Interactive Tools for the Visualization of Tangible and Intangible Silk Heritage Emerging from an Interdisciplinary Work

Silk is a unique example of heritage where memory, identity, creativity and knowledge can be found in just one piece. It is a multifaceted, living heritage, as it consists of more than the fabrics themselves, but also the techniques associated with them, historical buildings, trades, festivities, etc. Therefore, designers, weavers, painters, sellers and users are involved in it. However, it is also a fragile heritage, alive in the few industries that still weave with historical looms. Additionally, the COVID19 pandemic has put the entire artisanal and small industrial sector of European silk in risk of disappearing. In this, paper we show some results of the SILKNOW project, whose main obje…

Augmented Mirror: Interactive Augmented Reality System Based on Kinect

Part 1: Long and Short Papers; International audience; In this paper we present a virtual character controlled by an actor in real time, who talks with an audience through an augmented mirror. The application, which integrates video images, the avatar and other virtual objects within an Augmented Reality system, has been implemented using a mixture of technologies: two kinect systems for motion capture, depth map and real images, a gyroscope to detect head movements, and control algorithms to manage avatar emotions.

An Augmented Reality (AR) CAD System at Construction Sites

Augmented Reality (AR) technologies allow computer-generated content to be superimposed over a live camera view of the real world. Although AR is still a very promising technology, currently only a few commercial applications for industrial purposes exploit the potential of adding contextual content to real scenarios. Most of AR applications are oriented to fields such as education or entertainment, where the requirements in terms of repeatability, fault tolerance, reliability and safety are low. Different visualization devices, tracking methods and interaction techniques are described in the literature, establishing a classification between Indoor and Outdoor AR systems. On the one hand, t…

Interacting with Augmented Reality Mirrors

This chapter deals with the topic of Augmented Reality Mirrors (ARMs) – a kind of specular interfaces making use of Augmented Reality technology. The review presented in the chapter first analyses the current setups for the construction of ARMs. Secondly, it presents a study on their potential for inferring in human perception (e.g. behaviour and emotions) and the high interactivity potential and usability they have. In the third place, it shows their use in different areas of knowledge, namely entertainment, edutainment, clothing, arts and medical therapy. Then, the chapter presents a discussion, highlighting the current technological barriers and the need for more research. Finally, futur…

A comparative analysis of two immersive virtual reality systems in the integration and visualization of natural hand interaction

AbstractIt is generally accepted that the use of natural interaction provides a positive impact in Virtual Reality (VR) applications. Therefore, it is important to understand what is the best way to integrate and visualize this feature in VR. For this reason, this paper presents a comparative study of the integration of natural hand interaction in two immersive VR systems: a Cave Audio Visual Experience (CAVE) system –where users’ real hands are visible– and a non-see-through Head-Mounted Display (HMD) system –where only a virtual representation of the hands is possible–. In order to test the suitability of using this type of interaction in a CAVE and compare it to an HMD, we raise six rese…

From the Paper to the Tablet: On the Design of an AR-Based Tool for the Inspection of Pre-Fab Buildings. Preliminary Results of the SIRAE Project

Energy-efficient Buildings (EeB) are demanded in today’s constructions, fulfilling the requirements for green cities. Pre-fab buildings, which are modularly fully-built in factories, are a good example of this. Although this kind of building is quite new, the in situ inspection is documented using traditional tools, mainly based on paper annotations. Thus, the inspection process is not taking advantage of new technologies. In this paper, we present the preliminary results of the SIRAE project that aims to provide an Augmented Reality (AR) tool that can seamlessly aid in the regular processes of pre-fab building inspections to detect and eliminate the possible existing quality and ener…

Computer Animation to teach interpolation

<div data-canvas-width="460.953206963072">Aunque las asignaturas de matemáticas son un tema básico en los estudios de una ingeniería, a menudo son considerados por los estudiantes como una asignatura difícil. En este trabajo presentamos una experiencia de aprendizaje basada en la animación por ordenador mediante el uso de la modelización matemática. Nuestro objetivo es proporcionar a los estudiantes un contexto que motive el estudio de la interpolación de funciones. Presentamos un planteamiento del problema que se pretende resolver mediante</div><div data-canvas-width="460.9542195018301">el Ciclo de Modelización. Se presentan y discuten tanto desarrollo de la actividad com…

A new AR authoring tool using depth maps for industrial procedures

Several augmented reality systems have been proposed for different target fields such as medical, cultural heritage and military. However, most of the current AR authoring tools are actually programming interfaces that are exclusively suitable for programmers. In this paper, we propose an AR authoring tool which provides advanced visual effect, such as occlusion or media contents. This tool allows non-programming users to develop low-cost AR applications, specially oriented to on-site assembly and maintenance/repair tasks. A new 3D edition interface is proposed, using photos and Kinect depth information to improve 3D scenes composition. In order to validate our AR authoring tool, two evalua…

Towards a Guidance System to Aid in the Dosimetry Calculation of Intraoperative Electron Radiation Therapy

In Intraoperative Electron Radiation Therapy (IOERT), the lack of specific planning tools limits its applicability, the need for accurate dosimetry estimation and application during the therapy being the most critical. Recently, some works have been presented that try to overcome some of the limitations for establishing planning tools, though still an accurate guidance system that tracks, in real-time, the applicator and the patient is needed. In these surgical environments, the acquisition of an accurate 3D shape of the patient’s tumor bed in real-time is of high interest, as current systems make use of a 3D model acquired before the treatment. In this paper, an optical-based system is pre…

Combining traditional and indirect augmented reality for indoor crowded environments. A case study on the Casa Batlló museum

Abstract Mobile audio-guides are currently being used in museums to enhance the visitors’ experience. Over the past few years, some Augmented Reality (AR) solutions have been explored in this context, making it possible to provide augmented visual and sonic stimuli through the use of smartphones. However, the special conditions of museums (e.g. artificial markers cannot be used, small, crowded rooms, etc.) and the limited computational capacity of smartphones mean that there are important restrictions in the use of this technology. In this paper we introduce a novel mobile augmented guide for the Casa Batllo museum (Barcelona, Spain) which is based on a combination of traditional and indire…

Mixed Reality Annotation of Robotic-Assisted Surgery videos with real- time tracking and stereo matching

Robotic-Assisted Surgery (RAS) is beginning to unlock its potential. However, despite the latest advances in RAS, the steep learning curve of RAS devices remains a problem. A common teaching resource in surgery is the use of videos of previous procedures, which in RAS are almost always stereoscopic. It is important to be able to add virtual annotations onto these videos so that certain elements of the surgical process are tracked and highlighted during the teaching session. Including virtual annotations in stereoscopic videos turns them into Mixed Reality (MR) experiences, in which tissues, tools and procedures are better observed. However, an MR-based annotation of objects requires trackin…

An Easy-to-Use AR Authoring Tool for Industrial Applications

Augmented Reality (AR) applications have been emerged last years as a valuable tool for saving significant costs in maintenance and process control tasks in industry. This trend has been stimulated by the appearance of authoring tools that allow the fast and easy development of AR applications. However, most of current AR authoring tools are actually programming interfaces that are exclusively suitable for programmers, and they do not provide advanced visual effects such as occlusion or object collision detection.

A Hybrid Virtual-Augmented Serious Game to Improve Driving Safety Awareness

The use of 3D virtual content and Augmented Reality (AR) in certain applications allows designing tools and serious games that are more attractive to the potential users. Focusing on the area of learning and education, these technologies can be adapted to the requirements of the application that needs to be developed, to the available devices on which they are expected to run and also to the learning content. However, in most applications only a single interaction paradigm and a single visualization mode is used, restricting the potential benefits of the system. In this paper, we propose a software application designed to improve driving safety awareness and learning for both adults and chi…

Addressing the Occlusion Problem in Augmented Reality Environments with Phantom Hollow Objects

Occlusion handling is essential to provide a seamless integration of virtual and real objects in AR applications. Different approaches have been presented with a variety of technologies, environment conditions and methods. Among these methods, 3D model-based occlusion approaches have been extensively used. However, these solutions could be too time-consuming in certain situations, since they must render all the occlusion objects even though they are invisible. For this reason, we propose an inverse 3D model-based solution for handling occlusions, designed for those AR applications in which virtual objects are placed inside a real object with holes or windows. With this restriction, the occl…

Cross-Device Augmented Reality Annotations Method for Asynchronous Collaboration in Unprepared Environments

Augmented Reality (AR) annotations are a powerful way of communication when collaborators cannot be present at the same time in a given environment. However, this situation presents several challenges, for example: how to record the AR annotations for later consumption, how to align virtual and real world in unprepared environments or how to offer the annotations to users with different AR devices. In this paper we present a cross-device AR annotation method that allows users to create and display annotations asynchronously in environments without the need for prior preparation (AR markers, point cloud capture, etc.). This is achieved through an easy user-assisted calibration process and a …

A taxonomy of augmented reality annotations

A Reconfigurable Immersive Workbench and Wall-System for Designing and Training in 3D Environments

Virtual and Augmented Reality have been widely used in many scientific fields for the last two decades in order to visualize complex data and information. Although both techniques are oriented to show users complex 3D environments by means of an intuitive and easy mechanism, they use to become useless to manipulate the information in an intuitive and realistic way. In this paper, we present SOROLLA, a new concept of workbench designed for virtual and augmented reality purposes and specially oriented to the fields of teleeducation and engineering. Unlike other proposals, SOROLLA not only allows an easy utilization and configuration, but also shows a cost-effective immersive visualization sys…

Simulation of parallel mechanisms for motion cueing generation in vehicle simulators using AM-FM bi-modulated signals

Abstract The use of robotic motion platforms in vehicle simulators is relatively common. However, the process of testing and tuning the so-called washout algorithms, used for motion cueing generation in motion-based vehicle simulators, is complex. This process can be reduced in cost, simplified, improved, shortened and performed safer if virtual motion platforms are used instead of real devices. This paper deals with identifying a method to perform a fast but reliable simulation of parallel mechanisms to be used for motion cueing generation. The method relies on the use of Laplacian polynomial transfer function models by means of using AM-FM bi-modulated signals as reference inputs to achie…

Multiuser Augmented Reality System for Indoor Exhibitions

Over the last years, museums and galleries are looking for new ways to show exhibitions to visitors. For that purpose, new technologies like augmented reality are used. In this paper an augmented reality system for indoor exhibitions is presented. The system is formed by visualization screens that mix exhibition environment, visitors included, with multimedia and virtual 3D objects which visitors can manipulate naturally using a markers system. This system has been used in the exhibition "Valencia, tierra de comarcas: Dialogos con el patrimonio", which deals with a trip through the valencian cultural heritage.

Addressing the Occlusion Problem in Augmented Reality Environments with Phantom Hollow Objects

Occlusion handling is essential to provide a seamless integration of virtual and real objects in AR applications. Different approaches have been presented with a variety of technologies, environment conditions and methods. Among these methods, 3D model-based occlusion approaches have been extensively used. However, these solutions could be too time-consuming in certain situations, since they must render all the occlusion objects even though they are invisible. For this reason, we propose an inverse 3D model-based solution for handling occlusions, designed for those AR applications in which virtual objects are placed inside a real object with holes or windows. With this restriction, the occl…

From Historical Silk Fabrics to Their Interactive Virtual Representation and 3D Printing

The documentation, dissemination, and enhancement of Cultural Heritage is of great relevance. To that end, technological tools and interactive solutions (e.g., 3D models) have become increasingly popular. Historical silk fabrics are nearly flat objects, very fragile and with complex internal geometries, related to different weaving techniques and types of yarns. These characteristics make it difficult to properly document them, at the yarn level, with current technologies. In this paper, we bring a new methodology to virtually represent such heritage and produce 3D printouts, also making it highly interactive through the tool Virtual Loom. Our work involves sustainability from different per…

Table Top Augmented Reality System for Conceptual Design and Prototyping

The AugmenTable is a desktop augmented reality workstation intended for conceptual design and prototyping. It combines a thin form factor display, inexpensive web cameras, and a PC into a unique system that enables natural interaction with virtual and physical parts. This initial implementation of the AugmenTable takes advantage of the popular open source augmented reality software platform ARToolkit to enable manual interaction with physical parts, as well as interaction with virtual parts via a physically marked pointer or a color-marked fingertip. This paper describes similar previous work, the methods used to create the AugmenTable, the novel interaction it affords users, and a number o…

MIME: A Mixed-Space Collaborative System with Three Immersion Levels and Multiple Users

Shared spaces for remote collaboration are nowadays possible by considering a variety of users, devices, immersion systems, interaction capabilities, navigation paradigms, etc. There is a substantial amount of research done in this line, proposing different solutions. However, still a more general solution that considers the heterogeneity of the involved actors/items is lacking. In this paper, we present MIME, a mixed-space tri-collaborative system. Differently from other mixed-space systems, MIME considers three different types of users (in different locations) according to the level of immersion in the system, who can interact simultaneously – what we call a tri-collaboration. For the thr…

SILKNOWViz: Spatio-Temporal Data Ontology Viewer

Interactive visualization of spatio-temporal data is a very active area that has experienced remarkable advances in the last decade. This is due to the emergence of fields of research such as big data and advances in hardware that allow better analysis of information. This article describes the methodology followed and the design of an open source tool, which in addition to interactively visualizing spatio-temporal data that are represented in an ontology, allows the definition of what to visualize and how to do it. The tool allows selecting, filtering and visualizing in a graphical way the entities of the ontology with spatiotemporal data, as well as the instances related to them. The grap…

Augmented Reality-Based Training Systems for Teaching Health and Safety Procedures in Construction

Traditional teaching methods are not always efficient, especially in areas where the concepts to teach relate to physical work that must be done outside the classroom. This is the case of the construction sector, where the teaching of safety procedures is crucial to reduce the number of accidents, but traditional methods fail to highlight the importance of these procedures. The use of computer simulation through new technologies such as augmented reality (AR) can engage more students in order to better understand the concepts. In addition, they can visualize virtual elements superimposed on the real world to simulate the real situations they will later face in construction. This chapter dea…

Intelligent eye

This paper describes Intelligent Eye, a mobile phone interactive leisure guide that offers location-based multimedia information. The information offered is related to the user's position, so the main goal of this work is the development of an efficient system to detect where the user is pointing his/her camera at by means of a content-based image retrieval algorithm (CBIR). The CBIR procedure uses color histograms in the HS color space extracted from images, and employs Kullback-Leibler divergence as the similarity measure. Intelligent Eye can be used in a wide range of camera-equipped mobile phones; however, efficiency is improved if GPS data is available. In order to outperform other sys…

Mixing Different Realities in a Single Shared Space

The concept of internet of everything involves an intelligent connection of people, processes, data, and things. In this sense, shared spaces aimed to connect different users that collaborate following a common purpose are of relevance to the field. Many computer-based collaborative environments have been proposed in recent years. However, the design of mixed-platform collaborative spaces, in which different paradigms—such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)—are blended, is still uncommon. This chapter aims to analyze the benefits and features of these systems, reviewing existing related works and proposing a series of features for the design of effective mixed-platform colla…

A Mobile Augmented Reality System for Enhancing Electrical Machine Supervision

Electrical machines are used almost everywhere, and our daily life depends on them. For this reason, it is important to articulate mechanisms to control, supervise, and perform proper maintenance of these machines, especially those used in critical industrial process. The SCADA protocol is one of the technologies that eases the operation and supervision of electrical machines. However, the absence of a spatial connection between the SCADA signals and the machines being supervised suggests the use of augmented reality (AR) to fill this void. This chapter describes SIMARA: A Mobile AR application based on a dual computer-vision system (QR-codes and fiducial markers). SIMARA provides a robust …

Virtual and Augmented Reality for the Visualization of Summarized Information in Smart Cities

In this chapter, authors deal with the problem of visualizing summarized information in a complex system like a smart city. They introduce the topic of smart city in the context of the information revolution that is taking place in the world. Next, they review how this information can be visualized, highlighting immersive 3D methods such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), which are particularly suitable for these applications, since 2D information does not usually induce a focused and sustained attention. The chapter describes and shows a use case in which VR and Spatial AR (SAR) are used in a smart city system to visualize summarized information about the state and managem…