Shrunken Reality: Augmenting Real-World Contexts in Real-Time on Realistic Miniature Dioramas

Abstract

This study presents a new form of augmented reality (AR), referred to as shrunken reality (SR), that captures various real-world contexts in real-Time using cameras and augments them onto realistic miniature dioramas, denoted as shrunken worlds (SWs), providing a distinctive experience different from existing AR technologies. We explored the mathematical and technical methods to realize SR, focusing on the processes involved in mapping and augmenting real-world contexts onto miniature, scaled-down models. By exploring the integration of physical miniaturization with digital augmentation, we investigated the potential applications of SR across various sectors, highlighting its relevance to both public services and industries. Finally, we discuss future research directions, such as increasing the number of cameras to capture comprehensive real-world contexts, utilizing deep learning models to enhance user's immersive experience, improving the naturalness of the augmented overlays on SWs, and broadening the scope of augmentations to cover a wider range of real-world, real-Time contexts. © 2024 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).