The technologies that make WorldBoard possible have finally arrived, and better yet
the prices are plunging. WorldBoard could be developed in four steps: (1) WorldBoard
servers associate information (a personal, password protected Web page) with any
plane at any location around the planet, (2) wireless WorldBoard clients with "plus or
minus one meter location sense" allow Web pages from the WorldBoard server to be
browsed and authored, (3) WorldBoard glasses with "context sense" and head & eye
tracking capabilities that allow information to appear fixed and co-registered with reality,
and (4) WorldBoard services to archive information and design information spaces
both indoors (offices, homes) and outdoors (national parks, tourist sites).
WorldBoard Server:
The server and server software for a simple WorldBoard prototype are readily available
at Fry's. Initially, the server will run Webstar and a FileMaker Pro database will
contain the position dependent information. On WorldBoard the information
will need to be password protected, so users on one channel cannot see what's on
another channel in the same space unless they are authorized to do so. Moving beyond
the initial WorldBoard prototype, the MapQuest or other GIS database/server combinations
may prove to be useful.
The server will be requested to serve up information associated with URL queries not
unlike:
http://worldboard.apple.com/cgi-bin/ query ?longitude=95.34 ?latitude=45 ?elevation=300
?shape=metercube ?face=East ?client=56 ?channel=18
WorldBoard augmented reality servers are WWW servers that serve up web pages to
clients based on position information from the client (where the client is in the
world and eventually where the perceiver is focusing attention in the context of
the place where the perceiver is). A client sends the server information about: who
it is, longitude, latitude, elevation, shape of the information space around the user, face
that the user is focusing attention on (eventually requiring head and eye tracking
or other techniques such as laser gaze tracking and simple scene analysis).
WorldBoard Clients:
WorldBoard clients will be used in one of two modes: virtual tour clients or augmented
reality mobile clients. The location of a virtual tour client is not important,
and desktop systems could be used. A graphical MUD is a very good starting
point for doing virtual tours of WorldBoard. It's grid-based structure may facilitate
the development of end-user programming techniques for WorldBoard similar to those
used in Cocoa. The location of an augmented reality mobile client is important,
and might be a handheld unit such as a Newton PDA, or as discussed further below a head
worn unit that will eventually look like glasses.
A wireless communication link is necessary to allow the mobile client to access information
stored on the remote server. The WorldBoard prototype will be developed using Metricom's
Ricochet Wireless Network Service [14] in appropriate coverage areas, cellular phones and modems outside Ricochet coverage areas, and finally global radio phones
for more remote areas.
As previously discussed the positioning system is the critical component in the mobile
client. Position is not the same as location. Position includes determining the context (shape of room, distance to walls and other surfaces) and
where the perceiver's attention is focused (orientation, head position, eye position).
The WorldBoard client will also need appropriate input devices. The preferred input
device will eventually be a six degree of freedom pen for writing persistently in
the air. In the short term, a trackpad, a gyroscopic mouse or ring mouse could
be used, all available now at Fry's. In addition to handwriting and pointing input, the mobile
client will need to be able to capture images and sounds to annotate the Web pages
posted to the WorldBoard server.
WorldBoard Glasses:
Virtual I/O Glasses [14] are available at FryÍs. 900,000 pixel glasses will be available from Forte.
The Glasstron will soon be available in quantity from Sony [3].
Using CloseView on the Macintosh, at one quarter VGA the information is quite readable.
Currently, augmented reality glasses are a bit bulky and do not look very stylish.
However, the video game industry is driving the prices of these devices lower and
lower (prices are falling by 50% each year).
Seeing computer information that floats in front of a user, and moves when a user's
head moves is of some value. Ultimately, a user will want the information to seamlessly
blend with the real world and remain fixed even when the user's head or eyes move.
Gavin Miller has written about possible techniques that might be invented in the
next decade that would provide the basis for viewing information that is indistinguishable
from real objects in space [1].
Given any location around the planet, it is possible to position an arbitrary polygonal
shape relative to the coordinate point, so as to align the polygon with the surface
contours of that space (line up with walls, doors, etc.). Each face of the cubic
meter or arbitrary polygon may contain a web page that is associated with a particular
"infochannel." An infochannel allows the same space to be used for many purposes,
by many people, and by many organizations. For instance, cable companies with lots of contentmay
provide information to WorldBoard locations, just as they now broadcast on television.
Many people see a downside to this possibility, and in deed there are some scary possibilities.
This paper will not explore them, but it would be of great value in a future paper
to examine the negative social and personal consequences of the complete WorldBoard. "Looks real, but isn't." "We can tune into infochannels of reality created
by profit making companies that can distort perception of reality with powerful new
technology -- you don't want to see it, you won't have to; you wish the world could
be this way, it can be." Boudoir portraiture that can eliminate cellulite, age lines,
and excess weight takes on new dimensions when the person can look in the mirror
and see what they want to see. Some people will use the technology like a drug,
and become addicted. Education and understanding alternative cultural value systems becomes
increasingly important.
In sum, the creator of position-dependent information may want to provide different
sorts of user experiences, and the user of the information may want to customize
or interact with the information to suit individual or group needs. For example,
information may not be simply associated with a place (location), but may be associated with
a place plus the orientation of the users (positions). More specifically, a person
standing in a place may be looking up, down, left, right, front, or back, and the
author of the information may intend the user/perceiver get different information depending
on where the person is looking. Augmented reality glasses with head tracking allow
for different views of information depending on where the user's gaze is directed.
With context information about a location, the information can be aligned or blended
with the real place so it appears to the users as if it is really there, staying
fixed even when the perceiver's head or eyes move.
WorldBoard Services:
A later section of this paper provides scenarios for possible services. The basic
WorldBoard services are archiving information and designing information spaces.
Some important applications areas are already being explored by companies such as
Trimble Navigation (navigation, farming, mining, construction, mapping) [16], Environmental
Systems Research Institute (GIS - Geographic Information Systems) [17], Fieldworker
(GIS) [18], MapQuest (mapping, advertising) [2], Arkenstone Navigation Systems for
the Blind (navigation, equal access) [19], Navtech Store (training, education, solution
sales) [20], Teletype GPS (car navigation) [21], as well as many hobbyists (mountain
biking) [22].