DIVERSIFIED WOODCRAFTS AUGMENTED REALITY Series User manual

ARS | AUGMENTED REALITY SERIES
https://system76.com/weekendproject/
REQUIRED HARDWARE
This tutorial focuses on installing and calibrating the software, but doesn’t cover the details of the hardware
setup. (Note: Do not plug the Kinect or projector unit until instructed by the tutorial.)
For detailed information on the hardware setup, see the AR Sandbox hardware tutorial.
Diversied Woodcrafts’ ARS Series includes:
A Our rst generation Kinect
B: Our short-throw digital projector (BenQ MW632ST)
C: Our Linux-friendly computer
D: Our 40"w x 30"D x 8"H Sandbox
(Not Included) Roughly 200 pounds of white sand like Sandtastik White Sandbox Sand

ARS | AUGMENTED REALITY SERIES
https://system76.com/weekendproject/
INSTALL SOFTWARE
A: Turn the computer on; make sure internet is connected
B: Open a terminal and run these three commands (Note: All commands must be typed exactly as shown;
upper and lowercase will make a difference):
sudo add-apt-repository -ys ppa:system76-dev/weekend-project
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install arsandbox
C: Find out what your user-name is by running this command in the terminal:
whoami
D: Add yourself to the vrui-grp group with this command, replacing USERNAME with the user-name
returned by the whoami command above:
sudo adduser USERNAME vrui-grp
E: Reboot your computer so all the above changes take effect.
CALIBRATE KINECT
A: Plug-in the Kinect to the laptop and to the power source
B: Open the terminal and run:
KinectUtil getCalib 0
This will download the intrinsic calibration parameters directly from your Kinect’s rmware and then
write the result to a le in /etc/Vrui-3.1/Kinect-2.8/
ALIGN KINECT ABOVE SANDBOX
A: Open the terminal and run:
RawKinectViewer -compress 0
B: Maximize this window so it’s easier to see
your sandbox:

ARS | AUGMENTED REALITY SERIES
https://system76.com/weekendproject/
The image on the left is the depth view, the right is the standard camera view:
The Augmented Reality Sandbox only uses the depth view (left), but the camera view (right) is still helpful
in aligning your Kinect.
C: The depth view needs to cover the entire interior of your sandbox. It’s okay if it overlaps it slightly.
D: Hit Esc to close the RawKinectViewer.
CALCULATE BASE PLANE
A: There are two ways to calculate the base plane. If you haven’t yet lled your sandbox with sand, you
can calculate the base plane using a region on the oor of your sandbox.
On the other hand, if you’ve already led your sandbox with sand, you can calculate the base plane
by placing a piece of poster board (or a similar at surface) on top of your sandbox, which is what
we’ll do in this example:

ARS | AUGMENTED REALITY SERIES
https://system76.com/weekendproject/
B: From a terminal, launch: the RawKinectViewer:
RawKinectViewer -compress 0
C: Maximize this window so it’s easier to see your sandbox:
D: Press and hold the right mouse button, move your cursor over Average Frames, then release the
mouse button:

ARS | AUGMENTED REALITY SERIES
https://system76.com/weekendproject/
E: Press and hold the 1 key, move your cursor over Extract Planes, then release the 1 key:
F: You now need to draw a rectangle that ts within the interior of your at surface (in the depth view).
You want some space between your rectangle and the edges of your at surface.
Start with your cursor near the top-left corner of your at surface. Press and hold the 1 key,
drag out a rectangle toward the bottom-right corner, then release the 1 key:

ARS | AUGMENTED REALITY SERIES
https://system76.com/weekendproject/
G: Hit Esc to close the RawKinectViewer.
H: In the terminal you’ll see two lines printed. Select the portion of the 2nd line shown below, then right
click and select Copy:
I: Edit the BoxLayout.txt le by running this command from the terminal:
gedit /etc/SARndbox-1.6/BoxLayout.txt
J: Paste the line you just copied over the rst line in the BoxLayout.txt le.
You also need edit this line, replacing the “=” (equal sign) with a “,” (comma).
You should end up with a rst line something like this:
K: Save the le and close gedit

ARS | AUGMENTED REALITY SERIES
https://system76.com/weekendproject/
MEASURE 3D EXTENTS OF SAND SURFACE
A: This step requires you to have led your sandbox with sand. You want the sand surface to be as level
as possible, but it doesn’t need to be perfectly level.
If you placed a piece of poster board (or another at surface) on top of your sandbox in the previous
step, you’ll need to remove it for this step.
B: From a terminal, again launch: the RawKinectViewer:
RawKinectViewer -compress 0
C: Maximize this window so it’s easier to see your sandbox:
D: Press and hold the right mouse button, move your cursor over Average Frames, then release
the mouse button:
E: Press and hold the 1 key, move your cursor over Measure 3D positions, then release the 1 key:

ARS | AUGMENTED REALITY SERIES
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You’ll now measure the 3D extents of the interior of the sandbox
F: Use the color-coded depth map to make sure you position your cursor over the sand surface and not
over the sides of your sandbox. Position your cursor so that there’s a small amount of space between
the sand surface and the sides of your sandbox.
First, move your cursor to the lower-left interior corner, then press the 1 key:
Note there is no feedback from the computer when you press the 1 key.

ARS | AUGMENTED REALITY SERIES
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G: Second, move your cursor to the lower-right interior corner, then press the 1 key:
H: Third, move your cursor to the upper-left interior corner, then press the 1 key:

ARS | AUGMENTED REALITY SERIES
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I Finally, move your cursor to the upper-right interior corner: then press the 1 key:
J: Hit Esc to exit RawKinectViewer .
K: In the terminal you’ll see four lines printed. You need to highlight these four lines as shown below,
then right click and select Copy: