augmented reality – Stijn Oomes

Solving correspondence

A major assumption in modern computer vision is that you have to track points on surfaces in order to see in 3D. You can use 2 images from 2 static cameras (“stereo”), or 2 images from 1 moving camera (“motion”).

Internal inertial sensors

One pleasant surprise for computer vision on a mobile device is that we can detect the 3D orientation of the camera from other sensors. An iPhone has an accelerometer and a gyroscope (among complementary sensors not discussed here).

Mobile AR is a 3D revolution

What components do you need to get Augmented Reality (AR) technology running on your mobile phone?

Virtual furniture at the right scale

Our imagination is a powerful cognitive skill. When I walked into the living room of my new apartment, I experienced a rectangular empty space with a dusty concrete floor and hollow sounding acoustics. But in my mind I was already furnishing and decorating. I imagined a blue carpet on the floor, the walls lined with bookcases, a largeContinue reading “Virtual furniture at the right scale”

Interview with newspaper “Het Parool”

Here is an interview that journalist Jim Jansen of the newspaper Het Parool had with me. He wanted to know how scientists spend their Summer holiday. It is in Dutch though, but I added a translation in English.

Orwell’s telescreens

Winston Smith is the main character in the famous novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. In his apartment there is an “oblong metal plaque like a dulled mirror which formed part of the surface of the right-hand wall.” The description of this flatscreen television goes on to state that the “instrument (the telescreen, it wasContinue reading “Orwell’s telescreens”

Revolution in motion

Yesterday, Microsoft launched a new product called Kinect. It is an add-on for the very popular game console Xbox 360 and allows for the user itself to be the controller. No more fiddling with weirdly shaped controllers. Just step in front of your television and you can control games with your own gestures (and yourContinue reading “Revolution in motion”

School’s looking at you, kid

This photograph was taken about a year ago and shows 15-year-old Blake Robbins asleep in his bedroom. The picture in itself is not that interesting. What is remarkable is that it was taken with the built-in iSight camera of his Apple MacBook laptop, remotely operated by technicians at Harriton High School in Rosemont, Pennsylvania inContinue reading “School’s looking at you, kid”