Let’s pretend we are standing at Congress and Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago. We are a tourist and are especially interested in historic architecture. We’d like to know what we are seeing at this location.

Unless we did extensive research prior to our trip and made our own map, which would take weeks to produce, we might not know the names of these buildings or the dates they were built. We probably would not have a historic photograph of the building on hand to see how it looked when it was originally built.

The City of Chicago has a web-based database of many historic buildings, but it isn’t organized in an intuitive way nor does it know that I’m standing within close proximity to several buildings in its database.

If it did know where I was standing, it could deliver contextual information to my smartphone calling out the names, dates, and styles of buildings. It could even link to more information for each significant building.

How would this work? I would load the channel, perhaps maintained by the City or by the Chicago Architecture Foundation, into a web browser. This isn’t just any browser like Safari or Firefox, but a special one that enables overlays of information onto the physical world, often referred to as augmented reality. This channel could actually aggregate information from multiple sources and feed it to me through one source.

Imagine customizing your feed to show streets, historically significant buildings, Zagat rated restaurants, and public art labels within close proximity to you based on your location. You would hold up your phone, load the channel, and view the overlaid information. How helpful!

We are in the beginning stages of merging web content, geographic information and mobile device visualization. The scenario described above can be created today. Any organization who understands how useful this tool can be should seriously consider leveraging mobile geo-location applications.

The intention is to visualize the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons building currently under construction at Georgia Tech. The first thing required is a cube panoramic image of the existing site. Sacha Griffin, SeeIt360, volunteered to take the shots. Longitude and latitude coordinates (which I will need later) were recorded. A rendering of the building  from the same camera position has been provided by Matthew Swarts from the Imagine Lab.

I will be creating this application to be viewed in the KAMRA browser (which will be publicly released at the end of June) for the iPhone.

Here’s what I know so far after a lengthy discussion with Alex Hill, the lead developer of the browser. I will be using a combination of KML and HTML (such as Javascript and CSS) to display the building rendering in position so that when you stand on the physical site, you can see the rendering through the browser on the iPhone. KML in the Kamra browser is utilized in a slightly different way than traditionally (like in Google Earth) such as:

• Photo overlays are used to support the 6 faces of the panoramic image which is needed to ensure everything lines up appropriately.
• HTML goes inside the description tag in the KML to create interactivity.
• Screen Overlay description tags are where I will program an interactive menu.
• Native Screen Overlay characteristcs are also supported.
• The location of elements can be relative to the position of the building rendering (which will be an image in the CSS div tag)
• Elements are measured in degrees (lat and long of the physical world) so that I’m placing augmented content in the physcial space with real world coordinates.
• 3D models are  not yet supported.

AR will allow us to see an alternate view through our phone’s screen of the built environment. We will be able to virtually manipulate buildings such as scaling and moving them, tagging features, and adding street furniture and trees. Our virutal and physical worlds will blend and infinately connect those that have been there to those that are present in the space.

AR tools are becoming increasingly available but it is still a mystery how to use them. My intention is to focus on the use of the Kamra Ar browser to extend the capabilities of a web site into a geospatial intelligence that will enable architects and planners to create more livable and engaging environments.

Wireless Weblog – June 7, 2010

Imagine you are within 60 feet of the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons site on the Georgia Tech campus. You have tuned into the local AR channel on your iPhone. “Ding, Come see what the Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons will look like. ” You have just been notified that you are within proximity (60 feet or less) of the Clough GeoSpot, denoted by an emblem on the ground at the location you should stand.

Once standing at the GeoSpot, you indicate your presence to the browser. You also check off on the option to increase your accuracy by loading a panoramic image from your location to steady and more accurately line up the augmented graphics with surrounding buildings.

Polaris (name pending) then displays augmented content authored for this scene. Although the Clough Learning Commons is currently under construction, the browser lets  you to see what the building will look like once complete. Interactive elements such as clickable icons and buttons on and around the new structure open content bubbles, play videos, and present images and informative text.

Point the phone around to see various parts of the building, sidewalks, and landscaping. Landscaping and public space decisions can be finalized on site by evaluating options. Sine it’s connected to the internet, votes on the best option are tallied in real-time.

The building rendering can be switched out for a wire frame version to reveal interior rooms and circulation patterns. An image gallery can be seamlessly integrated into the browser to flip through renderings of the building over a 24 hour time period. A video monologue from the architect tells the story of the building’s design process. Once the building is complete, there is the potential for students and faculty to leave comments around the building through augmented tags. Rarely do architects have the opportunity to retrieve direct feedback from the users of their design. The use of place-specific tags and comments connect what, where, and who to the physical environment.

The above scenario is a vision of the potential uses for the Polaris browser to illustrate what can be done with augmented reality.

Phase 1 of the CULC Visualization can be any combination of the following features:

•    Region trigger informing channel subscriber they are within proximity to a GeoSpot
•    Introduction audio narrative auto plays on check in
•    Building rendering shown based on time of day
•    Image gallery flips through building renderings (1 rendering for every 2 hours) to show shadows, lighting, etc.
•    Landscaping, sidewalks, and exterior finishes can be turned on and off
•    Building can be shown as wire frame
•    Building material callouts can be turned on
•    Video from architect, student body, or representative
•    Users can go “inside” the building by clicking on a placed icon that reveals the interior view from that location
•    Callouts can contain a variety of content for marketing, PR, or wayfinding purposes

The big idea here is that the infrastructure is based on open web standards which makes it possible for anyone with some web development and geographic skills to develop AR content.

“with SARA, an urban augmented reality application, you can see and experience the built environment of the past, present and future, via Layar Browser. The NAI has set itself an incredible challenge: to make the Netherlands the first country in the world to have its entire architecture viewable on smartphones thanks to augmented reality.”

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