Paper name: A Low-Cost Infrastructure for Tabletop Games
This paper introduces EquisFTIR, a low-cost hardware and software infrastructure for digital tabletop gaming.
Tabletops allow small groups of people to cooperatively interact with digital media within the familiar setting of grouping around a table.
The cost of developing tabletop games is high due to the need for expensive hardware and complex software.
Tabletop games include chess, poker, and newer games such as Carcasonne.
Current tabletops available, cost tens of thousands of dollars, well beyond the reach of consumers.
EquisFTIR consists of a tabletop that can be built for about $2,000,
Tabletop games have existed for at least 5,000 years
Digital tabletop games made their first appearance in the 1980s.Players interacted with the games indirectly, via the same joystick and button controls.
Augmented reality tabletop games provide much of the the pleasurable aspects of traditional tabletop board games, allowing players to directly interact with the board and its pieces.
Two players can cooperate to play the game, in which gestures and voice commands replace the traditional mouse and keyboard interface.
The sizes of objects appearing on the display must be large enough to allow easy selection and manipulation with fingers, which are considerably less precise than a mouse. Today, state-of-the-art table-top systems include a computer display and a sensor used to detect touches and movement of physical objects across the table surface. Displays are commonly provided through front or rear projection, or by using an LCD screen as a table surface. Whilst some table-top systems are very expensive, costin over 10,000 dollars, other vision-based systems provide lower cost solutions to multi-touch sensitivity. These systems either approximate the 3D position of the user's hand through pixel intensity, stereoscopy , or through markers attached to a deformable material. Han proposed a low-cost, simple FTIR-based sensor. The system introduces infrared (IR) light into a medium (typically acrylic) with an index of refraction significantly different than the air around it.
low cost tabletop While a number of tabletop devices are now commercially available, are very much expensive, this EquisFTIR surface provides multi-touch, pressure-sensitive tabletop interaction, and, depending on the components used, can be built for a few hundred to a few thousand dollars
Objects used a simple $99 Ikea table The tabletop surface consists of three layers. A 1=4" acrylic sheet forms the main layer. A set of 13.5v infrared light emitting diodes (LEDs) A thin 1m of water-clear silicone rubber custom-built cast iron frame. A Logitech QuickCam Fusion camera with an infrared NEC short throw data projector The total cost of the components required to build the EquisFTIR table is approximately $2,000
software infrastructure The EquisFTIR software library provides accurate and high performance processing of FTIR tabletop inputs. The library has a simple application programming interface which is open-source and freely available Both libraries provide touch information via TUIO, an event-based protocol that report when fingers press, release or drag on the table surface. There are many changing sources of infrared light, for example due to the projector, background light in the room, or shadows as users move their hands and arms over the table.
The EquisFTIR library The library used, generates three types of events: - The user has pressed an object onto the table - The user has removed an object from the table - The user has dragged an object along the table.
Limitations - Players interacting with games via a mouse or game controller expect pixel-level accuracy in pointing tasks. - Hard to transport - light emitting diodes have a limited lifetime, requiring them to be occasionally replaced
Bibliography Christopher Wolfe, J.S.(n.d.).A Low-Cost Infrastructure for Tabletop Games,Canada.
Process of Symbol Recognition - Reactivision The following are the processes which need to be carried out:
•A graph is defined when a fiducial symbol is detected; the graph is defined according to the fiducial symbol which was detected. According to Ross Bencin et al (Bencina, Kaltenbrunner, & Jorda'), the derived graph can be seen as a containership hierarchy of the image, therefore which black regions of the symbol are contained in which white regions and vice versa.
•The graph produced in the above process does not differ if the geometries of the symbols are different. But in order to calculate the location and orientation of the symbol, a specific set of fiducials must be chosen to be able to choose a specific method which will be able to calculate such values.
•Since the graph produced depends on how the symbols are read, there may be various interpretations of the same symbol. A traversal was developed which would only generate one interpretation of the symbols. The Traversal is called Left Heavydepth sequence. This traversal generates the graph with the most number of nodes to the left and the least number of nodes on the right hand side.
•Reactivision make use of three open source libraries which are: oPort Video: video acquisition and previewing library. ooscpack: packing and unpacking Open Sound Control messages olibdfidtrack: fiducial recognition algorithms
The video captured by the Port Video is passed onto the libfidtrack library. A graph is generated from the capture video and a binary copy of the image is created. The image is checked with the loaded dictionary of the library and if the symbol matches the process moves on to the next step to calculate the orientation and location of the symbol. Finally all the information gathered is formatted into Open Sound Control packets and passed to the clients through network sockets.
References
Bencina, R., Kaltenbrunner, M., & Jorda', S. (n.d.). Improved Topological Fiducial Tracking in the Reactivision Sytem. Barcelona, Spain: Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
Research paper Name: reactivation: A Computer-Vision Framework for Table-based Tangible Interaction
Written by Martin Kaltenbrunner and Ross Bencina
The following are relevant points taken down whiles reading the paper for further details please refer to the paper.
•The paper gives an overview to reactivation software; it gives both details for first time users and more technical users. •Reactivation is designed for tangible table based user interfaces •Central component standalone application for fast and robust tracking of markers •The framework includes transport protocols for transmission of data via Local area or Wide area networks •Reactivation allows for rapid development of tangible user interfaces because it is so flexible and many programming languages can be used in conjunction with Reactivation •This paper gives many key points in building of the table hardware for further and a more detailed look refer to the research paper •This paper gives different surveys on projects using the Reactivation technology •The algorithm Computer Vision is used for the task of tracking of markers •The Computer Vision Algorithm allows for hundreds of different markers to be used it also facilitates calculations multiple markers position and angle of rotation in a 2 Dimensional space •Reactivation is freely available under a multitude of Open Source Software Licences •Reactivation is designed to be a distributed application framework rather than the more traditional Object Code Library framework, this allows for greater flexibility of the code. •Each component of the application is implemented as a separate executable process. •Reactivation will search the users camera which need to be synchronised with Reactivation it then analyses the images frame by frame this provides with the best capture quality available •Reactivation sends data about the identified symbols via the Network Socket to any listening application •The Reactivation code can be used over a multitude of platforms ranging from, Linux, Macintosh and Windows, it is written in Portable C++ •The developers of Reactivation have created a separate protocol for it called TUIO •Different programming languages can be used in conjunction with Reactivation these languages are as follows: C++, C#, Java, Processing and Pure Data •Reactivation also allows for figure tracking this can be done by the user placing small figure markers on their figures this is only needed for older versions of Reactivation, the latest versions of Reactivation don’t even need markers on their figures all users need to do is calibrate the camera and the software will recognise figure movements. •When using Reactivation the best surfaces to use are blurry ones, this is because transparent surfaces can give undesirable results by the software is it cannot focus on the image as well as with a blurry surface. •The image quality results depend on a multitude of variable these being: Camera Sensor, Lens Quality, illumination of both the room and the surface, Camera Setting and Lens Settings •Camera with CCD Sensors will provide with the best reading quality and therefore give the best results. •Modern Dual Core computer are more than sufficient to run Reactivation and any other relevant programming languages •Almost of any object can be turned into an tackable tangible component via the user of dedicated symbols •Reactivation is an ongoing project therefore the software is always evolving and getting better, new features are always being added therefore periodic checks should be made to see if any updates to the software can be relevant for your use •Current works on Reactivation are additional Fiducial Agents like Artoolkit, Baracodes and Semacode.
"reacTIVision is an open source, cross-platform computer vision framework for the fast and robust tracking of fiducial markers attached onto physical objects, as well as for multi-touch finger tracking. It was mainly designed as a toolkit for the rapid development of table-based tangible user interfaces (TUI) and multi-touch interactive surfaces." http://reactivision.sourceforge.net/ - 1/3/10
Paper name: A Low-Cost Infrastructure for Tabletop Games
ReplyDeleteThis paper introduces EquisFTIR, a low-cost hardware and software infrastructure for digital tabletop gaming.
Tabletops allow small groups of people to cooperatively interact with digital media within the familiar setting of grouping around a table.
The cost of developing tabletop games is high due to the need for expensive hardware and complex software.
Tabletop games include chess, poker, and newer games such as Carcasonne.
Current tabletops available, cost tens of thousands of dollars, well beyond the reach of consumers.
EquisFTIR consists of a tabletop that can be built for about $2,000,
Tabletop games have existed for at least 5,000 years
Digital tabletop games made their first appearance in the 1980s.Players interacted with the games indirectly, via the same joystick and button controls.
Augmented reality tabletop games provide much of the the pleasurable aspects of traditional tabletop board games, allowing players to directly interact with the board and its pieces.
Two players can cooperate to play the game, in which gestures and voice commands replace the traditional mouse and keyboard interface.
The sizes of objects appearing on the display must be large enough to allow easy selection and manipulation with fingers, which are considerably less precise than a mouse.
Today, state-of-the-art table-top systems include a computer display and a sensor used to detect touches and movement of physical objects across the table surface. Displays are commonly provided through front or rear projection, or by using an LCD screen as a table surface.
Whilst some table-top systems are very expensive, costin over 10,000 dollars, other vision-based systems provide lower cost solutions to multi-touch sensitivity. These systems either approximate the 3D position of the user's hand through pixel intensity, stereoscopy , or through markers attached to a deformable material.
Han proposed a low-cost, simple FTIR-based sensor. The system introduces infrared (IR) light into a medium (typically acrylic) with an index of refraction significantly different than the air around it.
low cost tabletop
While a number of tabletop devices are now commercially available, are very much expensive, this EquisFTIR surface provides multi-touch, pressure-sensitive tabletop interaction, and, depending on the components used, can be built for a few hundred to a few thousand dollars
Objects used
a simple $99 Ikea table
The tabletop surface consists of three layers.
A 1=4" acrylic sheet forms the main layer.
A set of 13.5v infrared light emitting diodes (LEDs)
A thin 1m of water-clear silicone rubber
custom-built cast iron frame.
A Logitech QuickCam Fusion camera with an infrared NEC short throw data projector
The total cost of the components required to build the EquisFTIR table is approximately $2,000
software infrastructure
The EquisFTIR software library provides accurate and high performance processing of FTIR tabletop inputs. The library has a simple application programming interface which is open-source and freely available
Both libraries provide touch information via TUIO, an event-based protocol that report when fingers press, release or drag on the table surface.
There are many changing sources of infrared light, for example due to the projector, background light in the room, or shadows as users move their hands and arms over the table.
The EquisFTIR library
The library used, generates three types of events:
- The user has pressed an object onto the table
- The user has removed an object from the table
- The user has dragged an object along the table.
Limitations
- Players interacting with games via a mouse or game controller expect pixel-level accuracy in pointing tasks.
- Hard to transport
- light emitting diodes have a limited lifetime, requiring them to be occasionally replaced
Bibliography
Christopher Wolfe, J.S.(n.d.).A Low-Cost Infrastructure for Tabletop Games,Canada.
Process of Symbol Recognition - Reactivision
ReplyDeleteThe following are the processes which need to be carried out:
•A graph is defined when a fiducial symbol is detected; the graph is defined according to the fiducial symbol which was detected. According to Ross Bencin et al (Bencina, Kaltenbrunner, & Jorda'), the derived graph can be seen as a containership hierarchy of the image, therefore which black regions of the symbol are contained in which white regions and vice versa.
•The graph produced in the above process does not differ if the geometries of the symbols are different. But in order to calculate the location and orientation of the symbol, a specific set of fiducials must be chosen to be able to choose a specific method which will be able to calculate such values.
•Since the graph produced depends on how the symbols are read, there may be various interpretations of the same symbol. A traversal was developed which would only generate one interpretation of the symbols. The Traversal is called Left Heavydepth sequence. This traversal generates the graph with the most number of nodes to the left and the least number of nodes on the right hand side.
•Reactivision make use of three open source libraries which are:
oPort Video: video acquisition and previewing library.
ooscpack: packing and unpacking Open Sound Control messages
olibdfidtrack: fiducial recognition algorithms
The video captured by the Port Video is passed onto the libfidtrack library. A graph is generated from the capture video and a binary copy of the image is created. The image is checked with the loaded dictionary of the library and if the symbol matches the process moves on to the next step to calculate the orientation and location of the symbol. Finally all the information gathered is formatted into Open Sound Control packets and passed to the clients through network sockets.
References
Bencina, R., Kaltenbrunner, M., & Jorda', S. (n.d.). Improved Topological Fiducial Tracking in the Reactivision Sytem. Barcelona, Spain: Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
Research paper Name: reactivation: A Computer-Vision Framework for Table-based Tangible Interaction
ReplyDeleteWritten by Martin Kaltenbrunner and Ross Bencina
The following are relevant points taken down whiles reading the paper for further details please refer to the paper.
•The paper gives an overview to reactivation software; it gives both details for first time users and more technical users.
•Reactivation is designed for tangible table based user interfaces
•Central component standalone application for fast and robust tracking of markers
•The framework includes transport protocols for transmission of data via Local area or Wide area networks
•Reactivation allows for rapid development of tangible user interfaces because it is so flexible and many programming languages can be used in conjunction with Reactivation
•This paper gives many key points in building of the table hardware for further and a more detailed look refer to the research paper
•This paper gives different surveys on projects using the Reactivation technology
•The algorithm Computer Vision is used for the task of tracking of markers
•The Computer Vision Algorithm allows for hundreds of different markers to be used it also facilitates calculations multiple markers position and angle of rotation in a 2 Dimensional space
•Reactivation is freely available under a multitude of Open Source Software Licences
•Reactivation is designed to be a distributed application framework rather than the more traditional Object Code Library framework, this allows for greater flexibility of the code.
•Each component of the application is implemented as a separate executable process.
•Reactivation will search the users camera which need to be synchronised with Reactivation it then analyses the images frame by frame this provides with the best capture quality available
•Reactivation sends data about the identified symbols via the Network Socket to any listening application
•The Reactivation code can be used over a multitude of platforms ranging from, Linux, Macintosh and Windows, it is written in Portable C++
•The developers of Reactivation have created a separate protocol for it called TUIO
•Different programming languages can be used in conjunction with Reactivation these languages are as follows: C++, C#, Java, Processing and Pure Data
•Reactivation also allows for figure tracking this can be done by the user placing small figure markers on their figures this is only needed for older versions of Reactivation, the latest versions of Reactivation don’t even need markers on their figures all users need to do is calibrate the camera and the software will recognise figure movements.
•When using Reactivation the best surfaces to use are blurry ones, this is because transparent surfaces can give undesirable results by the software is it cannot focus on the image as well as with a blurry surface.
•The image quality results depend on a multitude of variable these being: Camera Sensor, Lens Quality, illumination of both the room and the surface, Camera Setting and Lens Settings
•Camera with CCD Sensors will provide with the best reading quality and therefore give the best results.
•Modern Dual Core computer are more than sufficient to run Reactivation and any other relevant programming languages
•Almost of any object can be turned into an tackable tangible component via the user of dedicated symbols
•Reactivation is an ongoing project therefore the software is always evolving and getting better, new features are always being added therefore periodic checks should be made to see if any updates to the software can be relevant for your use
•Current works on Reactivation are additional Fiducial Agents like Artoolkit, Baracodes and Semacode.
"reacTIVision is an open source, cross-platform computer vision framework for the fast and robust tracking of fiducial markers attached onto physical objects, as well as for multi-touch finger tracking. It was mainly designed as a toolkit for the rapid development of table-based tangible user interfaces (TUI) and multi-touch interactive surfaces."
ReplyDeletehttp://reactivision.sourceforge.net/ - 1/3/10