Polylinks Catalogue + Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the real world, thus providing a composite view. For architects and designers, AR enables them to better communicate design intent.  A challenge for architects is that of communicating concepts and visions for buildings.  For many it is difficult to imagine that concept or vision through a floor plan.  The advantage to using augmented reality is in the communication of ideas, concepts and the vision for their building.  This enables all the parties to more quickly reach a full appreciation of the building plan.  When everyone shares a common understanding of the design, the project is executed more efficiently. There are a lot of apps that provides the AR experience and one of them is Augment (http://www.augmentedev.com/).

In my last tutorial, I used Augment to help me create a catalogue of my design which is a system based on regular polylinks. From the system, I have managed to get a lot of different 3D model based on several parameters. Using Augment, I am able to show the 3D model to people just by scanning the embedded image.

 

The design is based on regular polylinks by sculptor George W. Hart. It is made of a icosahedron with each edges being replaced with different kind of curves. Each face of the icosahedron is then manipulated with different parameters the get different designs. The images below have been embedded with the 3D model where people can scan using the Augment app (link to download is provided at the end) to see the 3D model. The 3D models are limited for now to the ones highlighted with the dashed-line box (click the image, zoom to full size and scan it via Augment). The model can be zoom in by pinching two fingers and rotate by scrolling two fingers in the same direction.

One of the configuration was chosen to be built and further changes to the parameter are done to ensure it will be easier to build. (click image and scan)

Further improvement and more 3D models are being made and will be included into the catalogue in the future.

Links to Augment apps:

iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/augment/id506463171

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ar.augment

Final Crit – Thursday 16th May

It was DS10’s Final crit yesterday which concludes our BRIEF03:TEMPLE. Wonderful day with a wide spectrum of temples showing the concerns and fascinations of a group of twenty-one architectural students in 2013. A myriad of political and spiritual statements on today’s society helped by parametric design tools and physical modelling. Here is the list of all the themes that emerged in the third term:

• Temple to Love and Lust in Brighton, U.K. – by Georgia-Rose Collard-Watson
• Temple to Revolution in Tahrir Square, Egypt – by Luka Kreze
• Temple to Making in the City of London, U.K. – by Michael Clarke
• Temple to Vibrations on Mount Neru, Tanzania – by Dhiren Pattel
• Temple to Crowdfunding the City of London, U.K. – by Sarah Shuttleworth
• Temple to Infinity in the Mojave Desert, U.S.A – by Andrei Jippa
• Temple to Augmented Reality near Oxford Street, London, U.K. – by Mark Simpson
• Temple to Gin, near Kings Cross, London, U.K. – by George Guest
• Temple to Permaculture, in Totness, U.K. – by Philp Hurrel
• Temple to Bees, in the Olympic Park, London, U.K. – by Jake Alsop
• Temple against Electro-Magnetic Radiations, in Snowdonia National Park, U.K. – by Chris Ingram
• Temple against Pre-Packaged Meat, in Smithfield Market, London, U.K. – by Alex Woolgar
• Temple to Bio-Polymers , in Thelford, U.K. – by Marilu Valente
• Temple against Consumerism, in Selfridges, London, U.K. – by Jessica Beagleman
• Temple to Online Knowledge, in the Sillicon Roundabour, London, U.K. – by Tim Clare
• Temple to the Awareness of Death, in Mexico – by Thanasis Korras
• Temple of Illusion, in South Bank, London, U.K.- by Daniel Dodds
• Temple to Water on the Thames, London, U.K. – by William Garforth-Bless
• Temple to Atheism in Lower Lea Valley Park, London, U.K. – by Emma Whitehead
• Temple to Light in Elephant and Castle, London, U.K. – by Josh Haywood
• Temple to Sun Worship in the Wyndham Council Estate, Camberwell London, U.K. – by Natasha Coutts

Thank you very much to all our external critiques: William Firebrace, Jeanne Sillett, Harri Lewis and Jack Munro.  Two weeks more to go until the hand-in of portfolios (28th May). Here are couple pictures:

Luka Kreze’s thorned tensegrity architecture against dictatorship on Tahrir Square – A manual to start a revolution.

Jake Alsop’s wax-generated temple for Bees

Chris Ingram’s Slate Community, away from electro-magnetic radiation

Marilu Valente’s Digital/Physical experiement on elastic bio-polymer

Marilu Valente’s diagramming of the bio-polymer stretch

Emma’s ‘Agora’ – forum for Sunday assembly – atheist congregation

Sarah Shuttleworth’s Temple to crowdfunding – Kickstarter HQ

Crowdfunded structure for Sarah Shuttleworth’s roof

Jessica Beagleman’s “Atelier” on the roof of Selfridges is made of sewed pieces of plywood/

William Garforth-Bless’Temple to Water using a thin fiber glass shell and floating components on the Thames

Philip Hurrell’s Temple to the Transition Movement in Totness, Devon

Daniel Dodds’ abstract for the Temple of Illustion

Tim Clare’s temple to online knowledge is an irregular gridshell following learning spaces

The story of a reciprocal structure and a temple to making by Michael Clarke

18th October tutorials

More great work from our students exploring the digitization and physical fabrication of structural, mathematical and natural systems…

Above: George Guest’s wasp nest wood pulp model

Augmented Reality Experiments

While trying to figure out useful ways to interact with some wire frame models of 3D Harmonographs, I started exploring some examples of augmented reality software that allows a 3D mesh model to be tracked to a physical marker. The two pieces of software experimented with were the AR Plugin for Autodesk Showcase and LinceoRV. Both are stand-alone render/presentation engines with an augmented reality mode.

I found the Showcase AR Plugin to work well with pre-recorded footage, but not accept my live webcam feed, and LinceoRV to work much better with the live feed, but be more limited on the types of marker that it accepted. Both pieces of software can handle multiple markers.

The software basically analyses a binary [black and white] feed from the film, recognises the marker symbols, and works out their distortion due to perspective. It then uses this distortion to accurately recreate the camera position in relation to the digital model.

Using the LinceoRV software could be an useful way to present/manipulate 3D models that are too challenging/costly to print.