Immersive AR/VR spaces

Abstract

Augmented reality is a modem term that is most often mistaken for virtual reality. Although these seem interchangeable, there is a distinct difference these two terms. For the Augmented reality case, the system creates an environment, where information is superimposed over the real world. While, for virtual reality, all of the modifications and actions that take place are related to the virtual world. In this final year project, the designed system was split up into two main sections. The first case is a purely augmented reality system (AR). The idea behind this is to create an environment where the user is able to detect a specific pattern, on which a desired augmented object is portrayed. Also the end-user will have the capability of modifying such an item. While the second aspect of this thesis, was that of an augmented virtualized reality (A VR) system. This can be perceived as an amalgamation of both augmented and virtual reality. The idea behind such a concept is that of creating an area where the user has the facility of creating and modifying virtual objects. One must note that, although these are two different scenarios, there are still some core items that must be implemented in both cases. One of which is the display headset. The purpose of this item is to provide an interface between the user and the processing system. Generally this is achieved by means of a virtual monitor. This is presented as two separate vision slots for the user. One can perceive this display headset as a pair of glasses. Also a feature that is this generally incorporated in such designs, is that of video cameras. Their purpose is to provide a live video stream back to the processing system. While another item that is common in both of the AR and A VR case is that of tracking. The idea behind this term is that the system is able to determine the location of an entity. Some of the most common typos of tracking systems arc GPS, QR codes and image tracking. For this project, the latter case is used for both designs. For the AR scenario, the system is programmed to track certain images of real world items. When such an items comes into the field of vision of the system, the assigned augmented object is created. As for the AVR design, the image tracking is used to determine the position of the user, relative to certain markers.