AUGMENTED REALITY SMARTGLASSES FOR USE AT CULTURAL SITES

Described augmented reality (AR) systems and devices provide users with enhanced human sensorial perceptions using digital content. More particularly, smartglasses create an immersive AR experience for visitors of cultural sites using object identification and optical flow tracking. The system software platform and methodology are especially suited to design and deploy immersive AR experiences to visitors of cultural sites on user wearable devices. Unencumbered by clumsy handheld devices, users are free to roam through augmented environments, indoors and out, without barriers allowing a story to unfold before their eyes. Cultural sites come alive, improving educational outcomes for heritage destinations. Using graphical user interfaces, the system enables platform administrators to convert disparate cultural site content to coherent AR story-telling experiences called palimpsests or tours. During a learning phase, points of interest are catalogued and images are taken at different angles and under different lighting conditions to create markers. Using geolocation systems, data is loaded on the smartglasses a roomful at a time to increase efficiency. In use, AR content is generated after points of interest markers are matched using similarity and threshold algorithms. Optical flow tracking is used to track user movement and enhance the AR experience.