Original Abstract

Abstract—In recent years, with the development of modern
technology, Virtual Reality (VR) has been proven as an effective
means for entertaining and encouraging learning processes. Users
immerse themselves in a 3D environment to experience situations
that are very difficult or impossible to encounter in real life,
such as volcanoes, ancient buildings, or events on a battlefield.
Augmented Reality (AR), on the other hand, takes a different
approach by allowing users to remain in their physical world
while virtual objects are overlaid on physical ones. In education
and tourism, VR and AR are becoming platforms for student
learning and tourist attractions. Although several studies have
been conducted to promote cultural preservation, they are mostly
focused on VR for historical building visualization. The use of
AR for simulating an event is relatively uncommon, especially
for a battlefield simulation. This paper presents a work-inprogress, specifically a web-based AR application that enables
both students and tourists to witness a series of battlefield
events occurring at the Battle of Palmito Ranch, located near
Brownsville, Texas. With markers embedded directly into the
printed map, users can experience the last battle of the Civil
War in the US.
Index Terms—Palmito Ranch, Augmented Reality, AFrame,
Simulation, Animations

What’s the core idea of this paper?

Historical simulations of the last war of the civil war, Palmito Ranch, with the creation of a web based AR, called PalmitoAR, using  AFrames and AR.js, the core idea is that AR/VR can be used to simulate historical events towards a cultural identity.

Our Summary 

Several programs, managed by agencies such as the National Park Service, provide an approach to reconstructing a series of battlefield events on the Palmito Ranch battlefield and illustrate its approaches using an open source web-based augmented reality application called PalmitoAR. 

With markers embedded directly into the printed map, users can experience the final battle of the US Civil War.  Cultural preservation plays an important role in maintaining our identity.

These digitized virtual objects are stored in the repository, where the application layer queries the 3D environment and renders it or superimposes it on a marker.

The PalmitoAR Components Based on the functions described, PalmitoAR consists of two main components: 1) the main component and 2) the marker component.

There are two main types of markers used in typical AR applications, including template markers and 2D barcode markers.

The former identifies the marker, while the latter decodes the data encoded in the marker.

In the current development phase, the position of the marker is our main interest, so we have developed a template marker as a sign for the positioning of the soldiers.

The intuitive idea of ​​using a template marker is to have a database that contains sample images of a marker.

The Print Map button allows viewers to download the map with markers embedded.

The marking component: In order to correctly display 3D objects in a real context, the system must calculate the location and orientation of the camera.

A marker with four sample templates: normal position, turn left, turn upside down and turn right Fig.

Figure 3 shows an example template marker with four matching templates corresponding to four different orientations.

Building on the procedure for template marking, our approach changes slightly by using an area on the card as a distinguishing mark rather than using regular letters.

Process of creating a marker and embedding it in an existing map: cropping the area of ​​interest, extracting sample templates, expanding the black square, attaching the image to the map, and overlaying the 3D model on the map 

What’s the key achievement?

Web based AR is created with AR.js using 3D assets and blender and A Frame. Creation of position based simulations of full humans and a crowd, and simulations of formations and movements in ensembles of human figure simulations.

What are future research areas?

Table top or any surface projection of the web AR and extension of the AR to 360 rendering is a future research area. Newer algorithms for ensemble dynamics, as particle interactions. 

What are possible business applications?

web based AR has promising educational and tourism uses.

What does the VR/AR community think about this?