Augmented Reality - A look before you leap

© Hexaware Technologies Limited. All rights reserved. www.hexaware.com
Augmented Reality - A look before
you leap
Version: 1.0 | Date: 30/09/2011
Employee Name: Gnana Sundar R
Employee Number: 20639
Email Address: gnanasundarr@hexaware.com

© Hexaware Technologies Limited. All rights reserved.
www.hexaware.com2
Augmented Reality - A look before you leap
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................................ 4
Augmented Reality – Let’s begin…..........................................................................................................5
ART-IS-TIC.................................................................................................................................................. 6
AR Applications.........................................................................................................................................7
Augmented Reality in Service Industries..............................................................................................10
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................11
References............................................................................................................................................... 12

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Introduction
1.1 Being innovation-ready
Somebody once said, "The early bird catches the worm". Nah, nah who said, "It is always the second
mouse that gets the cheese". Umm. In this world of competitive business, everybody is watching the other
and equally concerned what other people are up to. As every organization wants to be innovation-ready,
both the sayings can be used as strategies that will lead to success in implementing innovative ideas and
to be ready, organization wide, to embrace the future cutting-edge technologies and always be in a strong
position to win new business and new customers. Remember, customer is always ahead and always
thinks about the future. I'm taking the liberty to be futuristic in sharing this fast-growing area of
Augmented Reality.
It is good that as an organization are we ready to explore or we are already exploring building applications
for mobile devices, hand held devices, tablets etc. When it comes to innovation, research and
development, we immediately come to a conclusion that it is not that suitable or applicable for service
providing industries. A decade back maybe this would be true but not now as every client is keen in
asking a question, "What more do you have or what more will you be able to offer ?". Mobile / iPad or
Android tablet application development is the talk of the IT corridor. But we must be specific about the
kind of applications that we develop. So let us explore this specific area of Augmented Reality mobile
application development.
1.2 Abstract
The main goal of this white paper is to introduce the area of Augmented Reality (AR) and to explore some
of the areas of application that would in turn help us to consider this for current and future business
prospects. It will also briefly explore the technology behind augmented reality, existing augmented
applications and the various tools, both open-source and commercial, that is available to build AR
applications. Finally, the paper will be discussing about some of the possible applications that could be
developed by a service providing company like ours for its varied clients spanning across its horizontals
and verticals.

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Augmented Reality – Let’s begin…
2.1 What is Augmented Reality?
Augmented Reality is defined as a real-time direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment that has been
enhanced or augmented by adding virtual computer-generated information to it [1].
Let us consider the following example. You are a tourist and you love to explore the various places
around the world. You prefer to do it without the help of any human guide. Now, you are in front of the
"Statue of Liberty" and you would like to know more about it. With the help of the AR browser on your
"camera enabled, GPS enabled" smart phone, simply hold up your smart phone at the "Statue of Liberty'
and voila, You Get More Than What You See (YGMTWYS, no more WYSIWYG!). See Fig 1.1,
Fig 1.1, shows the screenshot of the Wikitude
worldwide browser. As you can see how Wikitude
overlays the camera's display and the objects you
look at with additional interactive content and
information. [Courtesy: wikitude.com]
AR aims at simplifying the user’s life by bringing
virtual information not only to his immediate
surroundings, but also to any indirect view of the
real-world environment, such as live-video stream. It
enhances the user’s perception of and interaction
with the real world [1]. From the above example, we
should be able to understand the tremendous scope of AR applications that could be developed, not only
for a traveler, but for the different kinds of user in various fields of engineering, education, healthcare etc.
2.2 How different from Virtual Reality (VR)?
Some say, AR is a special case of VR and others argue that AR is more a general concept and see VR
as a special case of AR. Whatever it is, in AR the real environment is not completely suppressed as in the
case of VR; instead it plays a dominant role. Rather than immersing a person into a completely synthetic
world, AR attempts to embed synthetic supplements into the real environment (or into a live video of the
real environment) [2].
2.3 What's next?
In the next section, we will be discussing about the AR-Technology (ART), the various classes of AR
applications and the tools available to build these applications with some real time examples.

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ART-IS-TIC
3.1 Being ART-IS-TIC
Augmented Reality Technology Is Tangible, Interactive and Collaborative. AR technologies are driven by
both hardware and software. It encompasses the technologies that you can feel with your senses, you
can interact with alone or with a bunch of people in a collaborative manner. In this paper, we will consider
the Augmented Reality Mobile Systems. Smart-phones are extremely portable and widespread, and with
the recent advances present a combination of powerful CPU, camera, accelerometer, GPS, and solid
state compass, making them a very promising platform for AR [1].
3.2 Hardware Components
The main devices for Augmented Reality are displays, input devices, tracking, and computers. In this
paper, we will be considering only handheld displays like smart phones or tablets. Tracking devices
consists of digital cameras and/or other optical sensors, GPS, accelerometers, solid state compasses,
wireless sensors, etc. Each of these technologies has different level of accuracy and depends greatly on
the type of system being developed [1].
3.3 Software Components
Any AR system should be able to realistically integrate the augmentations with the real world. The
software components must be able to derive the real world coordinates, independent from the camera,
from camera images (Image Registration) [3]. Developers have the choice to make use of AR libraries like
AR Toolkit, an open source computer vision tracking library that allows the user to create augmented
reality applications. Table 1.1 gives a brief idea on the available open source and commercial libraries for
various platforms.
Table 1.1, AR Libraries
Library License Available Platforms
ARToolkit Open Source (GPL)
& Commercial
(ARToolworks Inc)
Available for Android, iOS, Flash, Silverlight. The Augmented
Reality Tool Kit (ARToolKit) captures images from video sources,
optically tracks markers in the images, and composites them with
computer-generated content using OpenGL
mixare Open Source AR engine for Android and iPhone
Goblin XNA Open Source Written in C#. Based on Microsoft XNA game studio
ARToolkitPlus Open Source Extended version of ARToolkit

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AR Applications
There are many possibilities for using augmented reality in an innovative way. It could be used in the field
of advertising and commercial, entertainment and education, medical, military, industrial, architecture,
navigation, etc. AR could bring a better solution to some areas, a cheaper solution to others, or simply
create a new service. Developers can build a standalone, "single usage" AR application using the libraries
mentioned in the previous section or they can use AR Browsers, which are typically applications that
retrieves geo-referenced content from online databases and present it to the mobile user on their phone
through an AR interface, public APIs [1]. Layar, Wikitude, Junaio, Nokia Live View, Sekai Camera and
Acrossair are some of the most popular AR browsers. They are available for iPhone, Android and iPad.
4.1 Standalone AR applications
We will see couple of real time examples of standalone AR applications used in advertising and in
medical field for surgery, examination and education.
1.1.1 MINI Cabrio Convertible Ad (December 2008)
Fig 4.1, Augmented reality is mostly
used by marketers to promote new
products online. Most techniques use
markers that the users present in
front of their webcam either on
special software or simply on the
advertising company's website. For
e.g., In December 2008, MINI ran an
augmented reality advertisement in
several German automotive
magazines. The reader simply had to
go to the MINI's website, show the
Ad in front of their webcam and a 3-D
MINI appeared on their screen as
shown in the figure on the left [4].
1.1.2 AR in Medical
One of the interesting uses for AR in the medical field involves live interactive imaging for assisting
physicians, medical students and children. Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) includes procedures where a
camera is inserted into the patient's body to help the doctor visualize the procedures he or she is
conducting. In Fig 4.2, this form of surgery is aided with the use of AR imagery of a brain superimposed
onto the patient's head, giving the doctor a more tangible visualization. Fig 4.3 shows that with the help of
augmented reality projections of bones, muscles, nerves and other internal body parts, med students can
practice procedures on mannequins in a somewhat real-world game of "Operation" [5]

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Fig 4.2 [5] Fig 4.3
[5]
4.2 AR Browser based Applications
Most of the AR browsers provide an interface for developers to add content to these Browsers. These
"AR Websites" are called differently for each browser, whether it is a World, a Channel or a Layer. When
using a mobile AR browser, information and content can be accessed by three means:
Through Geo-location data (Lat/Long, Compass, Accelerometer and other onboard sensors)
Through image/object recognition (recognition via computer vision)
Through dynamic physical interaction with a viewed object (tracking via computer vision)
4.2.1 Navigational System: BART - Bay Area Rapid Transit partners with Junaio (Geo Location)
Fig 4.3, BART of San Francisco
desired an alternative way for users to
access their transit information. This
channel is dedicated to geo-location
data gathered from the BART system.
It grants the user access to the location
of the nearest BART station and to up-
to-the-minute information for incoming
trains and estimated arrival times. The
figure shows an example of the display
screen used to deliver the channel [1].

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4.2.2 Mobile Social Networking - TwittAround
Fig 4.4, A relatively new method of staying connected with friends and
family is via mobile social networking. Social networks such as Twitter
and Facebook are now available for use on a user’s smart phone.
Popular social networking sites provide location based services. The
figure on the left shows the information channel, TwittAround,
available for Layar browser. This application uses GPS, compass and
camera to show where different tweets are coming from. The tweets
are overlaid on the landscape, virtually augmenting a user's view of
the world [1].
4.3 Future possibilities
In 2005, the Horizon Report predicted that AR technologies will emerge more fully within the next 4–5
years. To confirm that prediction, camera systems that can analyze physical environments in real time
and relate positions between objects and environment were developed the same year. This type of
camera system has become the basis to integrate virtual objects with reality in AR systems.
In the following years, more and more AR applications will be developed especially with mobile
applications, such as Wikitude AR Travel Guide launched in 2008, and medical applications launched in
2007. Nowadays, with the new advances in technology, an increasing amount of AR systems and
applications are produced, notably with MIT 6th sense prototype and the release of the iPads and its
successors and competitors, notably the Eee Pad and Android tablets and the iPhones, which promises
to revolutionize mobile AR.
The ongoing technological growth of mobile Augmented Reality and Augmented Reality in general, will
help AR browsers to overcome currently existing obstacles like GPS inaccuracies or screen sizes.

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Augmented Reality in Service Industries
Till now this paper would have given you a brief idea about the technology behind Augmented Reality and
the kind of AR standalone and browser based applications that could possibility be developed on mobile
and tablet platforms.
Now let us think crazy and ponder over the possible services or products that could be offered to our
clients spanning across different horizontals and verticals. If you talk to the various COEs functioning
within our organization, they would surely (and proudly) say that they are already working on iPhone,
Android or iPad solutions for such and such client for this particular technology. The following section
discusses some AR applications that could be built and offered as a service or a product
5.1 AR enabled Business Intelligence
We are one of the leaders in offering Business Intelligence solutions to various clients across the world.
Some of the clients have already started talking about the need of having iPad based solutions for their BI
needs, like IBM Cognos reports on iPad. In terms of AR, there is an opportunity to develop AR browser
based application that would overlay more location specific information on top of the reports (while the
user is travelling). This is just one idea. There could be umpteen possibilities when it comes to AR
enabled BI reports.
5.2 AR enabled Social Media solutions
Every Tom, Dick and Harry talks about Social Media. With so much real-time data floating around on the
social web, tremendous social web mining solutions are in high demand by the customers. The moment
we start mining into the social web, AR could be easily plugged into it. Customers could use these
applications for Advertising and Campaigning and starting new ventures
Likewise, AR enabled solutions could be provided for Inventory and Asset Management systems,
Banking applications, Customer Relationship Management, Human Resources Management systems and
so on.
There are very few companies who are developing Augmented Reality applications in India. It is always
good to be early in the market. The moment we have the technology with us, solutions that could be
offered becomes infinite.

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Conclusion
Augmented Reality is a technology of the future. It is still in its infancy and lot of research is going on in
this specific field. I hope this paper would have served its purpose of sowing the “seeds of interesting and
innovative opportunities that are available in augmented reality mobile applications” into the minds of the
techno savvy readers or enthusiasts like you. A growing organization always adapts them to be one of the
following three, “a first mover” or “a fast follower” or “a trend setter” in order to portray them as
“innovation-ready” to the business world.
I want to this conclude this by re-quoting a famous utterance in a different way,
“Augmented Reality – that’s a new look for man, an innovative leap for mankind”

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References
7.1 Bibliography
[1] Selected papers from the Handbook of Augmented Reality, Springer Publications
[2] Spatial Augmented Reality by Oliver Bimber and Ramesh Raskar
7.2 Webliography
[3] Wikipedia entry on Augmented Reality
[4] MINI Augmented reality Ad - http://technabob.com/blog/2008/12/17/mini-augmented-reality-ads-hit-
newstands/
[5] AR in Medical -
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_augmented_reality_helps_doctors_save_lives.php
7.3 Software Libraries
ARToolkit - http://sourceforge.net/projects/artoolkit/
ARToolkit (Commercial) - http://www.artoolworks.com
mixare - http://www.mixare.org/
Goblin XNA - http://goblinxna.codeplex.com/
7.4 AR Browsers
Layar - http://www.layar.com/
Junaio - http://www.junaio.com/
Sekai Camera - http://sekaicamera.com/
Nokie Live View - http://betalabs.nokia.com/apps/nokia-live-view
Acrossair - http://www.acrossair.com/
Wikitude AR Browser - http://www.wikitude.com/en/

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