KHARMA: An Open Standard for Augmented Reality Applications

Augmented reality adds computer-generated information to a real-world environment through a mediated lens. Google Goggles, Word Lens, QR Codes, and Wikitude all add external data to the physical world by harnessing the power of a mobile device connected to the Internet. Because mobile phones are location aware, many of these applications are context sensitive using GPS. So, if you stand in front of a building and hold your phone up to it, you can get a history of when it was built and what is has been used for as if there is a plaque floating in the environment in front of you.  
 
The problem thus far is that there has been no open standard to make it easy for individuals to create their own applications for augmented reality. While some companies offer APIs, their technology is proprietary and the data gets locked down to a specific platform. The Augmented Environments Lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology hopes to change that by developing an open standard for augmented reality.  
 
Headed by Dr. Blair MacIntyre, the Augmented Environments Lab developed the KHARMA (KML/HTML Augmented Reality Mobile Architecture) standard. It combines the KML used by Google Earth with existing web languages like HTML and JavaScript.  
 
KHARMA favors the groundwork already laid by related protocols over the restricted APIs of the typical augmented reality browser ( like Layar). The open standard means different applications can render the same data as needed. It also means taking advantage of the existing KML infrastructure which already possesses vast knowledge about the environment.   
 
Speaking on the project, MacIntyre stated that their goal "is to try to build tools that target a really broad class of developers in the hopes of discovering what augmented reality is good for." Rather than developing the killer app of AR themselves, they want to provide a platform that allows others to get creative. In support of this, the research lab released the free Argon browser for the iPhone.  
 
Argon is intended to create "new experiences with a minimum of overhead," acting like an augmented reality web browser that accesses a huge range of content. Argon focuses on "building an ecosystem that targets interactive content creators and the general public" so that someone can create the equivalent of an augmented reality Wordpress blog to easily publish content consumable by users.  
          
 
The browser activates the phone's camera and displays contextual information in the world as interactive 2D content. This content comes from loading in channels created by users. You can hold your phone up to a bus stop to see the time the next bus will arrive or take an interactive walking tour of a location that changes based on personal interest. Objects in the environment are currently positioned by GPS information, though there are plans to develop methods for recognizing physical objects in view of the camera and working through issues of objects that should occlude other objects in the field of view. 
 
MacIntyre recognizes the other major limitation of mobile devices for AR. In his talk, he held out his phone in front of his face and began wandering. "Realistically, we're not gonna walk down the street (like this)," he joked. Tagging everything in the environment and keeping the phone right in front of you, while possible, is not a compelling use for AR. Instead, the channel model or Argon implements specific uses catered to an audience and location.  
 
The app in its current state is a little obtuse, so if you're interested in testing it out visit the Argon website and follow their Get Started walkthrough to load Google Local searches into your environment.
 
Images via GA Tech's Augmented Environments Lab