WonderScope shows what’s beneath an object’s surface using augmented reality technology.
– A KAIST research team led by Prof. Woohun Lee from the Department of Industrial Design and Prof. Geehyuk Lee from the School of Computing have developed a smartphone “appcessory” called WonderScope that can easily add an augmented reality (AR) perspective ) on the surface of the exhibits
– Research won an Honorable Mention for Emerging Technologies Best in Show at ACM SIGGRAPH, one of the largest international conferences on computer graphics and interactions
– The technology has been improved and validated through real-world applications in three special exhibitions, including one at the Geological Museum of the Korea Institute of Geosciences and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) held in 2020, and two at the National Science Museum each in 2021 and 2022
– Technology should be used for public science exhibitions and museums as well as interactive educational materials to stimulate children’s curiosity
A KAIST research team led by Professor Woohun Lee from the Department of Industrial Design and Professor Geehyuk Lee from the School of Computing has developed a new augmented reality (AR) device, WonderScope, which displays the interior of an object directly from its surface. By installing and connecting WonderScope to a mobile device via Bluetooth, users can see through exhibits as if looking through a magic lens.
Nowadays, many science museums have incorporated the use of AR applications for mobile devices. These apps add digital information to the exhibit, providing a unique experience. However, visitors have to look at the screen from a distance from the exhibits, which often leads them to focus more on the digital content rather than the exhibits themselves. In other words, the distance and distractions that exist between the exhibit and the mobile device can actually cause visitors to feel detached from the exhibit. To solve this problem, museums needed a magical AR lens that could be used directly from the surface of the object.
To do this, smartphones need to know exactly where on the surface of an object it is placed. Typically, this would require an additional recognition device either inside or on the surface of the item, or a special pattern printed on its surface. Realistically, these are impractical solutions, as exhibits would either seem too complex or face spatial restrictions.
WonderScope, on the other hand, uses a much more convenient method to identify the location of a smartphone on the surface of an exhibit. First, it reads a small RFID tag attached to the surface of an object and calculates the location of the moving smartphone by adding its relative movements based on readings from an optical displacement sensor and a motion sensor. ‘acceleration. The research team also took into consideration the height of the smartphone and the characteristics of the surface profile in order to more accurately calculate the position of the device. By attaching or embedding RFID tags on exhibits, visitors can easily feel the effects of a magical AR lens through their smartphones.
For its wider use, WonderScope must be able to localize from different types of exposure surfaces. To this end, WoderScope uses readings from an optical displacement sensor and an acceleration sensor with complementary characteristics, enabling stable localization capabilities on various textures including paper, stone, wood, plastic, acrylic and glass, as well as surfaces with physical patterns or irregularities. . As a result, WonderScope can identify its location as close as 4 centimeters from an object, also enabling simple three-dimensional interactions near the surface of exhibits.
The research team developed various case project templates and WonderScope supporting tools to enable the easy production of smartphone applications that use general-purpose virtual reality (VR) and the Unity game engine. WonderScope is also compatible with various types of devices that run on the Android operating system, including smartwatches, smartphones and tablets, which allows it to be applied to exhibits in many forms.
The research team developed WonderScope with funding from the Ministry of Science and ICT Scientific and Cultural Exhibitions Enhancement Support Project. Between October 27, 2020 and February 28, 2021, WonderScope was used to observe underground volcanic activity and the interior of volcanic rocks at “Once Upon a Time a Volcano”, a special exhibit held at the Geological Museum from the Korea Institute of Geosciences and Minerals. Resources (KIGAM). From September 28 to October 3, 2021, it was used to observe the surface of Jung-moon-kyung (a bronze mirror with a fine linear design) during the special exhibition “A bronze mirror shines on science” at the Museum. National Science. And from August 2 to October 3, 2022, it was applied to a moon landing simulation at “The Special Exhibit on Moon Exploration,” also at the National Science Museum. Through various field demonstrations over the years, the research team has improved the performance and usability of WonderScope.
The research team presented WonderScope at the Emerging Technologies forum during ACM SIGGRAPH 2022, a computer graphics and interaction technologies conference held in Vancouver, Canada, from August 8-11 this year. year. At this conference, where the latest interactive technologies are showcased, the team won an honorable mention for Best in Show. The judges stated that “WonderScope will be a new technology that will offer the public a unique joy of participation when visiting exhibitions and museums”.
WonderScope is a cylindrical “accessory” module 5 cm in diameter and 4.5 cm in height. It’s small enough to be easily attached to a smartphone and integrated into most exhibits. Professor Woohun Lee from KAIST’s Department of Industrial Design, who supervised the research, said, “WonderScope can be applied to various applications, including not only educational but also industrial exhibits in many ways. He added: “We also expect it to be used as an interactive teaching tool that stimulates children’s curiosity.”
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