ISMAR 2010 is the 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality. The symposium will be attended by approximately 400 scientist, artists and parties with a commercial interest in AR on Oct. 13-16, 2010 at COEX, in Seoul, Korea.
For the record, as opposed to Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality (MR) (which includes both augmented reality and augmented virtuality) is when real and virtual environments are brought together to create new environments and visual scenes, where physical and digital objects are commingled and and are able to engage with one another in the present time. One example is a heads-up display in a modern fighter jet. Augmented Reality (AR) is a real-time view of a physical real-world environment and that scene is augmented by virtual computer-generated images. A simple example is when soccer fields show the logos their sponsor; giant brand images are displayed on the the field and are only seen when the viewer is watching the event on TV. So, now that we've cleared that up, on with the show.
Getting involved with ISMAR 2010
Professor Kim told us that he has been doing research in the MR / AR field for about seven or eight years. “The symposium has been held on a rotational basis in different locations in North America, Europe and Asia. Traditionally, when the event came to Asia it was held in Japan, due to the significant amount of work that was being done there.” he said. “This year the AR community in Korea felt that it was time for Korea to host the event, so they put forward a proposal to do so. It was known that I was engaged with the global AR community and I was nominated and approved as the Co-Chair and I humbly accepted.” he added.
What makes ISMAR 2010 stand out
We pointed out to Professor Kim that there are many tech-related events in Korea, and asked what is so special about ISMAR 2010. He agreed by saying that “Korea is a popular place for tech events, but that was not the only reasons to hold the ISMAR here.” Kim told us that most of the events that are focused on related technologies, such as computer graphics, games and 3D technology, only tend to focus on their respective segment of the industry, that they are operated in a silo-like environment and are not particularly engaged in integrating their platforms with others. He explained “Many disciplines in the area of technology must be integrated in order to achieve AR. Additionally, the ISMAR 2010 will demonstrate how AR relies on both science and the arts to achieve the desired outcome. Other sub-fields within the technology sector focus on a virtual reality, completely detached from reality. AR is a value add to the experience of reality.”
Professor Kim noted that “Qualcomm is a sponsor of the event and they have invested heavily in AR. Earlier this year they acquired intellectual property from Imagination Computer Services [GesmbH]. An Austrian company and established the Qualcomm Austria Research Center there. Imagination had done some excellent work in the AR field and Qualcomm is integrating it in to their phones. They will have a company venue at ISMAR 2010 and they are delivering a workshop to describe the technology and highlight the Qualcomm AR SDK [Software Development Kit] on October 13.”
Qualcomm is at the forefront of research in the AR field and they are spicing things up by sponsoring the 2010 ISMAR and promoting their Augmented Reality Developer Challenge. with prizes ranging from USD$25,000 – 125,000 for developing AR applications using the Qualcomm AR SDK.
When were planning to meet with with Professor Kim, we were hoping to hear about some of the of the new technology that will be featured in the symposium and he didn't disappoint us. He said that the organizers of the symposium have received a number of very interesting research papers that will be presented during the event. He also eluded to some stunning artistic exhibitions.
Unfortunately, he left us hanging in suspense with his next comment. “We have also recently received a request to participate by a company which shall remain nameless at this point. They contacted us and said that they wanted to do a presentation of their work, but they did not want to release details of the product prior to the demonstration, due to concerns that the exposure might compromise their proprietary interest. They provided enough information to peak our interest and we decided to include them in the event. We're very excited to learn more about the research and development that they have been doing and see what they've come up with.”
AR improves our daily lives
The ISMAR 2010 website says “Mixed Reality (MR) and Augmented Reality (AR) allow the creation of fascinating new types of user interfaces, and are beginning to show significant impact on industry and society.” We asked Professor Kim to tell us about how this technology effects our daily lives. We told him that we were familiar with the use of AR for generating images on TV screens during sporting events and asked if he could provide some other examples.
He responded by saying “When I think about the AR that you are talking about, I think of a lot of pre-production work that goes into making that happen. Cameras have to be set in specific locations, graphics need to be created and staged in advance; the stage has to be set for it to happen. “
“What I was thinking about was AR capable Smart Phones. The GPS enabled phone can triangulate your location and the internal compass can tell which way you are facing. As you point the phone at a building directly in front of you the camera collects an image. The AR technology can access a database of images and is able to identify the building characteristics from the image. Then the application serves up the address and information about the businesses in the building. I actually used that technology on my way here to meet with you in this building. This is an example of how this technology make our lives easier.” he continued.
Kim shared another thought on the subject when he said “One idea that I have envisioned for many years is that of using this technology in an educational setting. Imagine a High School chemistry class. Keeping most students attention is difficult unless the experiment involves blowing something up. Lets say they have real-world lab apparatus, test tubes, microscopes and the like. What if they could virtually combine those elements which normally result in an explosion in their real world setting and they get information about the reaction without anything blowing up. I think they would be more engaged and have a better learning experience.”
“Students can have that experience in a purely virtual world. Computer graphics in games get better with every new edition, but virtual reality is still virtual. There is a phenomenon which has been documented, that shows that when a person is engaged in a pleasurable virtual activity their interest will start at a normal level and rise during the initial period. After a time though, the interest level peaks and is followed by a rapid decline. In other words it's fun for a while, but it doesn't take long before the thrill is gone. I think by augmenting reality, as opposed to creating virtual reality, the user will remain engaged for a longer period of time and have a better experience.”
Arts, Media and Humanities program
One element of the ISMAR 2010 event is the Arts, Media and Humanities program (AMH). Professor Kim said that this is a feature of the event was resurrected by the organizers of ISMAR 2009 in Orlando, Florida in the US. “We agreed with the IEEE that it should continue this year. It was one of the more difficult parts of organizing the event, because we had to reach out to Artists and Social Scientist and try to engage them for the event. Fortunately, my Co-Chair, Heedong Ko of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology had some contacts in those communities and he was able to arrange for their participation.”
Why Korea for the ISMAR 2010
We were curious why the event was being held in Korea this year. Professor Kim cleared up that question by saying “As I said before, in the past when the event came to Asia, it was held in Japan. Today, the AR research community in Korea has reached a critical mass. Samsung and LG have been working hard to integrate AR functionality in to their phones. Now, we are big enough contributors to the community to have our bid taken seriously. Had we tried to make it happen seven or eight years ago, I don't think it would have succeeded.”
Can the general public attend
We thought there might be some interest in the information being presented at the event for the general public. We wondered if there was room for general public participation at the event. Professor Kim said that he had hope that the general public would be able to attend when he assumed a leadership role in the symposium, because there would certainly be some interesting things to see, including art exhibits and demonstrations of the technology for the lay person.
They planned the event for 400 attendees based on limitations of the venue. As it turned out, the projected number has been reached. Professor Kim said “If your readers are unable to attend the event, then I suggest that they visit the ISMAR 2010 web site for a post-event recap of the event activities. We are always looking for ways to interact with the general public to spread the word about what we are doing and get feedback regarding their AR experiences.”
For more information, visit the ISMAR 2010 website at http://www.ismar10.org
