Enhanced visual realism by incorporating camera image effects

Abstract

In video see-through augmented reality (AR), virtual objects are overlaid over digital video images. One particular problem of this image mixing process is that the visual appearance of the computer graphics differs strongly from the real background image. The reason for this is that typical AR systems use fast but simple real-time rendering techniques for displaying virtual objects. In this paper, methods for reducing the impact of three effects which make virtual and real objects easily distinguishable are presented. The first effect is camera image noise, which is contained in the data delivered by the image sensor used for capturing the real scene. The second effect considered is edge aliasing, which makes distinguishing virtual objects from real objects simple. Finally, we consider motion blur, which is caused by the temporal integration of color intensities in the image sensor during fast movements of the camera or observed objects. In this paper, we present a system for generating a realistic simulation of image noise based on a new camera calibration step. Additionally, a rendering algorithm is introduced, which performs a smooth blending between the camera image and virtual objects at their boundary in order to reduce aliasing. Lastly, a rendering method is presented, which produces motion blur according to the current camera movement. The implementation of the new rendering techniques utilizes the programmability of modern graphics processing units (GPUs) and delivers real-time frame rates.