4 research outputs found
Large-area Spatially Aligned Anchors
No full textExtended Reality (XR) technologies, including Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), offer immersive experiences merging digital content with the real world. Achieving precise spatial tracking over large areas is a critical challenge in XR development. This paper addresses the drift issue, caused by small errors accumulating over time leading to a discrepancy between the real and virtual worlds. Tackling this issue is crucial for co-located XR experiences where virtual and physical elements interact seamlessly. Building upon the locally accurate spatial anchors, we propose a solution that extends this accuracy to larger areas by exploiting an external, drift-corrected tracking method as a ground truth. During the preparation stage, anchors are placed inside the headset and inside the external tracking method simultaneously, yielding 3D-3D correspondences. Both anchor clouds, and thus tracking methods, are aligned using a suitable cloud registration method during the operational stage. Our method enhances user comfort and mobility by leveraging the headset's built-in tracking capabilities during the operational stage, allowing standalone functionality. Additionally, this method can be used with any XR headset that supports spatial anchors and with any drift-free external tracking method. Empirical evaluation demonstrates the system's effectiveness in aligning virtual content with the real world and expanding the accurate tracking area. In addition, the alignment is evaluated by comparing the camera poses of both tracking methods. This approach may benefit a wide range of industries and applications, including manufacturing and construction, education, and entertainment
Tracking and co-location of global point clouds for large-area indoor environments
No full textExtended reality (XR) experiences are on the verge of becoming widely adopted in diverse application domains. An essential part of the technology is accurate tracking and localization of the headset to create an immersive experience. A subset of the applications require perfect co-location between the real and the virtual world, where virtual objects are aligned with real-world counterparts. Current headsets support co-location for small areas, but suffer from drift when scaling up to larger ones such as buildings or factories. This paper proposes tools and solutions for this challenge by splitting up the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) into separate mapping and localization stages. In the pre-processing stage, a feature map is built for the entire tracking area. A global optimizer is applied to correct the deformations caused by drift, guided by a sparse set of ground truth markers in the point cloud of a laser scan. Optionally, further refinement is applied by matching features between the ground truth keyframe images and their rendered-out SLAM estimates of the point cloud. In the second, real-time stage, the rectified feature map is used to perform localization and sensor fusion between the global tracking and the headset. The results show that the approach achieves robust co-location between the virtual and the real 3D environment for large and complex tracking environments.This research was funded by the European Union (HORIZON MAX-R, Mixed Augmented and Extended Reality Media Pipeline, 101070072) and the Flanders Make’s XRTwin SBO project (R-12528)
Large-area Tracking and Rendering for Extended Reality
No full textAs extended reality (XR) technologies continue to evolve, the potential for larger and more immersive experiences grows. However, one of the key challenges in expanding XR applications beyond small, room-sized environments is the issue of tracking accuracy over larger areas. Current XR headsets, primarily designed for living room-scale games, training sessions, or performances, are prone to drift when used in more extensive settings. This drift leads to a misalignment between the virtual and physical worlds, which undermines the immersive experience and presents significant technical barriers for applications requiring precise spatial alignment. This presentation introduces a groundbreaking approach to overcoming these challenges , focusing on recent advancements in large-area tracking and visualization. We will discuss how novel solutions developed by the research team at UHasselt, in collaboration with creative industry partner CREW, can be applied to scale up live cultural performances and various industrial use cases. Our approach integrates existing off-the-shelf XR headsets tracking technologies with newly developed tracking technologies that aims to mitigate the drift issue. By leveraging physical ground truth landmarks within the environment and adapting a SLAM-based (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) tracking algorithm, we have enhanced the ability of XR systems to maintain precise alignment over larger indoor areas. This advancement not only preserves the immersive quality of the XR experience but also opens up new possibilities for applications that require expansive and challenging indoor environments. The presentation will highlight the practical application of these technologies in live creative performances, where participants can roam and interact across much larger areas
Large-area Tracking and Rendering for Extended Reality
No full textAs extended reality (XR) technologies continue to evolve, the potential for larger and more immersive experiences grows. However, one of the key challenges in expanding XR applications beyond small, room-sized environments is the issue of tracking accuracy over larger areas. Current XR headsets, primarily designed for living room-scale games, training sessions, or performances, are prone to drift when used in more extensive settings. This drift leads to a misalignment between the virtual and physical worlds, which undermines the immersive experience and presents significant technical barriers for applications requiring precise spatial alignment. This presentation introduces a groundbreaking approach to overcoming these challenges , focusing on recent advancements in large-area tracking and visualization. We will discuss how novel solutions developed by the research team at UHasselt, in collaboration with creative industry partner CREW, can be applied to scale up live cultural performances and various industrial use cases. Our approach integrates existing off-the-shelf XR headsets tracking technologies with newly developed tracking technologies that aims to mitigate the drift issue. By leveraging physical ground truth landmarks within the environment and adapting a SLAM-based (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) tracking algorithm, we have enhanced the ability of XR systems to maintain precise alignment over larger indoor areas. This advancement not only preserves the immersive quality of the XR experience but also opens up new possibilities for applications that require expansive and challenging indoor environments. The presentation will highlight the practical application of these technologies in live creative performances, where participants can roam and interact across much larger areas
