MCS3109 Advanced Computer Graphics

and Gaming

Literature Survey Report

U. V Vandebona

Index No: 13440722

2015 January

State-of-the-Art in Mobile Augmented Reality Development Tools/APIs

01. Introduction As for today, goal of augmented reality (AR) is to add some value to real world environments by

incorporating more information and meaning to it. It enables the users of the AR to explore the

physical world without acquiring prior knowledge. With the current technology used in mobile

devices or the handheld devices, this goal becomes a practical reality to achieve. Mobile

augmentation is the easiest, fastest and affordable way to fulfill the expectations of the AR users.

Nowadays augmented reality uniquely changing the way of how a person uses a mobile device. It

provides mobile app designers and developers with new opportunities to start think more deeply

about mobile users’ context and situations. So the mobile AR is starting to drive innovation within the

areas such like education, gaming, medical, automotive, and manufacturing markets.

So this literature survey focuses on identifying the tools and APIs that can be used to build state of the

art mobile AR applications on those areas. Widely popular ones are explained in more detail.

02. End-to-end Branded App Solutions When there is huge number of mobile augmented reality apps available to users to download, there

are also augmented reality authoring systems emerging like end-to-end branded app solutions. This

enables users to create their own augmented reality experiences within a limited boundary. Some of

most common augmented reality authoring systems of this type are listed below.

• Aurasma: Its image recognition technology uses a smartphone's or tablet's camera to

recognize real world images and then overlay rich media on top of them in the form of

animations, videos, 3D models and web pages. (http://aurasma.com)

• Junaio: It is an Augmented Reality browser designed for 3G and 4G mobile devices. Junaio is

the first augmented reality browser that has overcome the accuracy limitations of GPS

navigation through LLA Markers (latitude, longitude, altitude). (http://junaio.com)

• Layar: The browser allows users to find various items based upon augmented reality

technology. It got this name due to Data in the browser comes in the form of layers.

(http://layar.com)

• Augment: It is a mobile app that lets people to visualize 3D models in Augmented Reality,

integrated in real time in actual size and environment (http://augmentedev.com)

Figure 1: Logo of Layer

Figure 2: Logo of Augment

Layar

The “Layar” makes use of the accelerometer, built-in camera, compass and GPS features of the mobile

device. These can be used in combination to identify the user’s location and field of view (FOV). From

the geographical position, the various forms of data are laid over the camera view, as if inserting an

additional layer.

The major driving force of the “Layar” is, it using AR as a means of bringing ‘print to life’. Catalogs,

brochures, business cards and magazines are enabled with augmented videos, active web links,

images and audio. “Layar” is one of the easiest apps for a novice to build their own AR without prior

experience of AR.

Augment

“Augment” allows AR to be created on top of printed images or in static environments. By selecting a

2D image as in a magazine or postcard, a 3D object can be superimposed and manipulated. Not only

that a user can interact with 3D objects to see the visual impact of positioning it in different places of

the static environment. “Augment” is totally for sales and marketing industry to grow merchandise

businesses. It simulates the 3D products and projects in customers' environment, in real size and real

time. In addition “Augment” reduces the need for prototypes.

03. Open Source AR Build Toolkits

Following are few of open source augmented reality tools that are widely being used among the AR

developers. Some of them are also commercially available.

• Argon: Augmented reality web browser that uses a mix of KML (Keyhole Markup Language)

and HTML/JavaScript/CSS to allow developing AR applications for iPhone.

(http://ael.gatech.edu/argon/)

• ARToolKit: Include libraries to create augmented reality applications that can ported into

many different languages and platforms like Flash or Silverlight. The product includes marker-

based and Natural Feature tracking libraries for both iOS and Android.

(http://www.hitl.washington.edu/artoolkit/)

• DroidAR: It is a framework for Augmented Reality on Android. Both location based AR and

marker based AR are possible. (http://bitstars.github.io/droidar/)

ARToolKit

ARToolKit uses computer vision algorithms to solve the problems of tracking users’ viewpoint. In order

to know from what viewpoint to draw the virtual imagery, the application needs to know where the

user is looking in the real world. For that ARToolKit video tracking libraries calculate the real camera

position and orientation relative to physical markers in real time. This enables the easy development

of a wide range of Augmented Reality applications. Applications developed using ARToolKit involve an

overlay of virtual imagery on the real world.

04. Proprietary AR Build Toolkits Following are few of proprietary augmented reality tool kits that are widely being used among the AR

developers for larger projects.

• Metaio SDK: It empowers to augment more of the world with 3D and SLAM (Simultaneous

Localization and Mapping) tracking options. Track any object, whether it is a toy, a car engine

or features of a landscape that is available for Android, iOS and Microsoft Windows.

(http://metaio.com)

• Vuforia Augmented Reality SDK: It recognizes and track complex 3D objects like toys and

other consumer products as well as images. (https://www.qualcomm.com/products/vuforia)

• VYZAR: It is a cross-platform SDK for iOS and Android, with both augmented reality and 3D

engine (https://limitlesscomputing.com/SightSpace/custom)

• Wikitude: The Wikitude SDK is a freeware library which was the first publicly available

application that used a location-based approach to augmented reality. (http://wikitude.com)

Figure 5: Metaio Logo

Wikitude

It is an all-in-one AR solution that includes image recognition & tracking, 3D model rendering, video

overlay, and location based AR and so much more. Wikitude displays information about the users'

surroundings in a mobile camera view in multiple platforms and devices such like Android, iOS and AR

smart glasses.

Vuforia

It uses Computer Vision technology to recognize and track images and 3D objects in real-time. This

image registration capability enables developers to position and orient virtual objects, such as 3D

models and other media, in relation to real world images when these are viewed through the camera

of a mobile device. The virtual object then tracks the position and orientation of the image in real-

time so that the viewer’s perspective on the object corresponds with their perspective on the Image

target, so that it appears that the virtual object is a part of the real world scene.

Metaio

Figure 3: Wikitude Logo

Figure 4: Vuforia Logo

Metaio is the creator of Junaio, a free mobile AR browser available for Android and iOS devices. The

metaio SDK allows developers to use content without prior encryption. No offline tools or server side

encryption is needed when generating and deploying 3D assets and tracking patterns. The SDK is

currently supported on Android, iOS and Windows with an additional plug-in for development in

Unity3D for Android, iOS, Windows and OS X platforms. The Metaio Creator is augmented reality

software that allows users to create a complete AR scenario without specialized programming

knowledge through a drag and drop interface.

05. Comparison of few Popular AR Tools Following table gives a comparison of features provided by few of the popular AR tools

Tool Platform Ease of

Use Use of Overlay

markers images locations 2D 3D video Layer iOS, Android Low Augment iOS, Android Low Wikitude iOS, Android Middle Metaio iOS,

Android, PC, web

High

Vuforia iOS, Android High Aurasma iOS, Android Middle ARToolKit iOS, Android For

Beginners

06. Reference 1. Wikipedia. [Online] [Cited: Feb 2015, 23.] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_augmented_reality_software.

2. Macquarie University. [Online] David Grover, Mar 7, 2014. [Cited: Feb 23, 2015.] https://wiki.mq.edu.au/display/ar/Augmented+reality+development+systems.

3. Social Compare. [Online] [Cited: Feb 23, 2015.] http://socialcompare.com/en/w/augmented-reality-sdks.