U.S. patent number RE45,031 [Application Number 13/602,057] was granted by the patent office on 2014-07-22 for vision-based augmented reality system using invisible marker.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Industry-University Cooperation Foundation Hanyang University. The grantee listed for this patent is Han-Hoon Park, Jong-Il Park. Invention is credited to Han-Hoon Park, Jong-Il Park.
United States Patent |
RE45,031 |
Park , et al. |
July 22, 2014 |
Vision-based augmented reality system using invisible marker
Abstract
A vision-based augmented reality system using an invisible
marker indicates an invisible marker on a target object to be
tracked, such that it can rapidly and correctly track the target
object by detecting the invisible marker. The augmented reality
system includes a target object including an infrared marker drawn
by an invisible infrared light-emitting material; a visible-ray
camera for capturing an image of the TO; an infrared-ray camera for
capturing an image of the IM included in the TO image; an optical
axis converter for allowing the infrared-ray camera and the
visible-ray camera to have the same viewing point; an image
processing system for rendering a prepared virtual image to the TO
image to generate a new image.
Inventors: |
Park; Jong-Il (Seoul,
KR), Park; Han-Hoon (Kyungsangnam-do, KR) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Park; Jong-Il
Park; Han-Hoon |
Seoul
Kyungsangnam-do |
N/A
N/A |
KR
KR |
|
|
Assignee: |
Industry-University Cooperation
Foundation Hanyang University (Seoul, KR)
|
Family
ID: |
35786424 |
Appl.
No.: |
13/602,057 |
Filed: |
August 31, 2012 |
PCT
Filed: |
April 07, 2005 |
PCT No.: |
PCT/KR2005/000991 |
371(c)(1),(2),(4) Date: |
January 29, 2007 |
PCT
Pub. No.: |
WO2006/011706 |
PCT
Pub. Date: |
February 02, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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Reissue of: |
11658719 |
Apr 7, 2005 |
7808524 |
Oct 5, 2010 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Jul 30, 2004 [KR] |
|
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10-2004-0060388 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
348/162 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N
5/33 (20130101); G06T 19/006 (20130101); G06T
5/50 (20130101); G06T 7/73 (20170101); G06T
2207/10016 (20130101); G06T 2207/10048 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04N
5/30 (20060101); G09G 5/00 (20060101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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9062839 |
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Mar 1997 |
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JP |
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2000102036 |
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Apr 2000 |
|
JP |
|
2000261789 |
|
Sep 2000 |
|
JP |
|
2002090118 |
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Mar 2002 |
|
JP |
|
2003036434 |
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Feb 2003 |
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JP |
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Other References
Thalmann, Nadia Magnenat et al., "Animating Virtual Actors in Real
Environments", ACM Multimedia Systems, Springer, vol. 5, No. 2,
1997, pp. 113-125 (17 pp.). cited by applicant.
|
Primary Examiner: Ye; Lin
Assistant Examiner: Cowan; Euel
Attorney, Agent or Firm: AlbertDhand LLP
Claims
The invention claimed is:
.[.1. A vision-based augmented reality system using an invisible
marker, comprising: a target object (TO) including an infrared
marker (IM) drawn by an invisible infrared light-emitting material;
a visible-ray camera for capturing an image of the TO; an
infrared-ray camera for capturing an image of the IM included in
the TO image; an optical axis converter for transmitting a visible
ray received from the TO to the visible-ray camera, transmitting an
infrared ray received from the TO to the infrared-ray camera, and
allowing the infrared-ray camera and the visible-ray camera to have
the same viewing point; an image processing system for receiving
the infrared marker image from the infrared-ray camera, receiving
the TO image from the visible-ray camera, separating the infrared
marker image and the TO image from each other, real-time monitoring
a position and pose of the IM associated with the infrared-ray
camera, real-time tracking a position and pose of the TO, and
rendering a prepared virtual image to the TO image based on the
tracked position and pose of the TO to generate a new image; and an
output unit for displaying the image received from the image
processing system on a screen..].
.[.2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the visible-ray
camera includes a color compensation filter for passing visible-ray
light..].
.[.3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the infrared-ray
camera includes an infrared pass filter for passing infrared-ray
light to recognize the IM..].
.[.4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the optical axis
converter is indicative of a cold mirror, which is arranged between
the visible-ray camera and the infrared-ray camera, transmits the
infrared ray generated from the TO to the infrared-ray camera,
reflects the visible ray generated from the TO on the visible-ray
camera, and allows the viewing point of the infrared-ray camera to
coincide with that of the visible-ray camera..].
.[.5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the optical axis
converter is indicative of a prism, which refracts the visible ray
received from the TO in the direction of the visible-ray camera,
refracts the infrared ray received from the TO in the direction of
the infrared-ray camera, and allows the viewing point of the
infrared-ray camera to coincide with that of the visible-ray
camera..].
.Iadd.6. A vision-based augmented reality system using an invisible
marker, comprising: a visible-ray camera for capturing target
object (TO) including an infrared marker (IM) drawn by an invisible
infrared light-emitting material; an infrared-ray camera for
capturing the IM included in the TO; and an image processing system
for receiving an image of the infrared marker from the infrared-ray
camera, receiving an image of the TO from the visible-ray camera,
separating the image of the infrared marker and the image of the TO
from each other, monitoring position and pose of the IM associated
with the infrared-ray camera, tracking position and pose of the TO
based on position and pose of the IM, and rendering a virtual image
to the TO image..Iaddend.
.Iadd.7. The system of claim 6, further comprising an optical axis
converter for changing viewing point of at least one of the
visible-ray camera and the infrared-ray camera..Iaddend.
.Iadd.8. The system of claim 7, wherein the optical axis converter
changes the viewing point of at least one of the visible-ray camera
and the infrared-ray camera so that the infrared-ray camera and the
visible-ray camera have the same viewing point..Iaddend.
.Iadd.9. The system of claim 8, wherein the optical axis converter
includes a cold mirror, which transmits infrared ray generated from
the TO on the infrared-ray camera, and reflects visible-ray
generated from the TO to the visible-ray camera..Iaddend.
.Iadd.10. The system of claim 12, further comprising an output unit
for displaying the rendered virtual image..Iaddend.
.Iadd.11. The system of claim 10, wherein the output unit includes
at least one of a head mount display, a 3-dimensional glass and a
glass-type HMD..Iaddend.
.Iadd.12. A vision-based augmented reality system using an
invisible marker, comprising: an infrared-ray camera for capturing
a target object (TO) having an infrared marker drawn by an
invisible infrared light-emitting material; a visible-ray camera
for capturing the TO; and an image processing system for monitoring
position and pose of the IM from an image of the infrared-ray
camera, tracking position and pose of the TO based on the position
and the pose of the IM, rendering a virtual image based on the
tracked position and pose, wherein the image processing system
separates an image of the visible-ray camera and an image of the
infrared-ray camera from each other in receiving the image of the
visible-ray camera and the image of the infrared-ray camera, and
renders the virtual image on an image captured by the visible-ray
camera..Iaddend.
.Iadd.13. The system of claim 12, further comprising an optical
axis converter for changing viewing point of at least one of the
visible-ray camera and the infrared-ray camera..Iaddend.
.Iadd.14. The system of claim 13, wherein the optical axis
converter changes the viewing point of at least one of the
visible-ray camera and the infrared-ray camera so that the
infrared-ray camera and the visible-ray camera have the same
viewing point..Iaddend.
.Iadd.15. The system of claim 17, wherein the optical axis
converter changes the viewing point of at least one of the
visible-ray camera and the infrared-ray camera so that the
infrared-ray camera and the visible-ray camera have the same
viewing point..Iaddend.
.Iadd.16. The system of claim 17, wherein the optical axis
converter includes a cold mirror, which transmits infrared ray
generated from the TO on the infrared-ray camera, and reflects
visible-ray generated from the TO to the visible-ray
camera..Iaddend.
.Iadd.17. A vision-based augmented reality system using an
invisible marker, comprising: a visible-ray camera for capturing a
target object (TO) including an infrared marker (IM) drawn by an
invisible infrared light-emitting material; an infrared-ray camera
for capturing the IM included in the TO; an optical axis converter
for changing viewing point of at least one of the visible-ray
camera and the infrared-ray camera; and an image processing system
for rendering a virtual image using an image captured by the
infrared-ray camera, an image captured by the visible-ray camera
and IM; wherein the image processing system receives an image of
the infrared marker from the infrared-ray camera, receives an image
of the TO from the visible-ray camera, separates the image of the
infrared marker and the image of the TO from each other, monitors
position and pose of the IM associated with the infrared-ray
camera, tracks position and pose of the TO based on position and
pose of the IM, and renders the virtual image to the TO
image..Iaddend.
.Iadd.18. A display device, comprising: an infrared-ray camera for
capturing a target object (TO) having an infrared marker drawn by
an invisible infrared light-emitting material; a visible-ray camera
for capturing the TO; an image processing system for monitoring
position and pose of the IM from an image of the infrared-ray
camera, tracking position and pose of the TO based on the position
and the pose of the IM, rendering a virtual image based on the
tracked position and pose, and an output unit for displaying the
rendered virtual image; wherein the image processing system
separates an image of the visible-ray camera and an image of the
infrared-ray camera from each other in receiving the image of the
visible-ray camera and the image of the infrared-ray camera, and
renders the virtual image on an image captured by the visible-ray
camera..Iaddend.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an augmented reality system for
real-time matching a virtual computer graphic (CG) image with a
real image, and more particularly to a vision-based augmented
reality system using an invisible marker, which indicates an
invisible marker on a target object to be tracked, and rapidly and
correctly tracks the target object by detecting the invisible
marker, such that it rapidly implements correct augmented reality,
obviates problems generated when a visible marker is used, and is
applicable to a variety of application fields.
BACKGROUND ART
Generally, three virtual realities, i.e., an immersive virtual
reality (VR), a desktop VR, and an augmented reality, have been
widely used. The augmented reality is indicative of a user
interface technique capable of correctly matching a virtual image
generated by a computer with a real image viewed by a user. The
above-mentioned augmented reality can provide a user with a higher
reality and higher recognition accuracy.
In order to implement the above-mentioned augmented reality, a
method for correctly estimating the movement of a camera or a
target object is of importance. A method for implementing the
above-mentioned augmented reality generally includes the following
first and second methods.
The first method uses characteristics collected by objects existing
in the real world, and is considered to be an ultimate purpose of
the augmented reality field. However, if the number of
characteristics collected by objects is a small number or an
environment condition such as an illumination condition is
unstable, performance is greatly deteriorated.
The second method uses known markers, and is more stable than the
above-mentioned first method. In this case, it is indicative of an
object artificially inserted in the real world to correctly
estimate the movement of a camera or a target object, such that it
may hide other objects or may be unpleasant to the eye. Due to the
above-mentioned problems, the augmented reality technologies using
the known marker have limited application.
The vision-based augmented reality system will hereinafter be
described with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a conventional vision-based augmented reality system.
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional vision-based augmented
reality system includes a camera 11 for capturing a target object
(TO) on which a visible marker (VM) is indicated; an image
processor 12 for monitoring a position and attitude of the marker
upon receiving a mark image indicated on the TO from the camera 11,
tracking a position and pose of the TO, and rendering a virtual
image to a TO image such that it generates a new image; and an
output unit 13 for displaying the image received from the image
processor 12 on a screen.
The above-mentioned augmented reality system uses the visible
marker so that it correctly and rapidly implements the augmented
reality. In this case, the marker is an artificial addition not
present in the real world, such that the abovementioned augmented
reality system has a disadvantage in that the marker hides a
desired target object or is unpleasant to the eye. Also, the number
of application fields of the abovementioned augmented reality
system using the visible marker is very limited.
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above
problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a
vision-based augmented reality system using an invisible marker,
which indicates an invisible marker on a target object to be
tracked, and rapidly and correctly tracks the target object by
detecting the invisible marker, such that it rapidly implements
correct augmented reality, obviates problems generated when a
visible marker is used, and is applicable to a variety of
application fields.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, the above and other
objects can be accomplished by the provision of a vision-based
augmented reality system using an invisible marker, comprising: a
target object (TO) including an infra-red marker (IM) drawn by an
invisible infrared light-emitting material; a visible-ray camera
for capturing an image of the TO; an infrared-ray camera for
capturing an image of the IM included in the TO image; an optical
axis converter for transmitting a visible ray received from the TO
to the visible-ray camera, transmitting an infrared ray received
from the TO to the infrared-ray camera, and allowing the
infrared-ray camera and the visible-ray camera to have the same
viewing point; an image processing system for receiving the
infrared marker image from the infrared-ray camera, receiving the
TO image from the visible-ray camera, separating the infrared
marker image and the TO image from each other, real-time monitoring
a position and pose of the IM associated with the infrared-ray
camera, real-time tracking a position and pose of the TO, rendering
a prepared virtual image to the TO image, and generating a new
image; and an output unit for displaying the image received from
the image processing system on a screen.
The above-mentioned vision-based augmented reality system using the
invisible marker indicates an invisible marker on a target object
to be tracked, and rapidly and correctly tracks the target object
by detecting the invisible marker. Therefore, the vision-based
augmented reality system rapidly implements correct augmented
reality, obviates problems generated when a visible marker is used,
and is applicable to a variety of application fields.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the
present invention will be more clearly understood from the
following detailed description taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional vision-based
augmented reality system;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a vision-based augmented
reality system according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method for employing
a prism acting as an optical axis converter according to the
present invention;
FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an image processing system
according to the present invention;
FIGS. 5a and 5b are exemplary images captured by a visible-ray
camera or an infrared camera according to the present invention;
and
FIG. 6 is an implementation example of the augmented reality
according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a vision-based augmented
reality system according to the present invention.
Referring to FIG. 2, the vision-based augmented reality system
according to the present invention includes a Target Object (TO) to
be tracked, a visible-ray camera 110, an infrared-ray camera 120,
an optical axis converter, an image processing system 140, and an
output unit 150.
The TO includes an infrared marker (IM) designated by an invisible
infrared light-emitting material. The IM is adopted to correctly
track the TO. Also, an invisible infrared mark is adopted not to
intrude upon the user's view. In this case, infrared light-emitting
ink may be used as the infrared light-emitting material.
The visible-ray camera 110 captures an image of the TO. In order to
augment the degree of separation between a visible ray and an
infrared ray, the visible-ray camera 110 may include a color
compensation filter for passing visible-ray light.
The infrared-ray camera 120 captures an image of an infrared marker
(IM) included in the TO. In order to augment the degree of
separation between the infrared ray and the visible ray, the
infrared-ray camera 120 may include an infrared pass filter for
passing infrared-ray light.
In the case of using the color compensation filter and the infrared
pass filter, the visible-ray beam and the infrared-ray light can be
separated from each other, such that the degree of separation
between the infrared ray and the visible ray can be increased.
The optical axis converter transmits a visible ray received from
the TO to the visible-ray camera 110, and transmits an infrared ray
received from the TO to the infrared-ray camera 120, such that a
viewing point of the infrared-ray camera 120 is equal to that of
the visible-ray camera 110.
In this case, the above-mentioned condition where the infrared-ray
camera 120 and the visible-ray camera 110 have the same viewing
point means that the infrared-ray camera 120 and the visible-ray
camera 110 capture the same scene in the same direction at the same
location.
The viewing point of the infrared-ray camera 120 is equal to that
of the visible-ray camera 110 by means of the abovementioned
optical axis converter, such that the infrared-ray camera 120 and
the visible-ray camera 110 can capture the same scene at the same
distance and viewing point.
The image processing system 140 receives an infrared marker image
from the infrared-ray camera 120, receives the TO image from the
visible-ray camera 110, separates the infrared marker image and the
TO image from each other, real-time monitors the position and pose
of the infrared marker (IM) associated with the infrared-ray camera
120, real-time tracks the position and pose of the TO, and renders
a prepared virtual image to the TO image, such that it generates a
new image.
In this case, the rendering means that a three-dimensional CG color
or effect is applied to individual planes of a real object drawn on
a screen, resulting in an increased reality of the real object
displayed on a screen.
The output unit 150 displays the image received from the image
processing system 140 on a screen. For example, a general monitor,
a Head Mounted Display (HMD), stereoscopic glasses such as
CrystalEyes, and an optical see-through HMD, etc., may be used as
the output unit 150.
In the meantime, the optical axis converter is adapted to allow the
viewing point of the infrared-ray camera 120 to coincide with that
of the visible-ray camera 110, and can be implemented with a cold
mirror 130 or a prism 130A.
Referring to FIG. 2, if the optical axis converter is implemented
with a cold mirror, it is arranged between the visible-ray camera
110 and the infrared-ray camera 120, transmits the infrared ray
generated from the TO to the infrared-ray camera 120, reflects the
visible ray generated from the TO on the visible-ray camera 110,
and thereby allows the viewing point of the infrared-ray camera 120
to coincide with that of the visible-ray camera 110.
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method for employing
a prism acting as an optical axis converter according to the
present invention.
Referring to FIG. 3, if the optical axis converter is implemented
with a prism 130A, it refracts a visible ray generated from the TO
in the direction of the visible-ray camera 110, and refracts an
infrared ray generated from the TO in the direction of the
infrared-ray camera 120, such that the viewing point of the
infrared-ray camera 120 coincides with that of the visible-ray
camera 110.
Operations and effects of the present invention will hereinafter be
described with reference to the annexed drawings.
FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an image processing system
according to the present invention. Referring to FIGS. 2-3, the
optical axis converter transmits a visible ray (OP1) from among a
plurality of OPs received from the TO to the visible-ray camera
110, and transmits an infrared ray (OP2) from among a plurality of
OPs received from the TO to the infrared-ray camera 120, such that
the viewing point of the infrared-ray camera 120 is equal to that
of the visible-ray camera 110. By the use of above-mentioned
optical axis converter, the infrared-ray camera 120 and the
visible-ray camera 110 can capture the same scene at the same
distance and viewing point.
In this case, the visible-ray camera 110 captures an image of the
TO including the IM drawn by an infrared light-emitting material,
and outputs the captured TO image to the image processing system
140. The infrared-ray camera 120 captures an image of the IM
included in the TO, and outputs the captured IM image to the image
processing system 140.
FIG. 5a is an exemplary image captured by the visible-ray camera,
and FIG. 5b is an exemplary image captured by the infrared-ray
camera.
FIGS. 5a.about.5b are images captured by the visible-ray camera and
the infrared-ray camera at the same time point, respectively. In
more detail, FIG. 5a is an image captured by the visible-ray camera
110, and FIG. 5b is an image captured by the infrared-ray camera
120. As shown in FIG. 5b, the IM denoted by "A" can be captured by
the infrared-ray camera 120.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 4, the image processing system 140
acquires the TO image from the visible-ray camera 110, acquires the
IM image from the infrared-ray camera 120 at step S41. The image
processing system 140 compares coordinates of the acquired IM image
with those of a prepared reference marker, such that it can
real-time calculate the position and pose of the IM at step
S42.
The image processing system 140 monitors the position and pose of
the IM, such that it can real-time track the position and pose of
the TO at step S43. The image processing system renders a prepared
virtual image to the TO image to generate a new image at step S44,
outputs the new image at step S45, and repeats an output control
procedure of the output unit 150 until the entire program is
terminated at step S46.
Therefore, the image is transmitted from the image processing
system 140 to the output unit 150, resulting in augmented reality
implementation.
FIG. 6 is an implementation example of the augmented reality
according to the present invention.
Referring to FIG. 6, the position of the IM is tracked by the
infrared-ray camera 120 such that the pose of the TO is calculated.
A prepared kettle image is rendered to the image captured by the
visible-ray camera 110, such that a new image in which the
augmented Reality (AR) is implemented is shown in FIG. 6.
As apparent from the above description, the present invention can
correctly and rapidly track a TO using a marker made of invisible
ink (i.e., an infrared light-emitting material), such that it can
correctly and rapidly implement the augmented reality. In more
detail, the present invention monitors the marker using the
infrared-ray camera, and renders a virtual image to an image
captured by the visible-ray camera using the monitored result,
resulting in augmented reality implementation. The viewing points
of the visible-ray and infrared-ray cameras coincide with each
other by a cold mirror or a prism, such that the same augmented
reality can be implemented by monitoring an invisible marker on the
assumption that only the visible-ray image is considered.
In conclusion, the present invention is applicable to all
application fields requiring the augmented reality technology.
In the augmented reality system for real-time matching a virtual CG
image with a real image, a vision-based augmented reality system
using an invisible marker indicates an invisible marker on a target
object to be tracked, and rapidly and correctly tracks the target
object by detecting the invisible marker, such that it rapidly
implements correct augmented reality, obviates problems generated
when a visible marker is used, and is applicable to a variety of
application fields.
* * * * *