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Overall: Very good document!

Project Proposal: Clemson Android Augmented Reality

Computer Science 481: Mobile Device Programming Using Android

Kyle Gehrman, Robin Novak, Mikita Yankouski

Clemson University

24 March 2014

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Primary Duties:

Kyle:

● AR Library

○ responsible for understanding and implementing the logic behind the Android AR

features.

● Geospatial locations

○ responsible for determining building locations and handling their display in the

Android AR framework

Robin:

● Images DB

○ responsible for finding and handling all forward and backward images and how

they are handled in the user display

● XML

○ primary person responsible for the layouts of the apps pages

● interfaces

○ primary person responsible for the user interaction

Mikita:

● PHP

○ responsible for handling backend php for the database

○ responsible for how the images are connected to the data

● User Manual

○ responsible for developing a detailed user manual.

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Milestones:

1. 24 March:

a. working AR view with hard coded GPS points

i. Kyle and Mikita will develop a working ‘proof of concept’ for the main

AR view.

2. 31 March:

a. external db loading points to AR view

i. implement the AR view using points that are retrieved from an external

SQL database. (Kyle and Mikita)

b. shell of menu interface

i. create .xml pages and activities to be used as the basic interfaces for the

application. (Robin)

c. create and update technical reference manual pertaining to the AR framework

(Kyle)

d. create and update user manual pertaining to AR framework and basic menu

interface (Kyle and Robin)

3. 7 April:

a. more complete interface

i. make design decisions about the visual aspects of the interfaces and create

relevant menu options. (Robin)

b. take me back and forward db

i. develop back end “take me forward” and “take me back” db. (Mikita)

ii. update technical reference manual for the “take me _” portion. (Kyle)

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iii. create descriptions for campus building and images to be used for forward

and backwards. (Robin and Kyle)

4. 14 April:

a. take me forward and back

i. implement the interface’s that will handle the “take me forward” and “take

me back” functionality.

1. view in AR mode (Kyle)

2. detailed viewing mode with images and information (Robin)

ii. update Technical Reference Manual (Mikita)

5. 21 April:

a. finalize the Technical Reference Manual

b. finalize the User Manual

c. develop authoring tool that allows for information to be easily pushed to the

database.

i. must allow for adding of new buildings and other location information.

6. 30 April:

a. create and finalize one minute video about the application

i. video will demonstrate the AR view and the basic interfaces as well as

give a basic definition of the functionality of the app.

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User’s Manual: Clemson Android Augmented Reality

Computer Science 481: Mobile Device Programming Using Android

Kyle Gehrman, Robin Novak, Mikita Yankouski

Clemson University

24 March 2014

Table of Contents

AbstractIntroduction

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SummaryTarget AudienceTarget DevicesBenefits

Major Section TitlesMockup Screenshots:

Loading Screen:Camera View:List View:Time View:Map View:

Acknowledgements

Abstract

This android Android project is an android Android application targeting new or

frequenting visitors of campuses and giving them the ability to navigate their respective campus

by conveniently displaying building names and allowing the user to see past history of the

building or future campus developments. The application uses the camera on the phone as the

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main device to display these building names as various points, the points and their display

hierarchy are then defined and adjusted by the convenience of the GPS device within the phone

as well. One of the main features of the application is its ability to go from a point chosen by the

user into the past or the future of that specific point of interest. The screen is then populated by

images from either the past or the future as well as any information that is chosen by the

convenience of the user. This application creates an augmented reality world through the camera

of the phone by following through the choice made by the user of which point he is interested

most. Further adjustments are made to the information and images displayed based on the

orientation of the phone itself.

Introduction

SummaryAny new student arriving to his respective campus has a great deal of joy starting a college

career, they have done all the research required while applying and already know where their campus is

located as well as their new college’s primal colors. However, this students is lacking in a more specific

knowledge about his new campus, mainly the location and names of different campus buildings. This is

important to him due to the fact that he has to find his classes to actually attend lectures and earn grades.

TigerEye The AR app helps any such student with a convenient use of a smartphone and its devices in

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order to display the name of each building within a camera’s range of vision. This ability presents a very

convenient learning process for each student by allowing him to walk through campus and observe the

different building tags flow in and out of his camera’s vision and allowing him to learn the location of

each point of interest on his respective campus.

Furthermore, as a new incoming student this person is also less informed about the culture and

history of the campus. Perhaps he is interested in knowing what the campus looked a number of years

ago, or he wants to know which projects are currently under the development in his school. The student

can use the TigerEye application to further satisfy these needs by being able view past and future

information about a given location. For example, if there is a building that is currently in construction, the

students will be able to access the final construction plans as well as building details by going to the

Future View from the point he finds on the camera. In case there are some past images that the user can

access, he can go into past view and from there see a visual history of the campus. The application

performs these feats through the use of GPS tracking to figure out the location of the user as well as the

orientation sensors to adjust the display of building labels.

Target Audience

The targeted audience for this application is any college student who needs assistance

either finding his way around campus or learning more information about the school he chose to

attend. Since the application is mostly used to related required information that the student wants

to know, after he learns that information the student’s need to use the application decreases

because he will learn the information himself. Thus the targeted student for this project is

reasonably new to the campus. The ability of the application to use various school data can also

be helpful for students working on any campus related projects having to do with location and

history as well.

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Furthermore, a lot of prospective students spend time visiting the schools they want to

attend prior to their enrollment. However, while visiting any campus the chances that they know

the layout and buildings of the campus are even lower than the new student who has already

enrolled. This application finds further purpose by allowing tour guides to relate messages to

their groups by using a smartphone to single out a specific building in from of the group. Once

the members of the group open the application they will clearly see which building the guide is

talking about and the information related to it.

Target Devices

All of the development for this project is done for the Android based smartphone and any

device that uses this platform with an API 14 or higher. Since the class this project is developed

in is modeled after teaching Android development, targeting all of the Android based devices is

the most optimal way to test the application and the level 14 API extend the features of the

application to a more comfortable modern setting. In the case that the devices differ based on

tablet or phone, the application is adjusted to meet the criteria on both of these platforms and

dynamically allocate the view and layout. To be able to access the application’s full features the

phone will have to have access to internet connection in order to receive the data from the server

and display all of the points of interest for the user. On top of internet connection the targeted

Android devices should have a camera and an orientation sensor in order to be able to see all of

the points of interest as well as adjust the tag location for each point.

Benefits

The main benefit of this application is the ease and precision at which the users will be

able to traverse across campus. It will allow all of the students to easily find the buildings they

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are looking for as well as help them learn the location of each building across campus by making

every name visible. Furthermore, there is an educational benefit to the application since it will

use history of the school and its future developments to create pages for the students when they

choose either the past or the future of a specific point of interest. The application can be

expanded by further applying it to more schools and creating more points of interest for users to

interact with. The information detailing the future or past layouts for the user is further subject to

change based on the depth of the information stored within application server.

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Major Section Titles

Mockup Screenshots:

Loading Screen:

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Camera View:

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List View:

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Time View:

Map View:

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Authoring Tool:

The application will need an authoring tool that will allow a privileged user to edit the

database that is used by the application. The tool will be a comprised of java classes that connect

to the database and allow for pushing to the database. The focus of the authoring tool will be

usability.

Acknowledgements

https://www.fluidui.com/ - Thank you for providing a convenient mock-up tool.

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Technical Reference Manual: Clemson Android Augmented Reality

Computer Science 481: Mobile Device Programming Using Android

Kyle Gehrman, Robin Novak, Mikita Yankouski

Clemson University

24 March 2014

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Table of ContentsIntroduction

Application SummaryTechnical Summary

Hardware Components UsedExternal DB SchemaInternal DBPHP scriptsAcknowledgements

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Introduction

Application SummaryAny new student arriving to his respective campus has a great deal of joy starting a college

career, they have done all the research required while applying and already know where their campus is

located as well as their new college’s primal colors. However, this student is lacking in a more specific

knowledge about his new campus, mainly the location and names of different campus buildings. This is

important to him due to the fact that he has to find his classes to actually attend lectures and earn grades.

TigerEye helps any such student with a convenient use of a smartphone and its capabilities in order to

display the name of each building within a camera’s range of vision. This ability presents a very

convenient learning process for each student by allowing him to walk through campus and observe the

different building tags flow in and out of his or her camera’s vision and allowing them to see the location

of each point of interest on their respective campus.

Furthermore, as a new incoming student this person is also less informed about the culture and

history of the campus. Perhaps he is interested in knowing what the campus looked a number of years

ago, or he wants to know which projects are currently under the development in his school. The student

can use the TigerEye application to further satisfy these needs, by being able to change the items in his

camera view with accordance to the information he wants to see. For example, if there is a building that is

currently in construction, the students will be able to access the final construction plans as well as

building details by going to the Future View from the point he finds on the camera. In case there are some

past images that the user can access, he can go into past view and from there see the visual history of the

campus. The application performs these feats functions through the use of GPS tracking to figure out the

location of the user as well as the orientation sensors to adjust the display of building labels.

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Technical Summary

Android Tigereye is a mobile application that uses available geospatial information to

create an augmented reality view that creatively displays geological points to a user. The

application is a single .apk file that is comprised of several java classes and libraries in addition

to .xml files that handle most application layer data that the user sees.

The main view of the application, the augmented reality view, is handled by the DROID-

AR framework. This framework uses complex geometry to determine where to place objects that

represent locations over a camera view. The locations are passed to the AR framework and the

building icons are dynamically moved as the camera moves across the scene. Once the icons are

no longer in the view, they disappear.

All locations are stored on an external SQL server. The retrieval of the information is

handled by JSON on the application end and PHP on the database end. The application itself,

through the use of java, can determine if the SQL database is no longer up to date and it will

retrieve the locations and update the icons in the view. The values retrieved from the database

will be saved as java fields, the application will not make use of an internal database.

Hardware Components Used

○ Android device with an API level of at least 14

○ Camera

○ GPS sensor

○ Orientation sensor

○ Internet connectivity via 3/4G or Wifi

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External DB Schema

Internal DB

There are not currently plans to use or implement an internal db. The data will be read into java

fields from the external db and periodically check for updates.

PHP scripts

○ db_connect – connects to external database

■ will connect the application to the external database and confirm the

connection.

○ get_campus

■ will return a campus and the associated points_of_interest.

○ get_points_of_interest – returns all points in the specified location

■ will return all points_of_interest to the application

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○ get_singlepoint – returns single location point

■ will returns a single instance of point_of_interest.

○ get_timereference - returns a time reference

■ will return a time_reference from the database

○ get_artifact - returns an artifact

■ will return an artifact that the user designates (used for take me forward

and back)

Acknowledgements

http://ondras.zarovi.cz/sql/demo/ - Thank you for the convenient database sketching tool.