I've been so focused the last few days on trying to get FLARManager properly importing 3D files that I forgot to post my proposal. Given I'm currently tossing up between two proposals - one easier "failsafe" one, one hard "wouldn't if be cool if..." one. I'll post them both.
The "wouldn't it be cool if..." proposal:
A problem with many Augmented Reality viewers is that they're very static, loading some given model or animation and either showing an unmoving model, or playing just one animation. My aim is to attempt to make something more capable of change over time. My aim is to make an Augmented Reality application that allows the user to interact with the model they're viewing in a dynamic way, modifying it and creating something new.
The "failsafe" proposal:
A problem with purchasing furniture and ornaments is that the potential buyer doesn't get the chance to really know what they'll look like in their home next to everything else. Using Augmented Reality, this problem can be solved. The potential buyer needs only a printer to make a marker, and an Augmented Reality program making use of a camera on hand. In this case, BuildAR will be used to let the user place ornaments as they please, locating them with markers in the real world.
The failsafe proposal is pretty much finished the moment I get enough models of ornaments, since it's simply a scene that contains markers associated with those models. Then all I'd need to do on the presentation day (or rather, the 20th when I get back from overseas) is print the markers out at the right scale, and place a sufficiently high-res camera such that it looks at a patch of floor and wall that lets the users move markers around. My idea so far involves making a few posters, and letting the user arrange things like couches, bar stools, and tables at 1:1 scale in the scene. To help the user more easily understand what they're doing, the printed markers should have an image of the 3D object next to the marker to indicate what they're moving.
As for the other proposal, I think I'll try working with the idea I had for making a very simple additive modelling application, since I've hit a brick wall with reliably importing well-formed geometry and textures in FLARManager.
For very basic functionality, I'd simply need to have two markers. One marker "carries" a cube to let you position it as you like. The other, when covered, places the cube, and when uncovered, creates a new cube for the first marker to carry. (Also, when the carrier marker isn't visible, no checks will be performed to place a cube.)
Furthermore, a third marker could be used so that, when covered, all cubes are removed from the scene to start a fresh model.
To help the user understand how to use this system, the markers would be labelled with simple names: "Cube Carrier", "Place Cube", and "Delete All Cubes". To help even more, some text would be needed, saying "To choose where to place a cube, move the Cube Carrier marker around where the camera can see its pattern. To place a cube where the Cube Carrier is, hide the Place Cube marker from the camera. To remove all cubes and start again, hide the Delete All Cubes marker from the camera."
I'm about 90% done with the "failsafe" project. I'll get cracking with the "wouldn't it be cool if..." project, and make a Chronolapse recording of myself doing it. Hopefully I'll avoid any more model-related issues by strictly relying on the in-house cube-making functions of FLARManager!
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