Day 1: Research into Augmented Reality Systems

Introduction

This blog will primarily be used to keep track of the progress of my summer vacation project at the University of Manchester, involving updating the Augmented Reality Exhibit.

Augmented Reality involves combining a real world view with a virtual scene generated by a computer, augmented with additional information such as sound, video or graphics. This video illustrates the concept:

The Augmented Reality Exhibit at the University of Manchester was initially implemented by Andy Wise in 2010 and now needs updating with new models, better graphics, and a new printing of the black-and-white marker cards on robust materials.

The project itself will firstly involve understanding and documenting the current system, and then updating it with better graphics, models and incorporating sound as required. It will also involve looking at packaging the system more effectively and porting it to Mac/Linux

Research into Augmented Reality Systems

So initially, I will be doing some research aiming to list the latest toolkits/components/complete systems that are being used for augmented reality.

This spreadsheet summarises the findings so far.