Snapdragon AR: Drag and Drop2D
Augmented Reality Authoring
Caitlin Fisher, Canada Research Chair in
Digital Culture, Associate Professor,
Department of Film, York University
WHAT IS AUGMENTED REALITY?
-
Merges real and virtual image streams
-
Historically an industrial application
-
Traditionally very expensive immersive
tracking hardware and video seethrough displays … more recently,
smartphone-enabled experiences
-
We’re interested in all kinds of AR, but
have focused recent attention on
inexpensive computer vision solutions
and easy-to-use interfaces to introduce
new audiences to ar as a creative
medium
Our innovation: SnapDragonAR
SnapDragonAR is a unique
new tool for artists, educators,
and storytellers of all ages.
We wanted to build
expressive tools for nonprogrammers so we
generated a wish list that
prioritized easy buy-in, drag
and drop, scaleability, high
resolution 2D, and extremely
low cost
http://www.futurestories.ca/snapdragonar/
SnapdragonAR
What do you need?
Mac computer (at the moment the software is for mac
(intel) only), webcam, printer (or printed markers)
What else could you use?
Data projector -- for showing your ar masterpiece to a
crowd
Inexpensive gaming goggles - if you would rather have
the uncanny effect of seeing your paper marker come to
life in your hand, rather than on your computer screen
Camera with a longer cord to explore markers further
away from your computer
Is it easy?
Yes. Transform any surface into a screen simply by
adding a marker.
Print stickers at any size you like, using your regular
printer.
Bring everyday objects to life and make your own
projects at home.
Simply print your markers, turn on the camera, and
start dragging 2D images from your computer into the
drop zones.
How does SnapDragon work?
Computer vision techniques provide augmented reality programmers a low
cost solution to achieving accurate registration.
Markers -- fiducials-- are used to mark coordinates in a real scene.
There are many marker systems available. The Mfd-5 marker library, a
particularly robust tracking system developed by our collaborator Dr. mark
Fiala, is being used exclusively by our lab to create new tools for artists
and designers.
- Snapdragon is a stand-alone application built as a plug-in to Max/MSP
(but you don’t need to have Max/MSP to run it). Great for rapid prototyping
of these kinds of experiences - very inexpensive, scalable, easy to
produce. We can’t offer you the Max code, but we create custom
interfaces depending on the project or installation we’re working on.
SnapDragon has the most popular of these features.
SnapDragonAR projects: Andromeda
Andromeda -- augmented reality poetry, co-winner
of the Vinaròs 4th International Digital Literature
Award 2008.
SnapDragonAR projects: Circle
Circle augmented reality tabletop theatre, presented
at the Digital Arts and Culture Conference 2009, UC
Irvine.
SnapDragonAR projects: 52 card cinema
G. A. Rhodes' 52 Card Cinema
SnapDragonAR projects: Wonderturner
Helen Papagiannis Wonderturner (an augmented
reality exquisite corpse)-- on display at the Ontario
Science Centre summer 2010
SnapDragonAR Projects: living Postcards
Andrew Roth - Living
Postcards kiosk
Living Postcards is an interactive display
designed for use at the Future of the
Internet Conference, Prague (2009) and
the Canada 3.0 Conference, Stratford
(2009). Users approach the booth and
can watch a mirrored projection of
themselves holding a movie clip in the
palm of their hands.
SnapDragonAR Projects: Expo 67 maquettes
How might ar be used to give new
audiences a sense of the viewing
experience of multi-screen and
immersive cinema works that can never
be seen in situ again? The creation of
inexpensive models to which historical
film footage can be added, as it is found,
has been used for the collection of film
fragments -- augmented reality
recreation as methodology -- if such
models were easy and inexpensive to
generate, if they could be built and
rebuilt within a day, rather than a month.
SnapDragonAR lets you do this.
SnapDragonAR in the classroom
-- bring maps, charts, family trees, historical presentations to life with
audio and video
-- living postcards, objects, toys, video puzzles, animated chess sets
-- ar markers on classroom walls and ceilings, shirts and masks, quickchange theatre costumes
-- ‘Harry Potter’ newspapers and sorting hats
-- easy multichannel cinema, ar poetry and ar pop-up books
-- device for understanding cinematic and literary conventions,
storyboarding games
-- uses we haven’t thought of yet -- tell us!
SnapDragonAR
in the classroom
SnapDragonAR in the classroom
easy-to-produce, reconfigurable, low cost and low tech
buy-in invites play, exploration, mash-up
From JK-University
SNAPDRAGONAR IS FREE TO TRY

The free download gives you a full feature version
with a time-out… long enough for a student to demo a
project.

If you enjoy using SnapDragonAR you can buy the full
version of the software with incredible features:

Resize your image in real time.

Move the image right off the marker.

Record video at the press of a button.

Read images from any Quicktime movie or jpg hosted online
(so you can pull from youtube, add immediate context to your
project via the weather channel or cnn or …)
SNAPDRAGONAR FUTURE FEATURES

In the lab we’re working on a variety of new
features, including:

Collision detection (marker A + marker B = event C) …
great for math instruction, storyboarding of complex
interactive narratives, interactive storytelling and tabletop
theatre)

Detection of marker rotation (use a marker like a dial! …
take your story from sun-up to sundown… use your
marker as a time machine to move through historical
material!)

If demand is sufficient, a pc version is possible
Find out more
Try or purchase snapdragon:
http://www.futurestories.ca/snapdragonar/
Additional project page:
www.yorku.ca/caitlin/futurestories/snapdragon
Information about York University’s Augmented Reality
Lab: http://futurecinema.ca/arlab/
Our YouTube channel: thearlab
Contact caitlin@yorku.ca