Geospatial Visualization In Place: New Opportunities with Augmented Reality

Mark Billinghurst HIT Lab NZ

University of Canterbury

Christchurch Earthquakes

Christchurch Before and After

  Professional solutions available   Autodesk REVIST, ESRI ArcGIS, Grass,etc

Emerging Novel User Interfaces   Stereo Visualization   Multi-touch screens   Smartphones

VisionSpace

Next Generation Immersive Visualization

GeoSpatial Data

Limitations   Complex interfaces   Unintuitive interaction   2D display for 3D content   Separation from the real world   Remote visualization

Augmented Reality (Azuma 97)  Combines Real and Virtual Images

-  Both can be seen at the same time   Interactive in real-time

- The virtual content can be interacted with  Registered in 3D

- Virtual objects appear fixed in space

  Put AR pictures here

Augmented Reality Examples

AR and Geospatial Visualization   Enhanced Maps

  AR overlay on printed material

  Outdoor AR   In place visualization

  Mobile AR   Sensor Visualization

  Sensor data shown in place

AR Markerless Tracking

  OPIRA Library  Uses natural features for tracking   Fast, robust performance

Interactive AR Maps   Markerless tracking   3D model overlay   Gesture input

Outdoor AR

  Highly accurate outdoor AR tracking system  GPS, Inertial, RTK system  HMD

  First prototype   Laptop based   2-3 cm accuracy

Image Registration

AR Stakeout Application

PCI 3D Graphics Board

Hard Drive

Serial

Ports

CPU

PC104 Sound Card

PC104 PCMCIA

GPS Antenna

Tracker Controller

DC to DC Converter

Battery

Wearable Computer

GPS RTK correction

Radio

Example self-built working solution with PCI-based 3D graphics

Columbia Touring Machine

Mobile AR - Hardware

2008 - Location Aware Phones

Nokia Navigator Motorola Droid

Real World Information Overlay   Tag real world locations

 GPS + Compass input  Overlay graphics data on live video

  Applications   Travel guide, Advertising, etc

  Eg: Mobilizy Wikitude   Android based, Public API released

  Other companies   Layar, AcrossAir, Tochnidot, RobotVision, etc

Layar – www.layar.com   iPhone, Android   > 2 million downloads   1500+ information layers

HIT Lab NZ Outdoor AR Platform

  Cross platform   Android, iPhone

  3D onsite visualization   Intuitive user interface

  Positions content in space  Camera, GPS, compass

  Client/Server software architecture   Targeting museum guide/outdoor site applications

Prototype: Earthquake Reconstruction

  See past, present and future building designs   Earthquake survivor stories shown on map view  Collect user comments   Android platform

Client/Server Architecture

Android application

Web application java and php server

Database server Postgres

Web Interface

Add models

Hydrosys Project (TU Graz)   http://www.hydrosysonline.eu/   Smart Earth visualization   Sensor network   Handheld AR display

AR View

Hydrosys Interface

Looking to the Future

Research Directions   User Interface   Wide Area Tracking   Information Filtering   Application Evaluation   Social Networking

AR Navigation   Many commercial AR browsers

  Information in place  How to navigate to POI

2D vs. AR Navigation?

VS

AR Navigation Study   Users navigate between Points of Interest   Three conditions

  AR: Using only an AR view   2D-map: Using only a top down 2D map view   AR+2D-map: Using both an AR and 2D map view

  Experiment Measures   Quantitative

-  Time taken, Distance travelled

  Qualitative -  Experimenter observations, Navigation behavior, Interviews -  User surveys, workload (NASA TLX)

HIT Lab NZ Test Platform – AR View

HIT Lab NZ Platform – Map View

Distance and Time

No significant differences

Paths Travelled

  Red – AR   Blue – AR + Map   Yellow - Map

Navigation Behaviour   Depends on interface

 Map doesn’t show short cuts

Survey Responses

User Comments   AR

  “you don't know exactly where you are all of the time.”   “using AR I found it difficult to see where I was going”

  Map   “you were able to get a sense of where you were”   “you are actually able to see the physical objects around you”

  AR+MAP   “I used the map at the beginning to understand where the

buildings were and the AR between each point”   “You can choose a direction with AR and find the shortest way

using the map.”

Usability Issues   Screen readability in sunlight   GPS inaccuracies   Compass errors   Touch screen difficulties   No routing information

Lessons Learned   User adapt navigation behaviour to guide type

  AR interface shows shortcuts  Map interface good for planning

  Include map view in AR interface   2D exocentric, and 3D egocentric

  Allow people to easily change between views  May use Map far away, AR close

  Difficult to accurately show depth

Conclusions •  AR allows for GeoSpatial Visualization in Place •  Hardware and software platforms widely available •  Many possible applications/commercial possibilities •  Important research problems need to be solved

– Wide area tracking – User experience – Information presentation/filtering – Etc..

More Information

•  Mark Billinghurst – mark.billinghurst@hitlabnz.org

•  Website – www.hitlabnz.org