New approaches for mixed reality in urban environments: the CINeSPACE project

Abstract

The CINeSPACE (www.cinespace.eu) project allows tourists to access the rich cultural heritage of urban environments by literally morphing the user into the past through the use of multimedia archives. Tourists use the device which includes both a PDA type of device with a GIS interface displayed on a touch screen to help the user navigate and select multimedia content, and video binoculars to create the augmented reality effects. In addition to this mode of interaction, a survey of Mixed Reality user interaction paradigms will be presented. A key feature of Mixed Reality user interfaces is the object identification and annotation methods available to the user, of which a survey, including a review of the GeoConcepts ontology annotation methodology used in the CINeSPACE device, will be presented.