title: Exploring Architectural Details Through a Wearable Egocentric Vision Device.
abstract: Augmented user experiences in the cultural heritage domain are in increasing demand by the new digital native tourists of 21st century. In this paper, we propose a novel solution that aims at assisting the visitor during an outdoor tour of a cultural site using the unique first person perspective of wearable cameras. In particular, the approach exploits computer vision techniques to retrieve the details by proposing a robust descriptor based on the covariance of local features. Using a lightweight wearable board, the solution can localize the user with respect to the 3D point cloud of the historical landmark and provide him with information about the details at which he is currently looking. Experimental results validate the method both in terms of accuracy and computational effort. Furthermore, user evaluation based on real-world experiments shows that the proposal is deemed effective in enriching a cultural experience.
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Vivarelli 10, Modena 41125, Italy. stefano.alletto@unimore.it.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alletto
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Vivarelli 10, Modena 41125, Italy. 82189@studenti.unimore.it.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Abati
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Vivarelli 10, Modena 41125, Italy. giuseppe.serra@unimore.it.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Serra
authors.affiliation: Department of Engineering, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Vivarelli 10, Modena 41125, Italy. rita.cucchiara@unimore.it.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cucchiara
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D055096:Optical Devices; D014584:User-Computer Interface
keywords: computer vision; egocentric vision; enhanced tourist experience; smart guides