Local feature detection and its applications in different problems are quite popular in vision research. In order to analyze a scene, its invariant features, which are distinguishable in many views of this scene, are used in pose estimation, object detection and augmented reality. However, required performance metrics might change according to the application type / in general, the main metrics are accepted as accuracy and computational complexity. The contributions in this thesis provide improving these metrics and can be divided into three parts, as local feature detection, local feature description and description matching in different views of the same scene. In this thesis an efficient feature detection algorithm with sufficient repeatability performance is proposed. This detection method is convenient for real-time applications. For local description, a novel local binary pattern outperforming state-of-the-art binary pattern is proposed. As a final task, a fuzzy decision tree method is presented for approximate nearest neighbor search. In all parts of the system, computational efficiency is considered and the algorithms are designed according to limited processing time. Finally, an overall system capable of matching different views of the same scene has been proposed and executed in a mobile platform. The results are quite promising such that the presented system can be used in real-time applications, such as augmented reality, object retrieval, object tracking and pose estimation.

A seamless blending of the real and virtual worlds is key to increased immersion and improved user experiences for augmented reality (AR). Photorealistic and non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) are two ways to achieve this goal. Non-photorealistic rendering creates an abstract and stylized version of both the real and virtual world, making them indistinguishable. This could be particularly useful in some applications (e.g., AR/VR aided machine repair, or for virtual medical surgery) or for certain AR games with artistic stylization. Achieving temporal coherence is a key challenge for all NPR algorithms. Rendered results are temporally coherent when each frame smoothly and seamlessly transitions to the next one without visual flickering or artifacts that distract the eye from perceived smoothness. NPR algorithms with coherence are interesting in both general computer graphics and AR/VR areas. Rendering stylized AR without coherence processing causes the final results to be visually distracting. While various NPR algorithms with coherence support have been proposed in general graphics community for video processing, many of these algorithms require thorough analysis of all frames of the input video and cannot be directly applied to real-time AR applications. We have investigated existing NPR algorithms with coherence in both general graphics and AR/VR areas. These algorithms are divided into two categories: Model Space and Image Space. We present several NPR algorithms with coherence for AR: a watercolor inspired NPR algorithm, a painterly rendering algorithm, and NPR algorithms in the model space that can support several styling effects.

Som en del av forskningsprojektet Young Operator 2020 så syftar den här studien till att vara ett första steg mot en produkt, som med hjälp av av tekniken augmented reality ska vara en del av framtidens tillverkningsindustri. Studien utgår från kognitionsvetenskap och människa-datorinteraktion för att ha användaren och användarens interaktion med prototypen i fokus. Eftersom olika typer av användare kan behöva olika saker av ett system, kommer den här studien också att utgå från teorier om kompetensnivåer. Ett system som är användbart för exempelvis en novis behöver inte nödvändigtvis vara användbart för en expert. En prototyp har skapats som en del av ett annat projekt och den utgår från det arbetssätt som operatörer på Volvo GTO i Skövde har idag. Prototypen använder sig av augmented reality för att visualisera instruktioner. Det är tänkt att prototypen bland annat ska hjälpa noviser att närma sig expertanvändare. Ett kompetitivt användbarhetstest har gjorts där prototypen jämförts med nuvarande system på Volvo GTO. Resultatet av studien visar att prototypen i dagsläget inte kan anses vara användbar. Flera rekommendationer har dock presenterats som ett bidrag till vidareutveckling av prototypen. / Young Operator 2020

This work theorizes the contemporary attraction to three-dimensional media. In doing so, it reframes ongoing debates surrounding digital three-dimensional media in order to critique the neoliberal social relations such media engender. I argue that the contemporary interest in dimensionality, especially regarding digital media, is symptomatic of a broad cultural shift, wherein millions of lives are now essentially being lived through two-dimensional, "flat" media, which have consequently generated a lack of spatial relationships and a craving or desire for "depth." This "desire for depth" has arisen in contemporary society because people are being "spread too thin" through a combination of the radical connectivity afforded by digital technology and the demand for limitless flexibility imposed by the market: a condition I call hyper-extensionality. My work examines how neoliberal capitalism necessitates the individualized, radical connectivity now experienced by millions of people, and subsequently generates our attraction to three-dimensionality in digital media. Through analyses of select, prominent forms of three-dimensional media, I show that commercial three-dimensional media largely functions to maintain the status quo by helping alleviate the feeling of "depthlessness" in the social unconscious.

This research explores gamification as a means to motivate and engage second-language learners. Gamification uses game-based mechanics, and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, and promote learning. We investigate the limits and advantages of quest-based learning and augmented reality to assess the potential of a new mobile learning tool Explorez. In order to bridge the gap between gaming and education, Explorez was created for first-year university French students at the University of Victoria, BC. Using GPS, Explorez transforms the campus into a virtual francophone world, where students interact with characters, items, and media as they improve their French language skills and discover their campus. / Graduate / 0710 / 0679 / 0290 / bernadet@uvic.ca

Being completely lost in an unfamiliar environment can be inconvenient, stressful and, at times, even dangerous. Maps are the traditional tools used for guidance but many people find maps difficult to use. In recent years, new tools like outdoor Augmented Reality (AR) have become available which allow virtual navigation cues to be directly overlaid on the real world, potentially overcoming the limitations of maps. However, it has been hypothesized that lower effort invested in processing navigation guidance may lead to diminished spatial knowledge (SK) thereby making users of such navigation tools far more vulnerable to getting lost should the tools fail for any reason. This thesis explores the research question of how AR and maps compare as tools for pedestrian navigation guidance as well as for SK acquisition and if there is a potential for AR tools be developed that would balance the two. We present a series of studies to better understand the consequences of using AR in a pedestrian navigation tool. The first two studies compared time-on-task performance and user preferences for AR and Map navigation interfaces on an outdoor navigation task. The results were not aligned with expectations, which led us to build a controlled testing environment for comparing AR and map navigation. Using this simulated setting, our third study verified the assumption that AR can indeed result in more efficient navigation performance and it supported the hypothesis that this would come at the cost of weaker SK. In our fourth study, we used a dual task design to compare the relative cognitive resources required by map and AR interfaces. The quantitative data collected indicated that users could potentially accept additional workload designed to improve SK without incurring significantly more effort. Our fifth and final study explored an interface with additional AR cues that could potentially balance navigation guidance with SK acquisition. The contributions of this thesis include insights into performance issues relating to AR, a classification of user types based on navigation tool usage behavior, a testbed for simulating perfect AR tracking in a virtual setting, objective measures for determining route knowledge, the capacity that pedestrian navigation tool users may have for performing additional tasks, and guidelines that would be helpful in the design of pedestrian navigation tools.

There has been much research on how people use instructional information to gain procedural knowledge. In the context of procedures involving physical objects, however, there has been little research on the role these objects play in conveying procedural information. This study investigated how people used instructions – presented as either images or text – to assemble various physical objects. Objects were selected that either comprised uniquely shaped or interchangeable parts. Participants assembled each object twice, randomly receiving either image or text instructions for each build. They then assembled each object without the instructions and made judgments about the order of the procedure from memory. Image instructions generally resulted in faster and more accurate assemblies as well as more accurate memory for procedural order. These results were found only for objects with uniquely shaped parts. An object comprising interchangeable parts was readily assembled with either instructional type. Although text alone failed to provide any advantages, the combination of images and then text resulted in more consistent mental workload, which might be beneficial in some operational contexts. These results provide insights about how physical objects influence the use of and knowledge gained from procedural instructions.

While the accessibility and technology behind industrial robots is improving as well as becomingless expensive, the installation and conguration of industrial robot cells still proves tobe an expensive venture, especially for small and mid-sized companies. It is therefore of greatinterest to simulate robot cell installations, both for verication of system functionality as wellas for demonstration purposes for clients.However, the construction and conguration of a simulated robot cell is a time-consumingprocess and requires expertise that is often only found in engineers who are experienced withsoftware programming and spacial kinematics. If the process were to be simplied it would bringgreat advantages not only concerning the more ecient use of the time of software engineers butalso in marketing applications.As this paper will show, the use of Virtual Reality (VR) in simulating, displaying andcontrolling robots is a well investigated subject. It has been shown that VR can be used to showrobot simulation in more detail and to specify path movement in task programming. This paperfocuses upon nding and evaluating an intuitive Human Robot Interface (HRI) for interactingwith simulated robots using virtual reality.An HRI is proposed and evaluated, using the Oculus Rift Head Mounted Display (HMD)to display a 3-dimensional (3D) VR environment of a Robot Cell in ABB RobotStudio. Usingmarker-based tracking enabled by ARToolkit, the user's position in real world coordinates isforwarded to the virtual world, along with the position and orientation of a hand-held tool thatallows the user to manipulate the robot targets that are part of the simulated robots program.The system as an HRI was successful in giving the user a strong sense of immersion andgiving them a much better understanding of the robot cell and the positions of the dened robottargets. All participants were also able to dene robot targets much faster with the proposedinterface than when using the standard RobotStudio tools. Results show that the performance ofthe tracking system is adequate with regards to latency and accuracy for updating user positionand hand-held tool when using a video capture resolution of 640x480.

Thesis (MScEng (Electrical and Electronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The computational power of mobile smart-phone devices are ever increasing and high-end phones become more popular amongst consumers every day. The technical speci cations of a high-end smart-phone today rivals those of a home computer system of only a few years ago. Powerful processors, combined with cameras and ease of development encourage an increasing number of Augmented Reality (AR) researchers to adopt mobile smart-phones as AR platform. Implementation of marker-based Augmented Reality systems on mobile phones is mostly a solved problem. Markerless systems still o er challenges due to increased processing requirements. Some researchers adopt purely computer vision based markerless tracking methods to estimate camera pose on mobile devices. In this thesis we propose the use of a hybrid system that employs both computer vision and integrated sensors present in most new smartphones to facilitate pose estimation. We estimate three of the six degrees of freedom of pose using integrated sensors and estimate the remaining three using feature tracking. A proof of concept hybrid system is implemented as part of this thesis. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die berekeningskrag van nuwe-generasie selfone neem elke dag toe en kragtige "slim-fone" word al hoe meer populêr onder verbruikers. Die tegniese spesifikasies van 'n nuwe slim-foon vandag is vergelykbaar met die van 'n persoonlike rekenaar van slegs 'n paar jaar gelede. Die kombinasie van kragtige verwerkers, kameras en die gemaklikheid waarmee programmatuur op hierdie toestelle ontwikkel word, maak dit 'n aantreklike ontwikkelingsplatform vir navorsers in Toegevoegde Realiteit. Die implimentering van 'n merker-gebaseerde Toegevoegde Realiteitstelsel op selfone is 'n probleem wat reeds grotendeels opgelos is. Merker-vrye stelsels, aan die ander kant, bied steeds interessante uitdagings omdat hulle meer prosesseringskrag vereis. 'n Paar navorsers het reeds rekenaarvisie-gebaseerde merker-vrye stelsels aangepas om op selfone te funksioneer. In hierdie tesis stel ons die ontwikkeling voor van 'n hibriede stelsel wat gebruik maak van rekenaarvisie sowel as geintegreerde sensore in die foon om die berekening van kamera-orientasie te vergemaklik. Ons gebruik geintegreerde sensore om drie uit ses vryheidsgrade van orientasie te bereken, terwyl die oorblywende drie met behulp van rekenaarvisie-tegnieke bepaal word. 'n Prototipe stelsel is ontwikkel as deel van hierdie tesis.

Currently, access to information is increasingly easy because of the advancement of Information and Communication Technology (TIC), reflecting the popularization of computers and the Internet, both in schools as at home. In the same context research projects are being developed toward new teaching methodologies. These projects facilitate new educational methods compared with traditional methods. Today is possible to simulate several laboratories (physics, chemistry, mathematics) by a single computer lab. There are several technologies that support the creation of these systems, included Virtual Reality that lets you create Virtual models and environments and simulate them as if they were real. Another technology is Augmented Reality, where you can insert elements of virtual learning in real environments, which increases the number of alternative educational tools. However distributed systems Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality developed today are limited in the amount of virtual objects belonging to the environment used, another issue is that these systems use either Virtual or Augmented Reality to solve their problems independently, not completing the two technologies. Thus, this dissertation came with the proposal to develop a distribution architecture for Virtual and Augmented Reality, where any model or virtual environment may be distributed, which allows greater flexibility of the proposed architecture / Atualmente, o acesso à informação esta cada dia mais fácil, devido ao avanço da Tecnologia da Informação e Comunicação (TIC), reflexo da popularização do computador e da Internet, tanto nas escolas quanto nas residências. No mesmo contexto pesquisas e projetos, estão sendo desenvolvidos voltados para novas metodologias de ensino. Esses projetos facilitam novos métodos educacionais quando comparado com métodos tradicionais. Hoje é possível que vários laboratórios (física, química, matemática) possam ser simulados por meio de um único laboratório de informática. Existem várias tecnologias de suporte à criação destes sistemas, podendo destacar Realidade Virtual que permite criar modelos e ambientes e simulá-los como se fossem reais. Outra tecnologia é a Realidade Aumentada, onde é possível inserir elementos de aprendizagem virtuais em ambientes reais, o que possibilita o aumento de alternativas de ferramentas educacionais. Contudo, os sistemas distribuídos de Realidade Virtual e Realidade Aumentada desenvolvidos atualmente estão limitados na quantidade de objetos virtuais pertencentes ao ambiente utilizado, outra questão é que nestes sistemas ora utilizam Realidade Virtual ou Aumentada para resolver seus problemas de forma independente, não com completando as duas tecnologias. Assim, essa dissertação tem a proposta de apresentar uma arquitetura de distribuição de Realidade Virtual e Aumentada, onde qualquer modelo ou ambiente virtual poderá ser distribuído em ambas, o que permite maior flexibilidade da arquitetura proposta. / Mestre em Ciências