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Augmented Reality for Basel
Welcome
A city is a living and breathing haven for all that is good (and the less good as well). With Augmented Reality, the inhabitants and visitors of cities will experience cleaner, smoother, higher quality lives based on interactive presentations using smartphones. Complete, fresh and detailed information, combining accurate positional data and, in some cases, social media, is available to the users of mobile Augmented Reality applications services—precisely where and when they want or need it. What is mobile Augmented Reality? If you would like to discover more about mobile AR, you can find introductory information I have compiled on this page. On this site you will learn about a project to develop mobile AR applications for the city of Basel and the attendees of ISMAR2011 the concept the timeline and deadlines how to get involved the organizers This site also serves to connect the Augmented Reality for Basel (AR-4-Basel) project with Augmented Reality services and projects of similar or complementary nature in other regions. The Scenarios Now, what can we do as part of this project? The scenarios for using mobile AR are nearly infinite, too numerous to list on one Web page, but a few of the important popularu0026hellip;
The Project
PEREY Research u0026#038; Consulting and its partners seek to put in place a pilot to demonstrate mobile AR applications in the context of “smart cities” with 3D data sets and models that can be the basis for innovative new services. This project combines data of the city of Basel, the businesses in the city, software tools in the Internet as well as the skills of mobile AR developers worldwide. The idea is not something that belongs in the laboratory. As highlighted in the New Scientist article on May 18 2011, 2020 vision: Stroll through data in the augmented city [registration required to reach this article], the ability to visualize and then to interact with and use digital data in Smart Cities is available today and growing in popularity. The purpose of this project is to establish a framework in which creative professionals can push the envelope of what has been done in Smart Cities with 3D data sets and to showcase the first generation of services that are available to the public with smartphones during the ISMAR conference October 26-29 2011. Although ISMAR is a meeting of scientists conducting research on AR, there will be some people seeking to commercializeu0026hellip;
Requirements
Required project elements include Rich 3D data of indoor and exterior spaces APIs for use with AR platforms, if the data sets are to be accessed remotely in real time Developers with creative ideas for AR in Basel End users with Smartphones connected to high speed networks Web-based information portal or “hub” of Web pages about the project Partners to promote availability of the applications and services to the ISMAR2011 attendees and the citizens or visitors of Basel and Creativity and imagination. 3D One of the attributes of the real world in a city as well as outside its perimeter, is that it is three dimensional. One of the most important aspects of mobile AR is the ability, unlike information that is presented on a computer screen without the “real world”, to accurately combine digital and physical world information. In 3D, a sign which is on the surface of the boat on the river will change in shape as the boat geometry changes. Creativity and Imagination Many new experiences are possible when combining AR client applications with local information in an urban environment. We believe that services meeting many more needs will develop when more people have access to theu0026hellip;
Data sets
One of the most fundamental requirements of an Augmented Reality experience is the ability for the user’s device to “recognize” the circumstances, the context of the user. Without the recognition of the real world, Augmented Reality does not exist. The second fundamental requirement is there be an “augmentation” that is brought to the user when the context of the user matches the conditions established by the developer of the AR experience. The Real World is multidimensional The user context in the real world is composed of many, many factors. In order for the advanced AR application developer to build highly compelling and accurate augmentations, the augmentations need to be anchored to (and synchronized with changes in) the real world conditions– the physical world components of the user’s context. The relevant features from the user’s real world environment are important at two points in the AR process: when the AR developer is designing/building the experience(s) and when the user’s device is monitoring the context or environment in real time. When a “match” is found between the real world features the application designer chose for augmentation and the user’s context, an Augmented Reality experience is produced. Using highly accurate data sets, manyu0026hellip;
Request for Data
As a partner of the AR-4-Basel project, the Land and Survey Office of the Canton of Basel-Stadt agrees to provide the AR developer who agrees to the terms and conditions specified in the agreement memo, no cost use of the data set until October 25, 2012. To request the data from the Land and Survey Office IT department, you must agree to the terms and complete all fields in the agreement memo. When the completed form is submitted to the city administration the request will be processed and the contact person’s e-mail will receive an e-mail with URLs to secure download pages. Processing of your request may take up to two business days.
Partners
The AR-4-Basel project receives the support of businesses, government agencies, municipal service providers, private and public institutes of learning. We are very pleased to have the participation of the partners and thank them for their contribution to the success of the project. The partners’ contributions are all important and warmly appreciated. Partners are listed in alphabetical order. Further information about the partner is provided below the table.
Roles of Partners
In order for such a project to become a reality, many different types of organizations must collaborate. We seek the support of the public administration of the city of Basel, the canton of Basel, universities, local and global businesses and individuals. From the providers of platforms for AR experiences, we seek that the technologies be made available and optimized for high quality services in Basel at no cost to the participants in the pilot. From the city of Basel and the administrative partners, we seek that they make available to the developers the data which they have gathered and which they maintain for the public good. From developers of mobile AR experiences, we seek to learn the general concept of what you will be building and then for you to be creative in every sense. When you application or service is ready, we will test it in situ and we will provide you feedback on the experiences. From providers of large datasets containing points of interest, we seek that you provide the data with APIs such that the AR applications can be created to access them in real time and without cost/fee. From the providers of network access/connectivity, we seeku0026hellip;
Schedule
First information meeting A public meeting of interested parties will be held on June 2 2011 in Basel at the Basel city center. Deadline for ISMAR2011 workshop proposal is June 7 Next meeting for potential partners A meeting of potential partners will be conducted in Zurich on June 21
Showcase Event October 25 2011
The project will culminate in a special event during which all the applications and services will be showcased for the public. The event’s details will be developed with the assistance of project partners and sponsors. More to come…
Get Involved
Call for Volunteers
AR-4-Basel is a unique project organized to permit developers and designers who are using Augmented Reality tools anywhere in the world to create AR experiences for the citizens and visitors of Basel. The developers and designers can achieve high quality experiences by using the 2D and 3D models of the Canton of Basel-Stadt and 3rd parties that are made available to them through the AR-4-Basel project framework. Since developers and designers of AR who may submit applications for the project, and who wish to be part of our contest may not live in Basel, they will not be able to test their work first hand. As part of the project, we seek volunteers: who live, work or study in Basel (or nearby), who are interested in the cutting edge applications for search, artistic expression, tourism, business productivity or other purposes, and who have smartphones or tablets to test the developers’ AR applications. What’s involved Testing could take between 10 and 20 minutes per application and your feedback will be provided to the developer via on-line form. You will be able to choose the applications you test, based on your interests. You will be able to test as many oru0026hellip;
IMI-Luzern Volunteers for AR-4-Basel
The IMI Hotel Management School of Luzern has agreed to provide assistance to the AR-4-Basel project in the form of volunteer testing of mobile AR experiences submitted by developers. Prezi about AR-4-Basel In preparation for the volunteer day in late September or early October, the students of the IMI-Luzern hospitality2.0 class created their Prezi presentations about the AR-4-Basel project. Thank you! We welcome this support and warmly thank the IMI Hotel Management School management and students for their outstanding involvement to help advance Augmented Reality in Basel for citizens and tourists to the city. We seek to identify a class of art or communications students familiar with the city of Basel to partner with the IMI class.
Application Challenge
Winners and Awards
On October 25, 2011 there was the AR-4-Basel Showcase Event during which we highlighted the best experiences created for Basel as part of the AR-4-Basel project. We hereby recognize those projects which demonstrate innovation, solve a problem and provide a comprehensive solution for users. There were three awards: Best Data Set Mashup Best Multi-Lingual and Multi-Platform Tourism Experience Best Museum Finder Guide Award: Best Data Set Mashup In this experience by Augmented Technology, a UK-based company, uses the data sets of the IWB (including water, electricity, heating and gas) as well as the POIs and tree data set provided by the Land and Survey office of Basel. By combining these data, the Awila browser for utilities professionals shows where the roots and the branches of trees could interfere with or damage the infrastructure for delivery of services to businesses and residential customers. The data are color coded to make separation of the services easier. Award: Best Multi-Lingual and Multi-Platform Tourism Experience mCRUMBS, the developer of multi-browser AR experiences, uses the complete Basel Tourism data set in four languages (French, German, Spanish and English). The main implementation is in Layar. There are four layers for Basel Toursim, one in eachu0026hellip;
App Challenge Submission Form
[contact-form 2 u0022App Challenge Submission Formu0022]
Prizes
Developers who complete and submit exceptional AR experiences for Basel as part of the App Challenge will be eligible to receive prizes including software, tickets to upcoming AR events and reduced expenses trip to/stay in the city of Basel. A Weekend for Two in Basel The Basel Tourism Bureau will award a weekend for two in the city of Basel as a prize for the AR-4-Basel project. The weekend (exclusive of winner travel to Basel) includes a double room in a 4-star hotel in city center for a Friday or Saturday night (breakfast included). Dates and specific details to be arranged between the recipient and the Basel Tourism Bureau. Software juanio Plugin metaio will award one (one year) commercial license for junaio Plugin as a prize for the AR-4-Basel project. The junaio Plugin lets a 3rd party application (on iOS) display junaio channels. It uses the same code-base as junaio and therefore has the same features. The date of deployment will automatically be determined by the first day of activation of the plugin license. In this license package the usage is limited to 250,000 requests per year, 10,000 requests per day and 500 requests per minute. The Junaio Plugin isu0026hellip;
IWB License Agreement Form
[contact-form 3 "IWB Agreement Form"]