ARToolkit libraries

some questions about augmented reality and devices for that

Asked by Arlanda

My name is Anastassia and I'm one of the heads of Game Master's team from
Estonia. I need a consultation about AR)

We were thinking about using augmented reality (actually we were thinking
about ArtoolKit software) in Live Action Roleplay Games. But as I
understand, this area is still developing and there are many details which
can make it unsuitable for LARP.

As I understand, the cheepest device (portable eyewear - other varieties
is not OK for our purposes -
http://www.vuzix.com/iwear/products_camar.html) costs about 400-450 euros.
And picture will be not stable, it's position will be not 100% correct,
and it will be generated about 10 sekonds later, than real-time action.

Is it true? And what other problems can occure to that?

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Peter Antoniac (pan1nx) said : 		#1

First, I need to ask where did you get that 10 seconds delay. That is un-heard of...
The visual AR consists of two different implementations:
 1. Video see-through
 2. Optical see-through

In 1, you have the video coming from a camera that is later displayed on a near-the-eye, usually LCD. The light doesn't pass-through the NTE display. The overlaying is done easier and more accurate (as well as realistic, but that is a long discussion). Now, the 2nd implementation lets the light pass and hence, you have optical accuracy and you add the "overlay video" using different methods, best known being semi-transparent mirrors. With 2 however, you have problems with alignment between the real object, virtual object and the eye.

Camar's product iwear that you found is in the first type. I tried to check some of their specs briefly and found out only notes about USB 2.0. Now, the thing is that when your computer uses USB it uses the CPU. That is a problem. If you use DC from the Firewire bus, the access to images is done via DMA and hence less CPU used in data copy. That means you can use the CPU for the processing. I would guess that this is the reason behind the 10 seconds delay. Another thing is of course M$ related. Microsoft products are not so real-time friendly, so implementing such video processing CPU hungry application as in AR related field on Windows might cost you precious frames.

I hope this clarifies your understanding. I don't know and I cannot help you in finding a cheap but with high performance product since I am not in this business, but if you follow my line of thought you can at least understand the bottlenecks and what to look for.

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toptreding (toptred123) said : 		#2
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toptreding (toptred123) said : 		#3

Exploring AR for LARP sounds fascinating! While Vuzix may have some limitations, consider checking out more advanced AR glasses like the Meta Quest 2 for smoother experiences in AR games. It offers real-time interaction and a more stable environment for immersive storytelling. Good luck with your Game Master's team endeavors! You can also check about ar here:

https://www.toptreding.com/2023/09/10-best-augmented-reality-games-2023.html

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