One area where a number of scientific and technological breakthroughs occur within the immersive industry are founding within the more unlikely of places. This includes Disney Research who work on a number of different applications and technologies to help push the industry forward. Their newest development is a augmented reality (AR) technology which allows users to pose with, or as, a digital avatar for enhanced photo opportunities.
The program, which has a full title of “AR Poser: Automatically Augmenting Mobile Pictures with Digital Avatars Imitating Poses,” is an example of how technology can be used to enhance photo opportunities and selfies within the entertainment industry. During use, the AR Poser is able to interpret the pose of a human subject that is in front of the camera with a 2D post estimation. This is done by using RGB information received from the camera and once it has that information, it matches it with a set of predetermined 3D poses within it’s library to project the closest match possible.
The current capabilities of the AR Poser application are only the start with the limited functionality expected to expand as the program is developed. In current operation, the image must include a real-world marker so that the camera can be gauged and depth may be determined. Poses and shapes that are built into the programs library are also limited in its current version. These, along with a number of different areas, are all planned to be developed further to allow for a more robust and stable application that is capable of delivering a much wider range of features.
One of the challenges the program needs to overcome in the future is the many different hardware setups that are out there in order to operate effectively. As mobile devices would be the best target platform, Disney Research are looking to make the solution cloud-based so to off load some of the hardware requirements and processes to allow for a wider set of supported devices. Currently the whole process of interpreting an image and projecting the digital avatar takes only about two seconds.
Though still in the early stags, AR Poser has the chance to lead to numerous advancements in AR picture modification and photo taking opportunities. Disney Research have released a short video showcasing AR Poser which you can view below and for all the latest from the division in the future, keep reading VRFocus.