Distributed multi-touch virtual collaborative environments

Abstract – We present a Remote Multi-touch Collaborative Environment that integrates videoconferencing in an immersive shared space. The proposed solution supports synchronous remote and co-located interactions of two or more users sharing the same virtual workspace. Two applications, that incorporate 2D and 3D shared space, have been developed. I

Using Haar-like feature classifiers for hand tracking in tabletop augmented reality

We propose in this paper a hand interaction approach to Augmented Reality Tabletop applications. We detect the user’s hands using haar-like feature classifiers and correlate its positions with the fixed markers on the table. This gives the user the possibility to move, rotate and resize the virtual objects located over the table with their bare hands.Postprint (published version

SUPPORTING MISSION PLANNING WITH A PERSISTENT AUGMENTED ENVIRONMENT

Includes supplementary materialIncludes Supplementary MaterialThe Department of the Navy relies on current naval practices such as briefs, chat, and voice reports to provide an overall operational assessment of the fleet. That includes the cyber domain, or battlespace, depicting a single snapshot of a ship’s network equipment and service statuses. However, the information can be outdated and inaccurate, creating confusion among decision-makers in understanding the service and availability of equipment in the cyber domain. We examine the ability of a persistent augmented environment (PAE) and 3D visualization to support communications and cyber network operations, reporting, and resource management decision-making. We designed and developed a PAE prototype and tested the usability of its interface. Our study examined users’ comprehension of 3D visualization of the naval cyber battlespace onboard multiple ships and evaluated the PAE’s ability to assist in effective mission planning at the tactical level. The results are highly encouraging: the participants were able to complete their tasks successfully. They found the interface easy to understand and operate, and the prototype was characterized as a valuable alternative to their current practices. Our research provides close insights into the feasibility and effectiveness of the novel form of data representation and its capability to support faster and improved situational awareness and decision-making in a complex operational technology (OT) environment between diverse communities.Lieutenant, United States NavyLieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Scalable and Extensible Augmented Reality with Applications in Civil Infrastructure Systems.

In Civil Infrastructure System (CIS) applications, the requirement of blending synthetic and physical objects distinguishes Augmented Reality (AR) from other visualization technologies in three aspects: 1) it reinforces the connections between people and objects, and promotes engineers’ appreciation about their working context; 2) It allows engineers to perform field tasks with the awareness of both the physical and synthetic environment; 3) It offsets the significant cost of 3D Model Engineering by including the real world background. The research has successfully overcome several long-standing technical obstacles in AR and investigated technical approaches to address fundamental challenges that prevent the technology from being usefully deployed in CIS applications, such as the alignment of virtual objects with the real environment continuously across time and space; blending of virtual entities with their real background faithfully to create a sustained illusion of co- existence; integrating these methods to a scalable and extensible computing AR framework that is openly accessible to the teaching and research community, and can be readily reused and extended by other researchers and engineers. The research findings have been evaluated in several challenging CIS applications where the potential of having a significant economic and social impact is high. Examples of validation test beds implemented include an AR visual excavator-utility collision avoidance system that enables spotters to ”see” buried utilities hidden under the ground surface, thus helping prevent accidental utility strikes; an AR post-disaster reconnaissance framework that enables building inspectors to rapidly evaluate and quantify structural damage sustained by buildings in seismic events such as earthquakes or blasts; and a tabletop collaborative AR visualization framework that allows multiple users to observe and interact with visual simulations of engineering processes.PHDCivil EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96145/1/dsuyang_1.pd