The GeoScope -- a mixed-reality system for planning and public participation
Proceedings of the 25th Urban Data Management Symposium (UDMS’06), May 15-17, 2006, Aalborg, Denmark, (2006)Abstract
The augmentation of real environments with additional computer generated information (augmented reality, AR), and the addition of virtual contents (mixed reality, MR) are promising interaction paradigms for the support of applications outside the classical office scenario. While the potential of AR for applications such as geo-visualization has been shown using a number of demonstration systems, there are virtually no systems in daily use up to now. This is mainly due to technical reasons. Besides suitable displays, there is a lack of reliable and accurate tracking systems, which are however required for an exact registration of the virtual contents and the real scene. Additionally, there is a lack of experience and tools for the creation of mixed reality applications and often, of intuitive interaction techniques. Especially for applications involving public audience (e.g. exhibitions, museums, public participation), additional requirements apply, such as reliability, robustness, easy adaptation to different users, and the necessity for relatively low operating expenses. In this paper, we introduce the GeoScope, a mixed-reality input/output device, which addresses those problems, especially for public applications. The GeoScope is mounted at a fixed position and consists of a display, oriented towards the user, and a camera, which points at the surroundings. Just as a telescope, the GeoScope can be turned around two axes, the two angles being captured by measuring devices. Together with the known position, a fast and highly precise tracking of the current view direction is possible, allowing the superposition of the real scene, as delivered by the camera, and virtually generated information.