Project 1 is an Augmented Reality Project that involves displaying models, or knickknacks, on 2 paper cubes.

Using your webcam or phone camera, showing the cube will allow models of an attraction of my choosing to appear on the cubes.

For the project, I chose Nikuyokocho from Shubuya, Tokyo, Japan. Nikuyokocho is a street that is known for its grilled meat and restaurants. For the second cube, I chose Millenium Park in Chicago, Illinois. Millenium Park is a park that is known for its art and architecture.

Here is the link to the github of the project

How it works

Vuforia is the software used to make this possible. The software is able to use a camera and see the pattern on each face of the cubes like a code, in order to track its movement and recognize that its a cube. Once the software recognizes the cube, it will then display the knickknacks of the attractions on the cube. The user is able to move the cube freely as they wish and the knickknack will move and track with the cube.

The knickknacks themselves were put together using Unity, with models found on the web as well as custom models made with blender.

In order to build the project, you must make sure you have the following software versions:

You can download Vuforia on the vuforia website. Once you have the file, you can go into Unity and go to "Assets -> Import Package -> Custom Package..." and import the vuforia package file you just downloaded.

You can download Unity on the Unity website. Once you have the download, you can install it and open it up.

Once you have the software, you can then download the project from the github link above. Once downloaded, make sure you have the "com.ptc.vuforia.engine-10.9.3.tgz" file in the project directory in \Packages\. If you don't have it get the file from this project and copy paste it into your Package directory. Then in Unity Hub you can open the project and you can then go to "File -> Open Scene" and navigate to the github project folder and go to /Assets/Scenes and open the Tokyo.unity file.

This will open the scene and you can press the play button at the top of the screen to run the app with you webcam.

You must have the paper cubes for the models to appear. The merge cube and class cube will be used to have the knickknacks to appear

You can then go to "File -> Build Settings" and then click on "Android" and then click on "Switch Platform".

Once you have switched to android, you can then click on "Build and Run" and it will build the project and run it on your Android device running at least Android 8.0 that you connected to the computer.

The knickknacks

The first knicknack is nikuyokocho, a famous restaurant alley in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan that is known for its meat and protein focused foods. I have visited there and the models represent how I view the place. The second knicknack is Millenium Park in Chicago, Illinois. I frequent the park whenever I have free time and visit a lot of places and attraction in the park

Nikuyokocho Models

Shiba Inu

When I visted Nikutyokocho, there was a Shiba Inu that was sitting outside one of the restaurants. It really stuck with me the whole time I was there and I could not stop passing by to say hi to the dog. This model was imported.
Source

Torii Gate

There was a Torii Shrine gate that was part of a restaurant or an entrance to the alley. I couldn't remember exactly because it has been nearly a decade since I've been there. Everytime I think about Nikuyokocho, the gate would always pop up in my head. This model was imported.
Source

Sushi platter

When my family and I went to a restaurant in the alley, at the time, I hadn't gotten around to liking meat and beef all that much. So I ordered salmon sushi, which was interesting because the alley was known for meat. Regardless, the alley is very well known for its high quality food of all kinds. This model was created by me, in Blender

Vending Machine

Japan is known for its vending machine in public areas. Nikuyokocho is no exception. Vending machines line some pathways in the alleyway. When I went to Nikuyokocho, I found the vending machines really cool as a child. I would always ask for money to get a canned drink even though I wasn't interested in the drink. I was more interested in the vending machine dispensing the drink. This model was created by me, in Blender

Ramen Yatai

In the alley, there was a Ramen Food stall, also called a Ramen Yatai. I found it really cool when my parents told me that the stall itself is able to be rolled around and be moved to another place, making it really portable and able to serve ramen anywhere. This model was imported.
Source

Chicago Models

Buckingham Fountain

This fountain is iconic when thinking about Millenium Park. My family would always show relatives the fountain when they would come and visit Chicago. I occasionally drop by the fountain on a warm day and stay in the misty areas. This model was imported.

Ice Rink

During the winter months, the area under the bean is converted to an ice rink. This is memerable to me because I had gone Ice skating there for the first time near New Years. It was tiring but well worth the experience. This model is imported.

Lion Statues

The lion statues are representing the lion statues at the stairs of the Art Institute of Chicago. I would always pass by the statues when I visit the museum for the purposes of class and my own personal enjoyment. The models are imported.

Crown Fountains

This Crown Fountains are my favorite place to be at in Millenium Park. I would always just wade in the water when I'm feeling extra warm that day and seeing the faces are always so funny. The model is made by me, in Blender. Faces are imported.

Cloud Gate

An iconic attraction in Millenium Park. It's always visible for most of the park and its a place people always go to, including myself, when visiting. During winter months, the ice rink placed in the area under the bean. This model was made by me, in Blender.

References

Imported Models, sounds, and textures

Unique models I created

Discussion

I personally think that in a few years or a few decades, AR will become more accessible and widespread. With glasses that are able to be efficient and widespread enough that we can utilize AR in many different ways. This will let it become popular to see use in many places. The convenience of showing things more than the space allows is immensely useful in a wide variety of applications. For example, in museums, information about a certain object won’t be limited to just a small plaque that has really tiny texts that have to talk about everything on display. It can be applied to the glasses so that it can see what you’re looking at and display relevant information only about that. The information can also be graphics and not just texts to interest the view even more. It can be applied to zoos and people can be more engaged with the animals they take interest in. Another application I can think of in which small objects can benefit from AR tech is medicine. In a field where a person has zero chances to make mistakes, we can use AR glasses to display information on medicine and provide real time data to help the doctor decide what medicines are appropriate to use. A patient can wear a tag that can display their medical information without the need to pull up a physical chart or look it up on a computer. This can be expanded to a person who has a condition that would need immediate medical attention. That person can wear a tag to display what condition they have and treatments that can help treat it, as soon as it happens. This can benefit them before medical personnel arrive and enhance treatment when they do arrive. It can speed treatment and give more relevant information to small vials or individual capsules of medicine that would normally be tiny and hard to read on boxes. Business cards can also be more useful if it was AR enhanced. When you hand someone a card, it can be dynamic and hold a lot more information about the business or what someone does. It doesn’t have to only contain contact information and a small summary. You would be able to customize it to your liking and be animated and much more impactful to the person you are giving the card to. Personalization and creative arts can benefit this as well. There could be a new form of art that isn’t confined to a paper, canvas, or even a screen. AR can be used to express creativity in ways that can interact with the environment while not affecting it. It can also give more creative freedom that can be as large or as dynamic as they want, all while happening through AR enhanced physical objects. Things like advertisements and billboards can be non intrusive to those not wearing glasses and only be seen by those that want to see them. This can be a compromise that is only possible with this technology. While the technology is not efficient or widespread enough to be useful right now, in a few years time, it may become popular to the point where these things can happen. I’d love to be able to use AR glasses all the time and get a lot of information all at once. This can improve life in many different ways for me personally. I would like to see it get to this point.

Jamiel Impoy

CS 428 - Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality

Project 1