Establish Tracking

Augmented reality (AR) displays virtual objects embedded in a real environment.

Making certain that virtual objects display correctly is key for a great client presentation. The best way to do that with YARD is to establish good tracking before beginning a design or presentation.

Establishing good tracking at the start makes it easy to design at the correct scale and elevation while also making sure that the project being designed will stay in place and drift will be minimized.

How to Establish Tracking

Once you start the YARD Application and get to the Projects screen, push “Create new project” located at the upper right and choose either Table Mode or Yard mode and Press “OK”.

YARD Establish Tracking 1

You will see an icon appear in the middle of your screen when you need to Establish Tracking.

YARD Establish Tracking 2
Once you see the icon, ensure to point the camera on your iPad towards the area you want your design items placed. Once the camera is pointed at the correct area, slowly move the iPad from side to side in a 180 degree motion until you see the tracking icon disappear. Once the icon is no longer visible, your tracking has been established successfully.

This side to side movement lets the iPad camera see the space from different angles and is what helps identify where the terrain and any additional surfaces are in the area.

NOTE: As you walk around, the iPad maps features of the world, including the cracks in the sidewalk, the leaves and angles of bushes, and the trunks of trees. These are great marker points that help keep objects locked in place at the proper scale throughout the design and presentation process.


Start Designing

Once good tracking is established, it’s easy to start drawing a design or inserting items from the YARD library to show your client.

YARD Establish Tracking 3

Objects are drawn in 2D with the line, arc, pencil, circle, and rectangle tools and instantly turn into 3D shapes once drawn.

Line: Create straight segments.

Arc: Create curved segments in your shapes. This tool operates in two steps: first a parent circle is sketched, then a portion of the circle is traced to create an arc.

Pencil: Create freeform shapes as if drawing with a pencil.

Circle: Create perfect circles with 2 presses.

Rectangle: Create square and rectangle shapes.

 


Inserting Library Items

To open the library and insert items, click on the three lines at the upper right and then select the item you’d like to add to your design.

YARD Establish Tracking 4

What is Drift?

Virtual objects can “drift” when they’re not properly aligned with their real-world surroundings. Drift causes the object to move around in the scene.

A little bit of drift is okay; the client won’t notice it. A lot of drift makes for a bad presentation, and likely means that the area didn’t track sufficiently or that the area is too featureless for the iPad to fully understand.

NOTE: If there are no features for the iPad to distinguish, tracking won’t be very good.

Reset Tracking

YARD Reset TrackingIf items from the library are being placed at incorrect elevations or seem to be moving around too much after inserting them, you might need to reset your tracking.

Go to Configuration and click Reset Tracking to start the tracking process again.

To help the camera see and understand the world, start by moving the iPad slowly from side to side in a 180 degree motion until you see the tracking icon disappear. Once the icon is no longer visible, your tracking has been reset successfully.


Master AR

Augmented Reality is 80% science and 20% art. How do you master the art of AR?

  • Make sure the lighting is sufficient for the camera
  • Set the elevation and scale by tracking before designing
  • View the design you create from the best angles.

NOTE: Augmented reality does not put 3D objects behind foreground objects.

TIP: When you’re walking around, make sure AR objects are always seen at an angle that keeps the technology alive. Never allow a foreground object to appear in front of your design. If a tree on the property ends up in front of your design, for example, it will cut through your design, and the art or illusion of AR will be lost.