Ανάπτυξη μιας Augmented Reality εφαρμογής για κινητές συσκευές
Date Issued
June 26, 2024
Type
Πτυχιακή Εργασία
Abstract
The present thesis aims to highlight the evolution of augmented reality in the field of computer science. Specifically, its objective is to examine the availability of tools and their ease of use for creating an augmented reality application accessible to the average user, as well as to explore the capabilities and limitations of these tools.
A significant part of the paper comprises a historical review of applications of this technology, both as case studies and as evidence of the extensive history and development of augmented reality.
Various available tools for the development of such an application at the time of writing (2024) are presented, with a comparison aimed at identifying tools that truly represent viable options within the scope of a thesis. Once these tools were identified, they were concurrently utilized within a single application to compare their ease of use and performance. For the reliability of the comparison, the two methods used, namely "Image Tracking" and "Plane Tracking", are fundamental solutions available in almost all available tools. For the joint implementation, it was considered a beneficial choice to use the popular platform "Unity", to which the augmented reality application development tools "Vuforia Engine" and "AR Foundation" were added as its extension packages. In this comparison, therefore, the participants were (in order of reference) an older and recognized choice in the field for developing AR experiences, and a newer but promising one.
Following this, a specification and analysis of a thematic application in the form of a mobile game (for Android devices) were carried out, covering the needs for demonstrating the capabilities and weaknesses of each tool. During the development of the application using both tools, no notable obstacles were encountered, as there is sufficient material available for both covering the structure and operation of their methods. Additionally, the experience with each was sufficiently customizable to meet the project's needs, while keeping in mind the limitations of the methods themselves.
Finally, in the actual comparison of the implementations, AR Core of AR Foundation proved weaker in the image tracking method, while both tools were judged equivalent in the plane tracking method.
Subjects