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AniCode: authoring coded artifacts for network-free personalized animations

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Abstract

Time-based media are used in applications ranging from demonstrating the operation of home appliances to explaining new scientific discoveries. However, creating effective time-based media is challenging. We introduce a new framework for authoring and consuming time-based media. An author encodes an animation in a printed code and affixes the code to an object. A consumer captures an image of the object through a mobile application, and the image together with the code is used to generate a video on their local device. Our system is designed to be low cost and easy to use. By not requiring an Internet connection to deliver the animation, the framework enhances privacy of the communication. By requiring the user to have a direct line-of-sight view of the object, the framework provides personalized animations that only decode in the intended context. Animation schemes in the system include 2D and 3D geometric transformations, color transformation, and annotation. We demonstrate the new framework with sample applications from a wide range of domains. We evaluate the ease of use and effectiveness of our system with a user study.

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Author notes

  1. Zeyu Wang and Shiyu Qiu have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Yale University, 51 Prospect St, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA

    Zeyu Wang, Shiyu Qiu, Qingyang Chen, Natallia Trayan, Alexander Ringlein, Julie Dorsey & Holly Rushmeier

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  1. Zeyu Wang
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  2. Shiyu Qiu
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Correspondence to Shiyu Qiu.

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Wang, Z., Qiu, S., Chen, Q. et al. AniCode: authoring coded artifacts for network-free personalized animations. Vis Comput 35, 885–897 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00371-019-01681-y

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