Mixed reality entertainment with wearable computers

Abstract

With the recent proliferation of portable computing devices such as laptop, palmtop, and tablet PC, I am envisioning a future of mobile computing becoming the mainstream technology thereby reducing the desktop to a historical relic. Mobile computing is realized with the employment of a wearable computer. In this thesis, I will describe the design and development of the wearable computer named a??DSTARa??. This powerful wearable computer is complete with a head mounted display (HMD) with camera attached, a main system of small form factor (PC 104 form factor), and a novel input device (Twiddler2). In addition to that, I have also added a Wireless LAN card, an inertial sensory system (InertiaCube2), a bluetooth device, and a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver (or a Dead Reackoning Module, DRM, in the later system) to enable the wearable computer to support the implementation of augmented reality and networking software applications.Three wearable computing applications are developed: a??Game Citya??, a??Interactive Theatera??, and a??Human Pacmana??. These systems support multi-players in a wide outdoor area with total mobility in an attempt to renew traditional physicalness in gameplay in computer entertainment. Tracking and navigation modules are incorporated by overlaying the video stream captured by the head-mounted camera with 2D text or 3D virtual objects. At the same time, wireless LAN is set up to support communication between players so as to explore the various aspect of social gaming. Tangible interaction between physical object and its virtual counterpart is incorporated into the gameplay to provide the player with a new experience of direct physical interaction with his computer. Also, they can experience seamless transitions between the virtual and the real world in the systems.In the last part of the thesis, various mobile computing problems encountered in the areas of wireless communication, mobility, and portability are described in details. I will also take a look of the theme of ubiquitous computing embedded in our applications. I studied several issues such as tangible interface and context awareness in outdoor environment in the domain of a??Human Pacmana??. Lastly, I present the reader with human computer interaction (HCI) design concerns of the system. Design decisions are justified in adherence to the wisdom from HCI studies.