The Development of Augmented Video System on Postcards Chien-Hsu Chen and Yin-Ju Chou Industrial Design Department, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan Taiwan 701
[email protected] ABSTRACT This study focuses on development of augmented video system on traditional picture postcards. The system will provide users to print out the augmented reality marker on the sticker to stick on the picture postcard, and it also allows users to record their real time image and video to augment on that stick marker. According dynamic image, users can share travel moods, greeting, and travel experience to their friends. Without changing in the traditional picture postcards, we develop augmented video system on them by augmented reality (AR) technology. It not only keeps the functions of traditional picture postcards, but also enhances user’s experience to keep the user’s memories and emotional expression by augmented digital media information on them. Keywords: Picture Postcards, Augmented Reality, Emotional Expression
1. INTRODUCTION Picture postcards not only a mass media that promotes destination image to attract potential tourists to visit, and also a mail for friends and relatives to share travel moods and greet. For tourists, it is the tangible proof of the travel and a commemorative souvenir [4,7,13]. With development of technology, people take a picture, record some video or voice, input greeting text by digital devices. The multimedia information is sent to friends and relatives by e-mails, instant messages, Enhanced Message Service (EMS) or Enhanced Message Service (MMS) which can communicate in real time [6]. However, e-cards, EMS and digital postcards with convenience and immediacy contain multimedia information, but when the rise of science and technology promote the development of digital multimedia, the traditional picture postcards is not disappeared, but the parallel existence. For instance, the Postcrossing in 2005 on the network for free to use, now has nearly 200,000 users, and completion of the postcards sent to more than 4.5 million [9]. The data show that even if people have never been to another country, people still want to collect postcards to all corners of the world. On the postcard exchange platform, people can collect many postcards from other places in the world through the Web site service mechanism. Handwritten text and the postmark of local characteristics and memorable stamp can promote the destination image of each national culture. Digital postcards are convenient and immediate with media information, but they only exits in the virtual world. On the contrary, traditional picture postcards are tangible. The picture of postcard the local artists or photographers create, the local typographical, the placing of postcards in the markets are features of traditional picture postcards, and all of features are difficult to replace with digital postcards. There are some ways to combine multimedia information and picture postcard by technologies nowadays and one of the technologies is Augmented Reality (AR). Augmented Reality, in recent years the development of a mature media technology, is a virtual object to join or integrate into the real world which the use of computing and real-time display and user interaction technology[1]。AR has been developed from the laboratory to go to the application of commercial value. In recent years, there are some developments of AR postcards in Taiwan. AR postcards are the multimedia information combined a picture postcard through augmented reality technology. There are four cases, includes (1) Lukang Town AR postcard (2) Pinshi AR postcard. They both provide 3D local models as virtual content. For example temple in Lukang Town and steam trains, sky lanterns in Pinshi, and they convey local characteristics of image [8]. (3) “Celebration by Marc Chagall” AR for interactive application. With the 2011 exhibition “Celebration by Marc Chagall”, it lets people visit the special exhibition, and can also interact with virtual object through augmented reality technology. It also provides postcards printing service [2]. (4) Tainan New Vision. It is a product by augmented reality technology developed multimedia postcard. People can visit the website and watch 3D content and related information [10]。As the Table.1 shown, we compare AR postcards in Taiwan in the recent years.
International Conference on Graphic and Image Processing (ICGIP 2012), edited by Zeng Zhu, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 8768, 87683U · © 2013 SPIE CCC code: 0277-786X/13/$18 · doi: 10.1117/12.2011098 Proc. of SPIE Vol. 8768 87683U-1 Downloaded From: http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 05/26/2014 Terms of Use: http://spiedl.org/terms
Traditional picture postcards have 3 functions: (1) Destination image (2) Emotional expression (3) Commemoration significance. We explore the virtual content of AR postcards and find that most of AR postcards focus on promoting destination image. They provide 3D models of local characteristic and let users watch and have few applications in the emotional expression. Development of augmented reality system focuses on destination image, emotional expression, and commemoration significance (Figure.1). Live video service can bring fun and realistic. Bitmove designed a situated recording device located in the American Museum of Natural History in 2011. It provides recording and sending e-mail. They combine videos users take and distinctive frames and let users feel real [3]. Dynamic images can provide more information and enhance emotional expression, as opposed to a picture and text of handwriting. Videos can be recorded in the moment living in the pace and time, user’s moods, images and sounds so it has more realistic and immersive. If digital multimedia combines with the printing of the traditional picture postcards sold in the market by augmented reality technologies. It can retain advantage of traditional picture postcards, and also gives the new value of the traditional picture postcard and expect to enhance emotional expression and memories commemorative significance. VIS bozc.
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Figure.1 special functions of traditional postcard Table.1 comparing with AR postcards in recent years AR Pattern
AR Platform
AR Virtual Content
Get way of Postcard
Pinshi AR postcard
Package download
3D animated object
AD card
Lukang Town AR postcard
Package download
3D object
AD card
Web
3D object and information suffering User can take a picture with virtual painting
Printing
Tainan New Vision
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Celebration by Marc Chagall AR for Interactive Application
Web and exhibition
printing
2. DEVELOPMENT OF AUGMENTED VIDEO SYSTEM 2.1 Overview of Augmented Video System The service architecture of augmented video system has three parts, includes the situated display, AR service, Internet (Figure.2). 。The sender can share travel mood and greeting and make and print out the AR sticker through recording a video and using the situated display of augmented video system and then they can stick the AR sticker on the postcard they want to send. The AR sticker has three parts, including special AR pattern, the URL of website and the password (Figure.4) (Figure.5).The receiver can visit the website and see the video through webcam when he gets the postcard (Figure.6). After seeing he can send e-mail back to the sender by the system. The server of system is Apache and database is MySQL. The main tools of system development are Adobe Flash Professional CS4 combined with FlarToolkit, and the others tools are Flash ActionScript 、 FlarToolkit 、 PHP 、 JavaScript and other programming languages. The hardware of system includes a notebook, a webcam and a printer (Figure.3).
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Figure.5 AR sticker
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2.2 User Interface and Process In this study, the system has two major parts. One part is the recording interface, and the other part is web interface. People use the recording interface. First, they record a video, and then they have to check the video. If the video is ok, they can go next step or go back try to record another video again. After checking it, they write down some information, including the name of the person they want to send, the message and their e-mail address. They write their own e-mail address because studies have shown that most people in the use of situated display will only remember their own e-mail address [11, 12]. At the same time, the system will show the date, the place, the URL of website and the password. And then they can choose the style for virtual content. Finally, they can print out the AR sticker. After finishing these steps, they can stick the AR sticker on any postcard they want to send. The process of recording interface using is shown (Figure.7).
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Figure.7 recording interface and system process
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When people get the postcard, they can not only read the postcard but also invite the website the AR sticker on the postcard provides. First, they have to input the password and second, they can see the message the sender left and then open the webcam. After checking the webcam opening, they take AR sticker on the postcard to aim at the webcam lens and they will see the AR virtual content, including the video and the decoration (Figure. 6). Finally they can send e-mail back through the service of system. The process of web interface using is shown (Figure.8).
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3. DISCUSSION AND RESULTS The augmented video system makes and prints out the AR sticker, and users can stick it on the picture postcard they want to send. This system have four advantages: (1) to enhance the willingness to buy (2) to increase the realism of emotional expression (3) to increase the topic of conversation and interaction (4) to enhance user’s memories commemoration significance The study finds that if we develop the augmented video system on the picture postcards sold in the market, we can retain not only the advantage of picture postcards but also enhance user’s memories, commemorative significance and the willingness to buy. The advantages of picture postcards are the picture of postcard the local artists or photographers create, the local typographical, the placing of postcards in the markets and so on. Through recording the video it allows users to share the current travel experiences and moods, the most original look and the image presented to their family or friends. Users can record the characteristics of the local landscape and the current the emotions, sounds and actions to enhance the senders’ emotional expression. If the postcard as a souvenir, it can deepen the moment of travel memories. The system augments the video on the postcard by AR technology. It can not only open a new topic between the sender and the receiver but also enhance more interaction and communication. Table.2 comparing augmented video system and other AR postcards
The way of using
augmented video system Sticker making and printing and putting on any postcards
other AR postcards AR postcard
Enhancing
Emotional expression and user’s memories
Destination image and user’s memories
Virtual content Uniqueness The way of seeing
Videos Yes On the Internet
3D models No On the Internet
Traditional picture postcards have commemorative significance due to endemic images, handwritten text, as well as the local postal system, postmark, stamp or cover on a postcard to commemorate stamp. Augmented video system will
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not only retain commemorative significance of traditional postcards, the content of the augmented video content not only retains the local scenery also save tourism image of the current user, including the time to travel with whom, sounds, emotions, body movements and appearance. For the users, it both enhances the memories and commemorative significance. As the Table.2 shown, we compare the augmented video system on the postcards and other AR postcards.
4. CONCLUSION In the design of the system's process, we try to reduce the use of time in order to improve the user's wishes because the length of time users spend using the situated display influence people's intention to use[5]. In the future, we have four direction of developing the system; including (1) Increase the source of video in the augmented system. With the popularity of smart phones and digital photography devices, people have been able to take a beautiful and interesting video by digital camera devices. This study is mainly based on situated recording as digital information in the augmented video system. We consider allowing users to select the videos users take by digital camera device as the source of video in the system. The design allows users to have more sources of sharing information, not just limited to situated recording. (2) Application of mobile devices: due to the rise of smart phones, we consider design and develop the phone application in the future. When receivers get the postcards, they can see the virtual content of augmented reality and enjoy anytime and anywhere through the phone application. (3) Combination of the postal system: we select the black and white pattern as marker in the system currently. In the future, we expect select natural pattern as AR pattern. Natural patterns could be stamps. Using natural patterns can not only convey the unique image of the place for providing traveling memories, reflecting local features, and enhancing the destination image but also save space of postcards for writing text and covering commemorative stamps for tourist attractions. (4) The situated display of augmented video system is currently a prototype. In the future, it can be developed the situated display like KIOSK information system. The display can combine the mail box and stamp selling service, and let users more convenient to send postcards.
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