Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) is a natural development from virtual reality (VR), which was developed several decades earlier. AR complements VR in many ways. Due to the advantages of the user being able to see both the real and virtual objects simultaneously, AR is far more intuitive, but it's not completely detached from human factors and other restrictions. AR doesn't consume as much time and effort in the applications because it's not required to construct the entire virtual scene and the environment. In this book, several new and emerging application areas of AR are presented and divided into three sections. The first section contains applications in outdoor and mobile AR, such as construction, restoration, security and surveillance. The second section deals with AR in medical, biological, and human bodies. The third and final section contains a number of new and useful applications in daily living and learning

Integrated survey for the reconstruction of the Papal Basilica and the Sacred Convent of St. Francis in Assisi, Italy

The Papal Basilica and the Sacred Convent of Saint Francis in Assisi in Italy are characterized by unique and composite particularities that need an exhaustive knowledge of the sites themselves to guarantee visitor's security and safety, considering all the people and personnel normally present in the site, visitors with disabilities and finally the needs for cultural heritage preservation and protection. This aim can be reached using integrated systems and innovative technologies, such as Internet of Everything (IoE), which can connect people, things (smart sensors, devices and actuators; mobile terminals; wearable devices; etc.), data/information/knowledge and processes to reach the wanted objectives. The IoE system must implement and support an Integrated Multidisciplinary Model for Security and Safety Management (IMMSSM) for the specific context, using a multidisciplinary approach. The purpose of the paper is to illustrate the integrated survey for the reconstruction of the considered site that was necessary to obtain all the necessary information to start to set up the considered IMMSSM and the related IoE based technological system

New metric products, movies and 3D models from old stereopairs and their application to the in situ palaeontological site of Ambrona

[ES] Este artículo está basado en la información del siguiente proyecto:● LDGP_mem_006-1: "[S_Ambrona_Insitu] Levantamiento fotogramétrico del yacimiento paleontológico “Museo in situ” de Ambrona (Soria)", http://hdl.handle.net/10810/7353● LDGP_mem_006-1: "[S_Ambrona_Insitu] Levantamiento fotogramétrico del yacimiento paleontológico “Museo in situ” de Ambrona (Soria)", http://hdl.handle.net/10810/7353[EN] This paper is based on the information gathered in the following project:[EN] 3D modelling tools from photographic pictures have experienced significant improvements in the last years. One of the most outstanding changes is the spread of the photogrammetric systems based on algorithms referred to as Structure from Motion (SfM) in contrast with the traditional stereoscopic pairs. Nevertheless, the availability of important collections of stereoscopic registers collected during past decades invites us to explore the possibilities for re-using these photographs in order to generate new multimedia products, especially due to the fact that many of the documented elements have been largely altered or even disappeared. This article analyses an example of application to the re-use of a collection of photographs from the palaeontological site of Ambrona (Soria, Spain). More specifically, different pieces of software based on Structure from Motion (SfM) algorithms for the generation of 3D models with photographic textures are tested and some derived products such as orthoimages, video or applications of Augmented Reality (AR) are presented.[ES] Las herramientas de modelado 3D a partir de imágenes fotográficas han experimentado avances muy significativos en los últimos años. Uno de los más destacados corresponde a la generalización de los sistemas fotogramétricos basados en los algoritmos denominados Structure from Motion (SfM) sobre los proyectos de documentación tradicional basados en pares estereoscópicos. La existencia de importantes colecciones de registros estereoscópicos realizados durante las décadas anteriores invita a explorar las posibilidades de reutilización de estos registros para la obtención de productos multimedia actuales, máxime cuando algunos de los elementos documentados han sufrido grandes modificaciones o incluso desaparecido. En el presente artículo se analiza la reutilización de colecciones fotográficas de yacimientos paleontológicos mediante un ejemplo centrado en el yacimiento de Ambrona (Soria, España). En concreto, se contrastan varios programas basados en los algoritmos denominados Structure from Motion (SfM) para la generación del modelo 3D con textura y otros productos derivados como ortoimágenes, vídeos o aplicaciones de Realidad Aumentada (RA)

Nuclear Physics for Cultural Heritage

Nuclear physics applications in medicine and energy are well known and widely reported. Less well known are the many important nuclear and related techniques used for the study, characterization, assessment and preservation of cultural heritage. There has been enormous progress in this field in recent years and the current review aims to provide the public with a popular and accessible account of this work. The Nuclear Physics Division of the EPS represents scientists from all branches of nuclear physics across Europe. One of its aims is the dissemination of knowledge about nuclear physics and its applications. This review is led by Division board member Anna Macková, Head of the Tandetron Laboratory at the Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and the review committee includes four other members of the nuclear physics board interested in this area: Faiçal Azaiez, Johan Nyberg, Eli Piasetzky and Douglas MacGregor. To create a truly authoritative account, the Scientific Editors have invited contributions from leading experts across Europe, and this publication is the combined result of their work. The review is extensively illustrated with important discoveries and examples from archaeology, pre-history, history, geography, culture, religion and curation, which underline the breadth and importance of this field. The large number of groups and laboratories working in the study and preservation of cultural heritage across Europe indicate the enormous effort and importance attached by society to this activity

TangiPaint: Interactive tangible media

Currently, there is a wide disconnection between the real and virtual worlds in computer graphics. Art created with textured paints on canvases have visual effects which naturally supplement simple color. Real paint exhibits shadows and highlights, which change in response to viewing and lighting directions. The colors interact with this environment and can produce very noticeable effects. Additionally, the traditional means of human-computer interaction using a keyboard and mouse is unnatural and inefficient---gestures and actions are not performed on the objects themselves. These visual effects and natural interactions are missing from digital media in the virtual world. The absence of these visual characteristics disconnects users from their content. Our research looks into simulating these missing pieces and reconnecting users. TangiPaint is an interactive, tangible application for creating and exploring digital media. It gives the experience of working with real materials, such as oil paints and textured canvases, on a digital display. TangiPaint implements natural gestures and allows users to directly interact with their work. The Tangible Display technology allows users to tilt and reorient the device and screen to see the subtle gloss, shadow, and impasto lighting effects of the simulated surface. To simulate realistic lighting effects we use a Ward BRDF illumination model. This model is implemented as an OpenGL shader program. Our system tracks the texture and relief of a piece of art by saving topographical information. We implement height fields, normal vectors, and parameter maps to store this information. These textures are submitted to the lighting model that renders a final product. TangiPaint builds on previous work and applications in this area, but is the first to integrate these aspects into a single software application. The system is entirely self-contained and implemented on the Apple iOS platforms, the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. No additional hardware is required and the interface is easy to learn and use. TangiPaint is a step in the direction of interactive digital art media that looks and behaves like real materials

A Review on Text Detection Techniques

Text detection in image is an important field. Reading text is challenging because of the variations in images. Text detection is useful for many navigational purposes e.g. text on google API’s and traffic panels etc. This paper analyzes the work done on text detection by many researchers and critically evaluates the techniques designed for text detection and states the limitation of each approach. We have integrated the work of many researchers for getting a brief over view of multiple available techniques and their strengths and limitations are also discussed to give readers a clear picture. The major dataset discussed in all these papers are ICDAR 2003, 2005, 2011, 2013 and SVT(street view text).

2D-barcode for mobile devices

2D-barcodes were designed to carry significantly more data than its 1D counterpart. These codes are often used in industrial information tagging applications where high data capacity, mobility, and data robustness are required. Wireless mobile devices such as camera phones and Portable Digital Assistants (PDAs) have evolved from just a mobile voice communication device to what is now a mobile multimedia computing platform. Recent integration of these two mobile technologies has sparked some interesting applications where 2D-barcodes work as visual tags and/or information source and camera phones performs image processing tasks on the device itself. One of such applications is hyperlink establishment. The 2D symbol captured by a camera phone is decoded by the software installed in the phone. Then the web site indicated by the data encoded in a symbol is automatically accessed and shown in the display of the camera phone. Nonetheless, this new mobile applications area is still at its infancy. Each proposed mobile 2D-barcode application has its own choice of code, but no standard exists nor is there any study done on what are the criteria for setting a standard 2D-barcode for mobile phones. This study intends to address this void. The first phase of the study is qualitative examination. In order to select a best standard 2D-barcode, firstly, features desirable for a standard 2D-barcode that is optimized for the mobile phone platform are identified. The second step is to establish the criteria based on the features identified. These features are based on the operating limitations and attributes of camera phones in general use today. All published and accessible 2D-barcodes are thoroughly examined in terms of criteria set for the selection of a best 2D-barcode for camera phone applications. In the second phase, the 2D-barcodes that have higher potential to be chosen as a standard code are experimentally examined against the three criteria: light condition, distance, whether or not a 2D-barcode supports VGA resolution. Each sample 2D-barcode is captured by a camera phone with VGA resolution and the outcome is tested using an image analysis tool written in the scientific language called MATLAB. The outcome of this study is the selection of the most suitable 2D-barcode for applications where mobile devices such as camera phones are utilized

Connecting the Brain to Itself through an Emulation.

Pilot clinical trials of human patients implanted with devices that can chronically record and stimulate ensembles of hundreds to thousands of individual neurons offer the possibility of expanding the substrate of cognition. Parallel trains of firing rate activity can be delivered in real-time to an array of intermediate external modules that in turn can trigger parallel trains of stimulation back into the brain. These modules may be built in software, VLSI firmware, or biological tissue as in vitro culture preparations or in vivo ectopic construct organoids. Arrays of modules can be constructed as early stage whole brain emulators, following canonical intra- and inter-regional circuits. By using machine learning algorithms and classic tasks known to activate quasi-orthogonal functional connectivity patterns, bedside testing can rapidly identify ensemble tuning properties and in turn cycle through a sequence of external module architectures to explore which can causatively alter perception and behavior. Whole brain emulation both (1) serves to augment human neural function, compensating for disease and injury as an auxiliary parallel system, and (2) has its independent operation bootstrapped by a human-in-the-loop to identify optimal micro- and macro-architectures, update synaptic weights, and entrain behaviors. In this manner, closed-loop brain-computer interface pilot clinical trials can advance strong artificial intelligence development and forge new therapies to restore independence in children and adults with neurological conditions