Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
3 AR Sandbox
Haowen Zheng
Haoze Gao
Qiran Pan
Yiheng Zhang
design_document1.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
final_paper2.pdf
proposal1.pdf
proposal2.pdf
Timothy Lee
## Team members

Haoze Gao, haozeg2

Haowen Zheng, haowenz5

Qiran Pan, qiranp2

Yiheng Zhang, yihengz5

## Title Of Project

AR Sandbox Redesign

## Problem

Introducing a smart sandbox with augmented reality (AR) capabilities that projects contour maps in real-time onto the sand surface, making geography education for children not only informative but also significantly more enjoyable. However, currently available educational sandboxes are mostly cumbersome and limited to public spaces like activity centers rather than serving as personalized learning tools.

Furthermore, the existing AR projectors designed for sandboxes exhibit primitive features, characterized by a notably low refresh rate and harsh direct light. We are committed to addressing these drawbacks and are working towards the development of a new and improved AR sandbox. This innovative solution aims to overcome the limitations of bulkiness, offering a more accessible and personal learning experience. Additionally, we are focused on enhancing the AR functionality to deliver a smoother experience with higher refresh rates and reduced glare, ensuring a more comfortable and engaging educational tool for children.

## Solution Overview

We would develop a next-generation sandbox with augmented reality (AR) projection and interaction capabilities. In comparison to the popular versions available in the market, our AR projector is set to achieve a higher refresh rate, easier control without external touch screen, and the overall structure will be designed to be foldable while ensuring both high load-bearing capacity and stability.

## Solution Components

### Sensor Subsystem

- **RGBD** camera (ToF or structured light) and associated software for acquiring RGB image and processing depth information

### Processing Subsystem

With the use of GPU acceleration

- **Human body detection** to overcome the interference from human hands and head. With this to enable multi-user collaboration
- **User Interface** with gesture control. Use hand gestures to interact with the screen projected on sand.
- **Real-time topography rendering**: Constructing topography map from depth information with GPU acceleration

### Display Subsystem

- Displaying on sand requires high luminance projector and associated **calibration software**. The software needs to track for image alignment

### Structure Subsystem

- The sand table should be made of materials and designs with sufficient strength to carry sand and prevent people from damaging the wall of the sand table when in use.
- The sand table will be foldable, which will reduce the volume and facilitate carrying and storage.
- The sand table can be separated from the sand while folding, which will make the sand table more conducive to cleaning, increasing durability, and conducive to rapid deployment in different use scenarios.
- We will add an additional vibration device so that the sand surface can be quickly restored to level when necessary.

## Criterion For Success

For our criteria for success, we outline the following requirements:

1. Physical Structure: The sandbox must have a robust physical structure capable of fully supporting the weight of the sand without any leakage. It should also withstand lateral forces of around 40kg exerted by children pulling on the sides of the sandbox.
2. AR Projector: The projector should be capable of accurately projecting contour maps onto the sandbox with more than 1 people playing with sand at a refresh rate of higher than 30fps. To verify the correctness of the contour maps, we will artificially create distinctive landforms such as ridges, valleys, and saddles, and compare them with the projected contour maps to ensure accurate alignment.

Augmenting AR/VR with Smell

Baoyi He, Yingying Liu, Kaiyuan Tan, Xiao Wang

Featured Project

# TEAM MEMBERS

- **Kaiyuan Tan** (kt19)

- **Baoyi He** (baoyihe2)

- **Xiao Wang** (xiaow4)

- **Yingying Liu** (yl73)

# TITLE OF THE PROJECT

Augmenting AR/VR with Smell

# PROBLEM

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies are rapidly growing and becoming more prevalent in our daily lives. However, these technologies have not yet fully addressed the sense of smell, which is a critical aspect of human experience. The absence of scent in AR/VR experiences limits the immersive potential of these technologies, preventing users from experiencing a full sensory experience.

# SOLUTION OVERVIEW

The solution is to augment AR/VR experiences with smell, enabling users to experience a full sensory experience. This will be achieved by incorporating hardware and software components that can simulate various scents in real-time, in response to events in the AR/VR environment. The solution will consist of a scent-emitting device and software that can track and simulate scents based on the user's location and orientation in the AR/VR environment.

# SOLUTION COMPONENTS

The solution will consist of the following components:

- **Scent-emitting device**: This device will be designed to emit various scents in real-time. It will be portable and lightweight, making it easy for users to carry around during AR/VR experiences.

- **Scent simulation software**: This software will be designed to track the user's location and orientation in the AR/VR environment and simulate scents accordingly. The software will use various algorithms to determine the intensity and duration of scent emissions.

- **AR/VR hardware**: The solution will require AR/VR hardware to create the immersive environment. This hardware will include AR/VR headsets, controllers, and other peripherals necessary to interact with the AR/VR environment.

# CRITERION OF SUCCESS

The success of the project will be determined by the following criteria:

- **Immersive Experience**: The solution must provide an immersive AR/VR experience that incorporates smell as a key sensory input.

- **User Acceptance**: The solution must be accepted by users, who should be able to appreciate and enjoy the experience.

- **Technical Feasibility**: The solution must be technically feasible and reliable, with a low latency and high accuracy in scent simulation.

- **Scalability**: The solution should be scalable and adaptable to different AR/VR environments and hardware configurations.

- **Safety**: The solution must be safe for users and the environment, with proper ventilation and control mechanisms to prevent any harm or discomfort caused by excessive or inappropriate scent emissions.

# DISTRIBUTION OF WORK

- Model various scenerios based on AR/VR hardware. *(Tan)*

- Design algorithms which output the intensity and duration of scents based on the constructed scenerios. *(He & Liu)*

- Merge the scene with scents smoothly. *(He & Wang & Liu)*

- Design a protable scent-emitting device. *(Wang)*

- Test using real scents, invite people to experience and adjust based on feedback. *(All)*