Previewing 3D decor changes on android

Abstract

This is an android application that allows users to preview the placement of 3-D objects into a real time scene. The android device’s camera and display is used to provide a “window” into an augmented reality, where these virtual objects are displayed as if they were actually in the scene. We have illustrated the concept by placing virtual furniture in a room, although this could be extended to place any 3D object in any scene. Purpose of the system is to develop an Android based application capable of previewing 3D Décor changes using augmented reality in real time scene. The work focuses on importing 3D objects on top of a specific image already present in application as the marker; these 3D Objects can be downloaded respective to the marker detected from online server. Detection of multiple markers simultaneously and rendering different 3D Models respective to detected markers is present. This application provides the advertisers an Augmented Reality solution for previewing 3-d décor changes such that giving both users and brands the ability to connect even further with a product before, during and after making a purchase. We have designed the user friendly application with a simple interface. The application is designed using the android SDK version 2.2 and can be used on android devices with android sdk 2.2 and above. It further uses Vuforia SDK to enable Augmented Reality on android. When the application opens the camera view is opened. The application gets camera frame and starts detecting the marker. For this purpose firstly pixel format conversion is done followed by the Feature Points Computation and finally the marker identification. The information of the marker is then sent to our online server where the information of marker is matched against the information of the 3D object. Once the respective 3D object is found on the server, it is downloaded in the android device and shown in the real time scene else the error message is generated. This virtual environment for the placement of 3D object is created by Unity (a 3D game engine) which is integrated with the application. The application is tested on Samsung Galaxy Y , HTC Desire , Samsung Galaxy Tablet in the initial phase but finally after integrating the game engine and the server side it worked did not work with Samsung Galaxy Y due to absence of binaries greater than Arm v7 but worked perfectly with the later two. We have successfully implemented the marker detection algorithm and placement of 3D object in to a real time scene using Vuforia SDK and Unity game engine. As a result, the placement of 3D furniture is accomplished using this application. By using this application furniture can be simulated to the user before buying. The application is useful for interior design, furniture marketing, and even historical-site education.