Tangible and visible 3D object reconstruction in augmented reality

Many crucial applications in the fields of filmmaking, game design, education, and cultural preservation - among others - involve the modeling, authoring, or editing of 3D objects and scenes. The two major methods of creating 3D models are 1) modeling, using computer software, and 2) reconstruction, generally using high-quality 3D scanners. Scanners of sufficient quality to support the latter method remain unaffordable to the general public. Since the emergence of consumer-grade RGBD cameras, there has been a growing interest in 3D reconstruction systems using depth cameras. However, most such systems are not user-friendly, and require intense efforts and practice if good reconstruction results are to be obtained. In this paper, we propose to increase the accessibility of depth-camera-based 3D reconstruction by assisting its users with augmented reality (AR) technology. Specifically, the proposed approach will allow users to rotate/move a target object freely with their hands and see the object being overlapped with its reconstructing model during the reconstruction process. As well as being more instinctual than conventional reconstruction systems, our proposed system will provide useful hints on complete 3D reconstruction of an object, including the best capturing range; reminder of moving and rotating the object at a steady speed; and which model regions are complex enough to require zooming-in. We evaluated our system via a user study that compared its performance against those of three other stateof- the-art approaches, and found our system outperforms the other approaches. Specifically, the participants rated it highest in usability, understandability, and model satisfaction.