Monday, 28 March 2011
My data visualisation project displays data gathered from an rss feed. The feed shows the flow of heat in the atrium of a building at the university.
Friday, 18 March 2011
Reflections
The idea behind our project was to enliven and improve the experience of Pokemon cards. While there are many other trading card games, Pokemon seems to be the most well known one in this country. It's an entertaining game, which can be simple, or complex, depending on the players preferences. This makes it popular among children and adults, although many adults today play it for the nostalgic aspect. Either way, it's good fun. Card games have been around for a long time - and the format has remained relatively unchanged. By using augmented reality, we could really enhance the experience of players, and expand the audience of people interested in the game. It would be an entertaining experience, and possibly merge the ideas of video gaming and physical gaming together.
If we were to expand on the project, we could implement more interactivity with the creatures. If we were going to 'upgrade' the format of current Pokemon cards, it would be important to discover how that could be implemented. (Possibly with different AR markers for different attacks, and AR damage counters?)
The project has been a good experience. I'm glad we explored the idea - maybe in the future we could expand the project as described above. I also think experimenting with AR and teaching would be a very interesting topic to look at - perhaps we could merge the two.
I'm hoping that people will enjoy the project. It's not as developed as it could be, but I know it's been a large effort on the second years part. I have no clue about how to code the program, and I'm really grateful to work with people that know how! I'm hoping that although the project hasn't reached it's maximum potential (which would be totally re-creating the Pokemon card game) that viewers / users will still be able to enjoy and appreciate it.
If we were to fully develop our project and launch it into the 'real world', it would be interesting to demonstrate it at a conference or somewhere similar. Getting people's feedback and gathering some statistics, which could help us to improve the product could be really helpful. In the future, this might be something to think about (on a smaller, more realistic scale) for other projects (asking for other students opinions, etc).
Another improvement would be more detailed characters - I have a very limited knowledge of 3D design software, and if I were to learn more, I feel I could make something far better than I have done.
If we were to expand on the project, we could implement more interactivity with the creatures. If we were going to 'upgrade' the format of current Pokemon cards, it would be important to discover how that could be implemented. (Possibly with different AR markers for different attacks, and AR damage counters?)
The project has been a good experience. I'm glad we explored the idea - maybe in the future we could expand the project as described above. I also think experimenting with AR and teaching would be a very interesting topic to look at - perhaps we could merge the two.
I'm hoping that people will enjoy the project. It's not as developed as it could be, but I know it's been a large effort on the second years part. I have no clue about how to code the program, and I'm really grateful to work with people that know how! I'm hoping that although the project hasn't reached it's maximum potential (which would be totally re-creating the Pokemon card game) that viewers / users will still be able to enjoy and appreciate it.
If we were to fully develop our project and launch it into the 'real world', it would be interesting to demonstrate it at a conference or somewhere similar. Getting people's feedback and gathering some statistics, which could help us to improve the product could be really helpful. In the future, this might be something to think about (on a smaller, more realistic scale) for other projects (asking for other students opinions, etc).
Another improvement would be more detailed characters - I have a very limited knowledge of 3D design software, and if I were to learn more, I feel I could make something far better than I have done.
Specifications and Design.
Hopefully these ideas will allow us to ensure we get everything ticked off and completed, as well as showing us what the 'game' needs to do and ideas that go without saying, but are still important to document and make sure they're taken into account.
The idea/game/interactive display must:
Use a method of crossing over the physical and digital 'worlds'. This will be done by using AR markers, flash, and a webcam. We initially thought to use QR codes, but realised they could only be use to link to web pages, rather than display augmented reality information.
Enable the user to view the characters in a 'real world' environment.
Be accessible to all age groups. The product should not contain any adult material, or anything that someone would find offensive. The product should be simple enough to entertain children, and complex enough to appeal to adults - perhaps in adults case, the product would be appealing because it is a memory from their childhood, and the technology is new - it could be especially interesting for older adults who have witnessed the long development processes of items like mobile phones.
Be a positive and enjoyable experience - the aim of the product is to be fun, interesting and engaging.
The idea/game/interactive display should:
Allow the user to view all angles of the creature displayed. They should be able to pick the marker up, and rotate the marker to view the creature from all sides. This will allow the user to feel part of the product, allowing them to experience AR first hand. This interactivity is an important aspect.
Use a variety of characters - one character would be a little boring. Ideally, all three characters would be able to be displayed on the screen at once, each using their own individual AR marker.
If the project were to be developed to its full potential, the outcome would be a totally 're-vamped' and updated version of a trading card game, allowing players to fight their creatures, have effects appear on the desk / other surface, and view a large spectrum of different creatures, with many animations.
The idea/game/interactive display must:
Use a method of crossing over the physical and digital 'worlds'. This will be done by using AR markers, flash, and a webcam. We initially thought to use QR codes, but realised they could only be use to link to web pages, rather than display augmented reality information.
Enable the user to view the characters in a 'real world' environment.
Be accessible to all age groups. The product should not contain any adult material, or anything that someone would find offensive. The product should be simple enough to entertain children, and complex enough to appeal to adults - perhaps in adults case, the product would be appealing because it is a memory from their childhood, and the technology is new - it could be especially interesting for older adults who have witnessed the long development processes of items like mobile phones.
Be a positive and enjoyable experience - the aim of the product is to be fun, interesting and engaging.
The idea/game/interactive display should:
Allow the user to view all angles of the creature displayed. They should be able to pick the marker up, and rotate the marker to view the creature from all sides. This will allow the user to feel part of the product, allowing them to experience AR first hand. This interactivity is an important aspect.
Use a variety of characters - one character would be a little boring. Ideally, all three characters would be able to be displayed on the screen at once, each using their own individual AR marker.
If the project were to be developed to its full potential, the outcome would be a totally 're-vamped' and updated version of a trading card game, allowing players to fight their creatures, have effects appear on the desk / other surface, and view a large spectrum of different creatures, with many animations.
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Augmented Reality and Academia.
There is potential for AR to be used as a learning tool. It could allow the user to experience things that would not usually be possible or available, letting the user engage in new environments. It would be useful in engaging learners, including helping those who find the usual reading and writing style of learning difficult. It could also be used as a training tool, maybe for organisations such as the army, allowing soldiers to train without the possibility of casualties.
In a similar way, AR can be used to assist people overcome fears, and aid in studying their behavior. A paper (Juani Bretón-López, Soledad Quero, Cristina Botella, Azucena García-Palacios, Rosa Maria Baños, Mariano Alcañiz. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking - An Augmented Reality System Validation for the Treatment of Cockroach Phobia. December 2010) details the use of AR in exposure therapy, which is used to assist people in overcoming deep phobias. The basic idea of exposure therapy is that the person with the phobia is exposed to the subject of that phobia, with the intensity building up over time, and nothing negative happening to them as a result of this exposure.
The paper talks about the use of cockroaches and AR - six participants, all with a phobia of cockroaches. When faced with the simulated cockroaches, they all reported strong negative feelings and anxiety. These feelings are (most likely) the same as when faced with real cockroaches. This leads to the possible use of AR in exposure therapy, which may be beneficial for treating other phobias, such as fear of flying or heights, without having to expose the sufferer to these situations first hand.
It's something to think about - could our project involve a message or function outside of being entertaining?
In a similar way, AR can be used to assist people overcome fears, and aid in studying their behavior. A paper (Juani Bretón-López, Soledad Quero, Cristina Botella, Azucena García-Palacios, Rosa Maria Baños, Mariano Alcañiz. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking - An Augmented Reality System Validation for the Treatment of Cockroach Phobia. December 2010) details the use of AR in exposure therapy, which is used to assist people in overcoming deep phobias. The basic idea of exposure therapy is that the person with the phobia is exposed to the subject of that phobia, with the intensity building up over time, and nothing negative happening to them as a result of this exposure.
The paper talks about the use of cockroaches and AR - six participants, all with a phobia of cockroaches. When faced with the simulated cockroaches, they all reported strong negative feelings and anxiety. These feelings are (most likely) the same as when faced with real cockroaches. This leads to the possible use of AR in exposure therapy, which may be beneficial for treating other phobias, such as fear of flying or heights, without having to expose the sufferer to these situations first hand.
It's something to think about - could our project involve a message or function outside of being entertaining?
A Bit About AR in Industry.
With Augmented Reality, the lines between what is art, what is a commercial application, and what is an academic application are blurred - the technology is new, so the exploration of the topic is rather undefined. For example, all industrial applications could be perceived as somewhat arty and academic - it's hard to split the applications into distinct categories, as they are mostly interlinked. I'm going to be looking at a few various ways AR is used.
One commercial application of AR is the game for the PSP console, Invizimals. The objective of the game is to catch, level up, and battle creatures. The creatures are 'hunted' down by using a camera designed to be used with the PSP. The creatures are captured in the 'real world', with the camera taking the image in front of it (for example, your desk) and relaying it to the PSP's screen. Varying creatures are spawned, determined by the colour of surfaces and the time of day.
The creatures are 'captured' by placing a marker in front of the camera, on the creature.
AR has the potential to be a great way of gaming. Invizimals is a step in the right direction, but there are still a lot of rough edges. The game has been one of the first to really use AR as the main point of the game. Other consoles (Nintendo's 3DS) are beginning to use AR in some of their games too. However, right now, the use of AR with gaming is in it's early stages. There is a lot of potential here, and hopefully it will be improved upon in the next few years.
One commercial application of AR is the game for the PSP console, Invizimals. The objective of the game is to catch, level up, and battle creatures. The creatures are 'hunted' down by using a camera designed to be used with the PSP. The creatures are captured in the 'real world', with the camera taking the image in front of it (for example, your desk) and relaying it to the PSP's screen. Varying creatures are spawned, determined by the colour of surfaces and the time of day.
The creatures are 'captured' by placing a marker in front of the camera, on the creature.
AR has the potential to be a great way of gaming. Invizimals is a step in the right direction, but there are still a lot of rough edges. The game has been one of the first to really use AR as the main point of the game. Other consoles (Nintendo's 3DS) are beginning to use AR in some of their games too. However, right now, the use of AR with gaming is in it's early stages. There is a lot of potential here, and hopefully it will be improved upon in the next few years.
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