[openARweb] Polaris AR Browser and preliminary KARML specs.

[Mike Liebhold]

Here's the website for the open standard browser Blair Macintyre
mentioned he and his colleagues at Georgia Tech are developing:

https://research.cc.gatech.edu/polaris/

And the KARML reference page ( AR extensions for KML):

https://research.cc.gatech.edu/polaris/content/karml-reference

and extensions chart here:

https://research.cc.gatech.edu/polaris/content/karml-extensions

via Stefan Keller :-)

[Anselm Hook]

Really great work. It makes me want to drop my current framework and
grab that one and use it instead.

No obvious links to the source so I guess they are still working on an
initial release.

I'd love to add animated behavior as well to allow objects that react
to nearby visitors or to ambient weather conditions and the like.

- anselm

--
@anselm 415 215 4856 http://twitter.com/anselm

[sophia parafina]

Agreed, this is a nicely thought out ecosystem. I found this part interesting:

"Current AR browsers give developers very limited tools (i.e. a range
slider) for customizing the user interface and the overall
functionality of the browser. Our approach has been to move the
majority of processing related to content the presentation layer
within JavaScript functions that can be overridden by users. This way,
even without changing the underlying source of the browser, alternate
strategies for managing the presentation of content can be explored
with minimal effort."

Sounds like there is an "OpenLayars" like client ;) Also, wondering
how this plays with HTML5. Looking forward to looking at both the
client and server source code.

sophia

[ThomasWrobel]

Just gave it a quick look over.
Some very well thought out ideas there. The GEOSpots seem a good short-
term fix for the inherent inaccuracy's in current devices.
I also liked the attention to occlusion objects. Something I think
will be absolutely essential for practical 3d AR layers.

[Blair]

Thanks for all the positive feedback, everyone! The site is still
pretty sketched out, but will get better.

As for source, here's our plan, which I would welcome feedback on.

First, all the backend will be completely open. We'll be turning this
site into an ecosystem with documentation, forums, examples, and so
on. Things like "here's the source to put on your server to create
something like TweetsAround", "here's how to create a server that
responds to our server and sends your geodata, instead of HMTL",
"here's a collection of examples of all the features." We want to
create a community, and we want to actively solicit suggestions for
changes and improvements (it's part of our funding to do that!).

Regarding the client, we are committing to opening the source ...
eventually. Right now, our we want to keep it controlled to avoid
"splitting" the potential community, especially across architectures.
We have it mostly working on iPhone, and are actively seeking support
to port to Android and other platforms. We may be interested in a
small number of collaborators to work on it with us, but right now we
want to get one common platform out there and have people work with it
and provide feedback.

We will be adding support for a range of things, like 3D content and
vision tracking, over the course of the summer.

As a closing question, let me solicit your opinions on this small
problem....we are changing the name of the browser (there's a small
Korean company with a mobile browser called Polaris). When you start
looking for rational names that aren't protected, it becomes amazingly
hard. So, we're thinking acronyms ... how do folks feel about:
- KARML (KML AR Markup Language) for the KML extensions
- KHARMA (KML/HTML Augmented Reality Mobile Architecture) for the
architecture
- KAMRA (pronounced camera) for the client

I personally like Polaris better than Kamra, but I haven't been able
to come up with something better that isn't trademarked or has a
similar domain of work. Opinions and suggestions welcome!

[Mike Liebhold]

>
> + 1 for KHARMA (KML/HTML Augmented Reality Mobile Architecture) for the
> architecture
>
imho - mike

[Thomas Wrobel]

Yes, now lets just resist calling it the Kharma Initiative.

[Paul Harwood]

KHARMA (KML/HTML Augmented Reality Mobile Architecture) +1

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[Anselm Hook]

Hi Blair - you at the ar event in June? Hopefully see u there!
http://augmentedrealityevent.com/

- a

--

[Blair MacIntyre]

Yes; we're demoing the browser (now called "Kamra") in the "Auggies" contest the first night, and giving a talk at the end of the second day. I don't get there till late on the first day, but Alex Hill will be there as well, and loaded up with demos.

[Alex Hill]

@Anselm - The current plan is to jazz up KMLRegions to provide JS
events indicating enter/exit/etc. from which you can bind any other
event.
The client is based on WebKit, so any animations supported by such
browsers (i.e. WebKit 3D, CSS3 ,etc.) are doable.
We don't have any notion of animations of interactivity embedded into
the KML-KARML.
As for 3D content, the plan is to jazz up the current KML model
support by adding JS events for mouse-overs and clicks on 3D objects.
And, to provide JS calls (or maybe a KML element <animationName>/
<animationState>/etc.) for starting and controlling animations/
characters.
Keep in mind that 3D models also extend to the invisible
infrastructure in the scene, so this same system can also return Z
values when a user clicks on a building (one that has a model, of
course) so that new KMLObjects (i.e. annotations) can be positioned
there.

[Anselm Hook]

Interestingly, there's a pile of people where I am at right now that could use a good open AR browser.

For the next ten days I am at the Bay Area TV Producers event - basically it is a residency program where new media producers are working to finalize their work - cumulating in a funding round - my partner Paige and I are helping out as mentors.

Many of their projects are locative - showing sacred spaces - providing a view on places that is first-hand and the like. It's an interesting bridge in my mind between what is now traditional locative media ( such as greenmaps or mapkiberia ) and slightly newer media - AR views of same.

I'd love to be able to let them play with tools like this anyway - or possibly even rope one of you guys to come down and present at some point during the next 10 days.

Anyway - let's catch up at the conference! Can't wait!

 - anselm