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Virtual Reality Book Overlays

Posted by michael on from the illustrated-primer dept.

fiannaFailMan writes "The Magic Book is a technology that allows a user to look through a handheld viewer with a built-in camera and see 3-dimensional models as if they float above the book. The software is clever enough to keep track of where the page is, so if you move the book, the model moves with it. One application is displaying content telling the story of the America's Cup. You can download the application and use your own webcam to view this, minus the 3D effect of course."

3 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. 3D Instruction Manuals? by Paster+Of+Muppets · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Could have many practical applications for those who are a bit crap at following DIY instructions...

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  2. This is old technology... by Tsar · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...It's called a "pop-up book."

    Seriously, this seems to be a pretty trivial, and almost useless, implementation of the ARToolkit. If you're going to have to wear goggles anyway to view part of the material, why not just put the whole book in memory and display it that way without having to go through the complicated and clunky "augmented-reality" step?

  3. it's a commonly-used GPL toolkit by jcupitt65 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Haven't seen anyone say this yet, but this is one of many projects based on the GPL ARToolKit. A friend of mine has another project here.