented reality is. Now, I would like to go further to be more specific about it.

In this topic, we will focus on:

(i)                  What exactly Augmented reality is, and how it is made for example like what kind of software?

(ii)                Augmented reality applications in different field, for example like in business (e-commerce), manufacturing line, education and entertainment.

(iii)               Issue of Augmented reality such like the effectiveness and challenges of it.

Hence, our research objective is:

• To understand how augmented reality is functioned.
• To find out how can it contribute to the society especially in business fields.
• To analyse the issues, strategies and future direction of augmented reality.

We hope that through out the process of discovering the topics on augmented reality, we can gain more understanding and knowledge by discussing and also your important feedbacks. Do feel free stop by and give us your thoughts and comments.

What is Augmented Reality?

In this first post, I would first like to introduce Augmented Reality. This is a new technology only used in recent years. It involves the overlay of computer graphics on the real world. For example, the user sees real environment and combines virtual with real, thus creating a virtually simulated environment inside a real space.

This technology has brought convenience to us in many ways. For examples of studies and professional training, such as military training, engineering design, robotics and Telerobotics.

Either these worlds are very basic such as the environments created for entertainment and gaming, or the system that can create a more realistic environment has a million dollar investments such as flight simulators used for pilot training or even surgical training for doctors, which certain mistakes may cause fatal results.

From my point of view, this creation would be a breakthrough of technology and its contributions would be uncountable. Therefore, stay tuned for more information on this topic.

Here are example of video about augmented reality in real life. Enjoy! ^^

In e-commerce,

A late greeting from us!

HELLO EVERYONE~!

I am Hui Tze, and my group member is Kelvin. We both are doing bachelor of business in accounting.

OK~! I KNOW THAT WE START THIS REALLY REALLY LATE,   >.<!!  We are so sorry about that, seriously. We’re trying to work it out anyway.  Although it may be not a good start (which delay for such a long time), BUT PLEASE, DO COME BACK TO US~~!

We hope that we can learn more about E-commerce with each other through out the semester ya!

The topic we have chosen is Augmented Reality. Have all of you heard of this before?

Some of you might have, some might not. As for us, we never heard of it! HA HA!

We are interested in this topic as this is a fresh technology that has been developing for many years yet not much known by the general public until recent years.

We hope that our posts on this blog can help all readers to understand more on Augmented Reality, their history and their fascinating contributions to our world. We would be focusing mainly on their uses and commercial contributions which are being used recently. This is because we ought to be catching up with the advancing technology. We do not want to be dropped-out do we?

We look forward to learning more about this topic as we go along.

p/s:  the end of the holidays    : (