August 2011 – Alwaysbusy's Corner

Augmented Reality on Android, a start…

I’m looking into Augmented reality on my Android phone and tablet. The main functions will be written in java and then used as a library in B4A. I’m looking into AForge.NET and I’ll probably will port some code from their C# library to java.

The first step I do is searching for glyphs in an image. This is an example of one of those glyphs:

For a human it is no problem to locate the glyphs, but for a computer it is quite a challenge.

These are the steps I’m planning to make:

1. Downscale the image to a smaller picture (for speed)

2. Convert the picture to an array of pixels

3. Greyscale the image using the pixel array

4. Run some Edge detection algorithm to help me find the blobs

5. examine the blobs and look which ones look quadrangular

6. Check if they are an actual glyph

7. calculate its position in 3D space

8. use OpenGL to show an object on the glyph

And all of this as fast as possible!

I’ll keep you posted.

Canvas, One Two, Programming, RealBasic

Some of my projects at One-Two

I’ll post some of my projects I made at One-Two (http://www.one-two.com). We make Time, Job and tracking programs. As you will see, I love the Canvas!

They are written in RealBasic as this is our main programming language. I’m not very interested it writing ‘normal’ looking programs. I like designing new experimental interfaces to make it very intuitive to work with the software.

So here they come:

12Time: A program to track the time (by using a time clock)

12Work: A Program to track jobs with an alternative GUI (with handheld scanners)

12School: A program to track a school (reception, classes, meals)

Android, Basic4Android, News, Programming

Basic4Android: A new easy to use programming language for Android

Don’t let the name fool you! Although being very easy to use, it’s a powerful language. The syntax is very similar to the good old VB6, but when compiled its pure Java. Even more, you can write your own libraries in Java and use them in the IDE.

An excellent feature of B4A is the B4A-Bridge: simply the best way to debug your code line by line fast. Yes, I said debug line by line! You can place break points in your code and read the value of variables. I did mention it looked a lot like VB6, didn’t I 🙂

I’ve written some libraries in java for B4A and they are freely downloadable if you have a license. And why shouldn’t you? You can have B4A Enterprise for the ridiculous sum of $99 USD.

Anyway, definitely worth to check out!

http://www.basic4ppc.com/index.html

Welcome

Welcome to the programming corner of Alwaysbusy

My name is Alain Bailleul and I’m the lead programmer at One-Two. I like to experiment with new technologies like the Kinect, Computer Vision and A.I. Some of my projects are programmed in more exotic languages like RealStudio and Basic4Android, but also in C# or java.

I’ll post some of those projects on this blog and I hope you learn some new exciting stuff!