Black Magic Book

From HIT Lab NZ

Researchers:	Eric Woods , Gerald Binder , Mario Stangl , Mark Billinghurst
Date:	June, 2002 - Ongoing
Funding:

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Contents 1 Publications 2 Additional Content 2.1 Image Gallery 2.2 Videos

• Download Demo

The BlackMagic experience uses leading technology to tell the story of the America's Cup in a very innovative and different way. When people look through a handheld display at the pages of a normal book, animated virtual models leap out of the pages.

No matter where the user positions themselves around the book, or how they turn it, three-dimensional images will still appear attached to each page. New virtual scenes and models can be seen by simply turning the pages of the book. The BlackMagic book contains an array of images ranging from a model of the original 1852 winner, America, to a virtual video depicting Team New Zealand's 1995 victory, and an animation of the 2003 America's Cup course.

The BlackMagic book also provides a shared experience. Two people can each look through their own handheld displays at the same virtual model. Each user will see the model from his or her own viewpoint, just like a real object.

The BlackMagic technology has many possible applications. For example, shops in the future could use books like this to showcase their products, teachers could use this in the classroom, and architects could use it to show buildings to their clients.

The BlackMagic experience was developed at the HIT Lab NZ using technology from Hiroshima City University, and with support from the Canterbury Development Corporation (CDC) and the University of Canterbury.

Although the BlackMagic book appears to be magical, it actually is not. The BlackMagic experience is made up of a book with black and white squares on the pages and a handheld display connected to a camera and computer. The secret is in the squares.

It works as follows

1. The camera captures video of the real world and sends it to the computer.
2. Software on the computer searches through each video frame for any square shapes.
3. If a square is found, the software uses some mathematics to calculate the position of the camera relative to the square. In the BlackMagic book there are white squares on the pages, so the software finds the position of the camera relative to the book page.
4. Once the position of the camera is known a computer graphics model is drawn from that same position.
5. This model is drawn on top of the video of the real world and so appear stuck on the square marker.
6. The final output is shown back in the handheld display, so when the user looks through the display they see graphics overlaid on the real world.

The computer is able to do this calculation fast enough that the square marker can be moved and the computer graphics will move with it. The only requirement is that the user has to be able to see that whole square marker in order for the tracking to work.

The BlackMagic book experience is based on the free ARToolKit library developed by Dr. Hirokazu Kato from Hiroshima City University, Japan. ARToolKit is a C software library that can be used to calculate camera position and orientation relative to physical tracking markers in real time. You can find out more about ARToolKit from the links page above.

If you want to know more about Augmented Reality and the BlackMagic application, click here to view our questions and answers (Q & A's) section.

Publications

Additional Content

Image Gallery

Videos

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