This paper presents a novel approach for the design of creative location-based mixed reality applications. We introduce a framework called DigitalQuest that simplifies adding geolocated virtual content on top of real-world camera input. Unlike previous work, which relies solely on markers or image pattern recognition, we define a “mirror world” that facilitates interactive mixed reality. DigitalQuest consists of an editor that allows users to easily add their own content as desired and a mobile application that loads content from a server based on the location of the device. Each piece of virtual content can be organized through the editor so that it appears only in certain circumstances, allowing a designer to determine when and where a virtual object is attached to a real-world location. We have used our editor to create a series of futuristic scavenger hunts in which participating teams must solve puzzles in order to access new virtual context appearing in a mixed reality environment via a mobile phone application. In this paper, we introduce our editor and present an example scavenger hunt game, Morimondo, that was built using it. Specifically, we describe our technique to utilize camera and motion sensors on the mobile phone to enable an appropriate level of user engagement within this game. We are able to obtain realistic augmentations with accurate positioning by leveraging sensor fusion and through the use of filters that compensate for sensor noise, using image processing only for error correction or in special situations. The initial success of this project leads us to believe that DigitalQuest could be used to design a wide range of creative multi-user mixed reality applications.

Index Terms: H.5.1 [Information interfaces and presentation (e.g., HCI)]: Multimedia Information Systems-Artificial, augmented, and virtual realities; H.5.3 [Group and Organization Interfaces]: Collaborative computing-Games.

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Cavallo, M., Forbes, A.G., DigitalQuest: A Mixed Reality Approach to Scavenger Hunts, Proceedings of the IEEE VR 2016 Conference, Mixed Reality Art (MRA) Workshop, Greenville, SC, March 19th, 2016.