APOLLO BEYOND A University Thesis Presented to the Faculty of

APOLLO BEYOND
A University Thesis Presented to the Faculty
of
California State University, East Bay
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Multimedia
By
Stephen Barker & Song Speckels
June, 2006
Copyright © 2006 by Stephen Barker & Song Speckels
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Abstract
Apollo Beyond is an art exploration puzzle played out in real physical space
examining man’s symbols, cosmologies, and collective unconscious through the ages.
The goal of Apollo Beyond is to investigate the effectiveness of multimedia design on
goal-oriented interactions and collaboration using the combination of Augmented Reality
(AR) content and a Tangible User Interface (TUI). These two technologies have been
shown to aid collaboration separately but have not been combined in this way before.
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APOLLO BEYOND
By
Stephen Barker & Song Speckels
Approved:
Date:
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Table of Contents
LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................................VII
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................................1
TARGET OF DISCOVERY...............................................................................................................................1
AUGMENTED REALITY ................................................................................................................................2
TANGIBLE USER INTERFACES ......................................................................................................................3
CHOICE OF MEDIA .......................................................................................................................................3
SOCIAL RELEVANCE ....................................................................................................................................6
PROJECT DESCRIPTION........................................................................................................................10
USER EXPERIENCE ....................................................................................................................................10
Original Concept .................................................................................................................................10
Final Concept ......................................................................................................................................13
EARTH AGES DESCRIPTION .......................................................................................................................20
Greco-Roman Age, “Age of Gods and Myths”....................................................................................20
Mayan Age, “Age of Rituals and Astronomy” .....................................................................................22
Renaissance Age, “Age of Recognition and Reason”..........................................................................24
Modern Age, “Age of Spiritual Machines and Ascension” .................................................................26
“The Final Age” ..................................................................................................................................28
THE CONTENT DESCRIPTION .............................................................................................................31
Background..........................................................................................................................................31
Final Concept ......................................................................................................................................34
PROJECT EXPLANATION......................................................................................................................39
INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................................39
ORIENTATION & TRACKING TECHNOLOGY ...............................................................................................39
3D OBJECTS AND ANIMATION ...................................................................................................................41
THE ORACLE .............................................................................................................................................42
Construction considerations ................................................................................................................42
Form factor considerations .................................................................................................................43
Budgetary considerations ....................................................................................................................45
Final Configuration .............................................................................................................................46
THE OMPHALOS ........................................................................................................................................48
Construction considerations ................................................................................................................48
Final Configuration .............................................................................................................................48
CURRENT WORK IN THE FIELD ..................................................................................................................54
MIT Media Lab ....................................................................................................................................54
The Handheld Augmented Reality Project...........................................................................................55
YDREAMS Education and Culture ......................................................................................................55
MIT Media Lab ....................................................................................................................................56
Music Technology Group.....................................................................................................................57
MICC ...................................................................................................................................................57
RELATED CSU MULTIMEDIA THESIS PROJECTS TO DATE .........................................................................58
Mobile Augmented Reality System (MARS) (1999) .............................................................................58
Luminance (2005)................................................................................................................................58
PROJECT REALIZATION.......................................................................................................................59
BUDGET PLAN ...........................................................................................................................................59
PRODUCTION PLAN ...................................................................................................................................61
Production Goals/Milestones...............................................................................................................61
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CONCLUSIONS..........................................................................................................................................65
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................68
APPENDIX I: INDEX OF SYMBOLS USED IN APOLLO BEYOND ................................................71
APPENDIX II: STORY SCRIPTS ...........................................................................................................86
APPENDIX III: CONTENT FLOWCHART ........................................................................................141
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List of Figures
FIGURE 1- THE MIXED REALITY CONTINUUM ACCORDING TO MILGRAM ET AL. 1994...2
FIGURE 2- A DEPICTION OF COLLABORATIVE AR CAD (FROM SHIN 2002). ..........................9
FIGURE 3- DEPICTION OF HOW THE “MAGIC WINDOW” WORKS (FROM NEWMAN ET
AL. 2001). ..........................................................................................................................................11
FIGURE 4- “MAGIC WINDOW” VIEWS THROUGH THE AR VIEWER. ......................................11
FIGURE 5- CONCEPTUAL DRAWING OF AR-TUI COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENT........12
FIGURE 6- ENVIRONMENT CONCEPT SKETCHES.........................................................................14
FIGURE 7- FLOOR SYMBOL AND LAYOUT FOR THE TEMPLE WITH ALTARS AND THEIR
ASSOCIATED COLORS (YELLOW=GRECO-ROMAN, RED=MAYAN,
GREEN=RENAISSANCE, AND BLUE=MODERN). ...................................................................15
FIGURE 8- THE OMPHALOS SURROUNDED BY THE ALTARS OF THE AGES WHERE THE
ORACLE VIEWS AR CONTENT...................................................................................................16
FIGURE 9- EARTH AGE PHICONS (LEFT) AND ELEMENTAL PHICONS (RIGHT). ................16
FIGURE 10- INTRODUCTORY TUI PROMPT SCREEN ON OMPHALOS. ...................................17
FIGURE 11- CONCEPT FOR PHICON ACTIVATED TABLETOP...................................................18
FIGURE 12-THE FOUR ALTARS AND THEIR CORRESPONDING CONTENT. ..........................19
FIGURE 13-GREEK AGE ALTAR. .........................................................................................................21
FIGURE 14- STEALING FIRE FROM APOLLO’S CHARIOT TO GIVE TO MAN........................21
FIGURE 15- MAYAN CALENDAR WHEEL ALTAR. .........................................................................23
FIGURE 16- CALENDAR WHEEL SIMULATION OF VENUS ALIGNMENT................................23
FIGURE 17- FINDING THE DATE THAT ALIGNS UXMAL’S PALACE OF THE GOVERNOR
WITH THE PYRAMID AT CETZUC AND THE MOST SOUTHERLY RISE OF VENUS AS
THE MORNING STAR. ...................................................................................................................24
FIGURE 18- RENNAISSANCE AGE ALTAR. .......................................................................................25
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FIGURE 19- PUTTING PLANETS IN THEIR COPERNICAN ORDER UPON THE SEAL OF
SOLOMON.........................................................................................................................................26
FIGURE 20- MODERN AGE ALTAR. ....................................................................................................27
FIGURE 21- A SAFE LANDING AT THE APOLLO 12 LANDING SITE AND THE SECRET
GLYPH FOR THE MODERN AGE IS REVEALED. ...................................................................28
FIGURE 22- “FINAL AGE” PUZZLE PROMPT DESIGN...................................................................29
FIGURE 23- THE OMPHALOS DISPLAYS THE STORY OF THE FINAL AGE. ARROWS ARE
PROJECTED ONTO THE FLOOR TO DIRECT THE USER’S ATTENTION........................30
FIGURE 24- FROM “THE COSMIC SERPENT”-DIS (EVIL) ASTER (STAR). ...............................32
FIGURE 25- ANCIENT PORTRAYALS OF COMETS AND ASTEROIDS. ......................................33
FIGURE 26- ANCIENT EGYPTIAN DEPICTION OF THE OUROBOROS......................................35
FIGURE 27- SYMBOLS FOR MARKERS FROM THE FOUR AGES. ..............................................41
FIGURE 28- EXAMPLE OF A VIRTUAL TRAIN SUPERIMPOSED OVER A REAL WORLD
WOODEN TRACK ON A HANDHELD PC DISPLAY (FROM WAGNER ET AL. 2005). ....42
FIGURE 29- ORIGINAL CONCEPT DRAWING FOR THE AR VIEWER. ......................................43
FIGURE 30- HEAD MOUNTED DISPLAY MOBILE AUGMENTED REALITY (AR) VERSUS
HANDHELD MOBILE AR (FROM WAGNER ET AL. 2005)....................................................44
FIGURE 31- THE AR PAD (FROM MOGILEV ET AL., 2002)............................................................45
FIGURE 32- THE ORACLE AR VIEWER. ............................................................................................47
FIGURE 33- ORACLE COMPONENTS FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: UHF VIDEO
TRANSMITTER, LCD TV, AND WIRELESS VIDEO CAMERA..............................................47
FIGURE 34- THE OMPHALOS (TUI INTERFACE) DURING DEVELOPMENT. ..........................49
FIGURE 35- A SYSTEM DIAGRAM OF THE PROJECT SHOWING ALL THE INTEGRATED
COMPONENTS.................................................................................................................................51
FIGURE 36- EXAMPLE OF TABLETOP SILHOUETTES FROM CAMERA’S PERSPECTIVE..51
FIGURE 37- INTERNAL PHICON FRAME AND ELECTRONICS. ..................................................52
FIGURE 38- WIRING DIAGRAM FOR PHICONS...............................................................................53
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FIGURE 39- “MAGIC WINDOW” HARDWARE..................................................................................54
FIGURE 40- AR ON OF- THE-SHELF HANDHELDS..........................................................................55
FIGURE 41- “TANGITABLE” TECHNICAL SCHEME. .....................................................................55
FIGURE 42- TANGIBLE GEOSPACE. ...................................................................................................56
FIGURE 43- REACTABLE. ......................................................................................................................57
FIGURE 44- TANGITABLE. ....................................................................................................................57
FIGURE 45- LUMINANCE. ......................................................................................................................58
FIGURE 46- PROJECT BUDGET............................................................................................................60
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1
Introduction
Target of Discovery
The goal of Apollo Beyond is to explore goal-oriented interactions through a
combination of augmented content and a tangible user interface. Users will manipulate
and interact with both physical and virtual objects. This project will seek to achieve a
bridge between the physical and digital world, and provide a valuable way to explore
man’s relationship to the universe throughout time. Specifically, this project was
developed in an attempt to explore the following questions:
1. How are different goal-oriented interactions affected by the combination
of different types of collaboratively designed multimedia such as Tangible
User Interfaces and Augmented Reality?
2. What are the resulting implications for group interactive installation
design?
To fully understand these goals and the scope of the project, definitions of the
technologies used within the context of the project follow, along with a brief discussion
of the factors involved in the choice of these forms of media and the relevance of this
work.
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Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality (AR) is a means of compositing virtual objects (often
computer generated images and characters) with reality so that the virtual objects appear
to blend with and be a part of the natural environmental surroundings. These virtual
objects are updated upon a live video display, and thus appear to be within the actual
physical room and can be walked around and observed from different angles just as if
they were real objects. A taxonomy that defines a Reality-Virtuality continuum (Figure
1) was produced by Milgram (Milgram and Kishino 1994; Milgram, Takemura et al.
1994). Every type of media between the real world and a completely virtual one is called
Mixed Reality. AR is a subcategory that lies at the end nearest the real world on the
continuum. The HowStuffWorks website notes that AR’s goal isn’t to just superimpose
graphics in a real environment, but also to “change those graphics to accommodate a
user's head- and eye- movements, so that the graphics always fit the perspective” (Bonsor
2005).
Figure 1- The Mixed Reality Continuum according to Milgram et al. 1994.
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Due to the fact that Augmented Reality is a relatively new field of study, this will
only be acheived through the continuation of current advanced research including the use
of motion tracking data, fiducial marker recognition using machine vision, and the
construction of controlled environments containing sensors and actuators.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality).
Tangible User Interfaces
Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) are a way of externalizing digital information and
functions into physical, manipulable forms. As an example, let us say that when an
object associated with a particular function is physically placed next to an object
associated with a particular set of information, the function is then carried out upon that
set of information. The result is the ability to manipulate and access data through simple
actions not usually associated with contemporary human-computer interfaces, mice, and
keyboards.
Choice of Media
While both Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) deal in the spatial
world of 3D objects, many complain about feelings of uneasiness experienced within
immersive VR environments. Such feelings are not conducive to learning or prolonged
exploration, not to mention enjoyment. AR provides the best of both worlds and
alleviates this problem by grounding the user’s experience in reality. The 3D items of
interest are displayed in the context of the real surroundings. In addition to making the
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overall environment experienced more familiar, the mixing of the virtual objects with the
real environment lends more credibility to the objects’ existence in the user’s mind,
making the experience seem more real. Completely computer-generated VR
environments on the other hand can often leave the user flat, where the experience is
lessened by a pervading knowledge and sense of disbelief in the world around them.
Also, because of the added degree of separation, non-immersive VR environments can
often feel like little more than video games, which would not be accepted by many users
due to lack of interest in such media.
The members of Apollo Beyond are extremely interested in this field as an area of
study. While Virtual Reality is interesting, Augmented Reality allows us to continue to
live and socialize in the real world to which we’re accustomed while also being able to
take our fantasies, our dreams, and our information with us there, too.
A Tangible User Interface will add an additonal tactile quality to the environment.
The data will be made tactile, following the laws of physics that govern the familiar
world of working with real objects you can touch and feel. People intuitively know how
to manipulate objects while many need instructions to operate a computer.
Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) are an ideal support for information visualization;
as opposed to Graphical User interfaces in which users must share input devices, they are
“intrinsically well suited to collocated cooperative work by
virtue of their many loci of physical control...Tangible interfaces’
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externalization of information into physical, manipulable forms
also has important implications for facilitating communications
and “transparency” of interaction between multiple collocated
users. These properties illustrate ways in which tangible interfaces
can leverage lessons from distributed cognition. Distributed
cognition describes the roles played by physical objects and the
physical environment in supporting memory, learning, and
interpersonal communications – all properties of direct relevance
to tangible interfaces” (Ishii & Ullmer, 2001).
The The AR viewer also supports this interaction in contrast to
wearable/head mounted AR systems, which limit the view to an individual
user.
Apollo Beyond aims to enhance collaboration and give the user the opportunity to
change their point of view and investigate man’s relationship to the cosmos through the
ages. While other forms of media can convey this, the combination of AR and TUI may
be capable of delivering it in such a way as to uniquely relate it to the user’s physical
world and make the experience more real and thought-provoking. Both of these
emerging technologies might lend a unique feel to such experiences and engage the user
in a more significant and meaningful way.
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Social Relevance
In today’s society, advanced technology is making teamwork more important
within the workforce (Gokhal 1995). The more complex tasks become, the harder it
becomes for one person to process all the neccessary information required to complete
them. A leading problem in the fields of environmental psychology and ergonomics is
preventing sensory overload for workers and operators of complex equipment.
Sometimes different modalities are used to take the pressure off of one type of sensory
input and pass it on to another. This is often used in the design of fighter jet controls
where a single critical indicator guage could easily be lost among the scores of other
instrument feedback displays found on the jet’s control panel; certain visual indicators
may be linked to auditory alarms to help the pilot psychologically filter out the noncritical information at key moments. However, sometimes it’s simply just neccessary to
have “a second pair of eyes” to process the information required for a particular task, as
is the case in two-man fighter jets where each is assigned a role in the control of the craft.
Collaboration is the key to success in complex goal-oriented tasks.
Both Augmented Reality (AR) and Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) are
technologies meant to bridge the gap between the physical world of atoms and the digital
world of bits. In the familiar world of working with real objects, quite complex physical
data (sight, smell, etc.) is rendered relatively simple to us through the psychological
filters our brains have developed over the course of our evolution to make sense out of
chaos. To simplify our ability to manipulate and access the enormous electronic
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storehouses of data we require for many of today’s complex tasks through the same
actions governed by the intuitive laws of physics is perhaps one of the most ambitious
and worthwhile endeavors that could be undertaken--data you can touch and feel, objects
that can sort your electronic data without operating instructions. People intuitively know
how to manipulate objects while many need instructions to operate a computer. Linking
computer operations to intuitive real object manipulations opens up more possibilities
with less sensory overload.
These ideas of how man interacts (or should interact) with computers, himself,
and the external world are echoed in the works of Norbert Weiner, with his work on
communication and control, and Vannevar Bush with his desire to increase man’s ability
to store, retrieve, and manipulate information, (Packer & Jordan, 2001). Douglas
Englebart’s work towards augmenting human capability has been seen as some of the
most life-changing efforts in modern times. In his monograph, “AUGMENTING
HUMAN INTELLECT: A Conceptual Framework,“ Engelbart discusses the hypothetical
advantages and processes associated with computer augmented team cooperation and
how smart spaces can aid in the effectiveness of collaborative work. The theory is that
mediated spaces encourage interpersonal interaction—a neccessity for any collaborative,
goal-oriented task, be it education, investigation, or entertainment.
Given the fact that AR is just in it’s relative infancy, this market shows great
growth potential for use in applications across multiple disciplines and markets. Future
uses might include tourist and navigation information stations, Business-to-Business and
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tradeshow product marketing visualizations/demonstrations, education, medical
applications, and even manufacturing/QA design and testing. The HowStuffWorks
website suggests that “possibly by the end of this decade, we will see the first massmarketed augmented-reality system, which one researcher calls ‘the Walkman of the 21st
century’" (Bonsor 2005).
Apollo Beyond attempts to loosely follow the collaborative model used by NASA
in its manned space missions. Astronauts on a space mission have more detailed local
knowledge of their surroundings while Mission Control has more access to vast
Knowledge and Expert Systems to provide information the astronauts may need to
complete a task. Apollo Beyond will pose problems to the users requiring that AR and
TUI technologies be used together but in different ways. In this way, it is hoped that the
stumbling blocks and benefits particular to each of Apollo Beyond‘s design paradigms
will be discovered and used to improve future designs using these technologies.
Applications of such an improved or altered system could benefit group design
teams or workshops (Figure 2), advanced educational programs including surgical
procedures (Billinghurst 2002), interactive group-oriented museum exhibit installations,
or even situation analysis and mission simulations for teams like NASA, themselves.
Over the past few years there has been more interest in the possibilities of AR Computer
Aided Design (CAD) and Mixed Reality Collaborative Virtual Environments (MRCVE)
(Dunston, P. et al. 2000; Dunston, P. et al. 2002; Shin 2002; and Wang 2002). These
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fields could be waiting for improved interface and collaborative designs to expand their
possibilities.
Figure 2- A depiction of collaborative AR CAD (from Shin 2002).
It is intended that Apollo Beyond will enchant anyone interested in humanity’s
relationship with and understanding of the Cosmos. Every generation for thousands of
years has led inquiries originating from theology, philosophy, or science to understand
the make-up of the cosmos and our place in it. This curiosity which seems to forever
bind us in a marriage with the heavens is therefore just as intriguing and relevant today as
it was at the dawn of man’s consciousness. It is theorized that this kind of multimedia
experience may increase public interest in space science and the scientific literacy of the
general public. Space and space science stimulates imagination and interest in all types
of science and exploration, which can ultimately lead to a more science and technology
literate society (National Aeronautics and Space Science Administration)—an
increasingly important factor in today’s society.
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Project Description
User Experience
The concept for the user experience evolved as our research of the content
inspired us in new directions and our awareness of the technologies involved grew.
Following is the summary of our initial concepts which is then followed up with details
on what participants experience in the final version of our project.
Original Concept
Initially, content surrounded the subject of space science and the U.S. space
program with particular emphasis on the Apollo lunar missions. There were two ways in
which the exploration of this subject were to be presented. The user(s) could study at a
TUI worktable to get information, and/or view the augmented reality content through an
AR viewer. The AR viewer would be a handheld computer display for viewing AR
content. It would feature a video display showing the user whatever was directly in front
of it, thereby creating the effect of looking through a window (Figure 3 and 4). The AR
viewer display would also reveal whatever augmented content had been activated.
Essentially, one user was allowed to freely roam the project arena (the room in which the
table is located) with the AR viewer, and the other was to operate the table in the manner
of a mission controller (Figure 5). In this way, participants would work together
collaboratively through the content.
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Figure 3- Depiction of how the “magic window” works (from Newman et al. 2001).
Figure 4- “Magic window” views through the AR viewer.
Collaborative paradigms for the original concept included:
•
Tools Used In Series (TUI, AR)-Two users would advance from
collaboration at the table to collaboration with the AR viewer.
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•
Tools Used In Parallel (TUI Dominant)-One user would utilize the
table while the other used the AR viewer simultaneously to solve a
problem.
•
Content was also in development for Tools Used In Parallel (AR
Dominant) and Tools Used In Series (AR, TUI).
Figure 5- Conceptual drawing of AR-TUI collaborative environment.
In exploring these options we concluded that we were perhaps trying to force
these methods of collaboration in an unnatural or non-useful way. In addition, as our
content evolved, the collaborative aspects of our investigation became more open.
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Final Concept
For the purpose of demonstrating collaborative techniques, a goal-oriented task
was required. However, forcing a design task or other type of work upon a potential
group of participants was not seen as the best way to motivate the group to use the tools.
So another paradigm was selected which had a higher liklihood of motivating the users to
pursue a goal and use the tools within a short time span. Goal-oriented tasks and
motivating factors were hidden in the form of puzzles and clues. Thus in the final
version, users work together to manipulate and interact with both physical and virtual
objects within a fabricated environment to solve puzzles. The content in its final form
revolves around man’s changing relationship with the heavens and the different stories
and cosmologies that have emerged through time.
The main interface elements remained relatively intact with only slight changes to
their details and functions to better fit our new paradigm. The project still uses a TUI
tabletop interface, called “The Omphalos”, and an AR viewer, called “The Oracle”.
However, the new arrangement allows participants to share the experience by exploring
and learning together more fluidly. The project's inclusive principles and open designs
are hypothesized to aid in collaboration. For instance, the TUI and other tables used in
the project allow multiple users to simultaneously share the space and walk freely around
the table while continuing to face each other. This arrangement allows users to interact
with both the table and each other from any side without disrupting the social aspect of
collaboration in the process of interacting with the tool.
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The users initially explore content at the Omphalos but are also able to leave the
table to walk around and view the augmented reality content through the Oracle. This
allows the users to share the visual experience, bring them closer together, and facilitate
important face-to-face interpersonal communications that are so important to
collaborative efforts, such as body language and eye contact. Apollo Beyond is intended
to encourage multi-user exploration and collaboration by sharing the Oracle view and
TUI controls. Each exhibit would feature both play and exploration components, so with
any given selection the experience is still up to the users.
General Installation Setup
Figure 6- Environment concept sketches.
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The concept for the installation space was inspired by The Temple of Apollo at
Delphi. Multiple users enter a somewhat darkened, music filled room, called “The
Temple” (Figure 6). The floor is covered with a design reminiscent of several symbols
found among different cultures, including the Mayan Wakah Chan (Sacred World Tree),
the mystical Ouroboros, the Buddhist svastika, and the ancient Solar Cross (Figure 7).
The users are presented with five tables—four smaller tables surrounding a larger,
octagonal table—the Omphalos (Figure 8). Each of the four tables is representative of an
age/culture in human history and has a physical model or exhibit atop it. These are the
“Altars of the Ages” and include a Greco-Roman Age Altar, a Classical Mayan Age
Altar, a Renaissance Age Altar, and a Modern Age Altar. The octagonal table in the
center (the Omphalos, meaning “umbilicus of the world”) is the main TUI interface for
unlocking the content associated with each of the altars. At the end of the room opposite
the entrance is a single stand holding the Oracle AR viewer.
Figure 7- Floor symbol and layout for the Temple with Altars and their associated
colors (Yellow=Greco-Roman, Red=Mayan, Green=Renaissance, and Blue=Modern).
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Figure 8- The Omphalos surrounded by the Altars of the Ages where the Oracle views
AR content.
Figure 9- Earth Age phicons (left) and Elemental phicons (right).
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A tray found on each side of the Omphalos holds a TUI interactive object, called a
“phicon” (PHysical Icon). There are four color-coded, cube-shaped “Earth Age” phicons
one for each of the altars, and four other smaller phicons with small platonic solids
affixed on top of them representing the elements of air, fire, water, and aether (Figure 9).
Each phicon is covered in glyphs/symbols associated with either its age or element,
including symbols from astrology, alchemy, science, and Mayan stele. The symbols used
in this project can be found in their entirety within Appendix I. On the Omphalos, a
series of square patterns is shown. The squares are color-coded to match the Earth Age
phicons. This display and the accompanying voice prompts the user to interact with the
table using the phicons (Figure 10) while the Oracle displays a digital collage of imagery
from each of the four ages.
Figure 10- Introductory TUI prompt screen on Omphalos.
When users place an Elemental phicon together with an Earth Age phicon, a
window in the center of the table’s surface opens and reveals part of a story associated
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with that particular age and element. The opened window is loosely “attached” to the
phicon’s orientation so the user can rotate it to be viewed in the correct orientation
anywhere around the table surface (Figure 11). Thereby, content can be manipulated and
viewed from any direction, orientation, or side around the table according to the position
and rotation of the phicon. Since there are four Elemental phicons, each age has four
stories associated with it.
Figure 11- Concept for Phicon activated tabletop.
In addition to stories, phicons on the tabletop also reveal clues at the end of the
stories for solving the puzzle of the selected Age, as well as providing shared visual and
symbolic clues for solving puzzles in other ages (Figure 12). When users have heard all
four stories for an age and received all four clues, they are prompted via graphic
projections on the table and floor as well as 3D audio from behind the corresponding altar
to take the AR viewer and look through it at the altar. There, a puzzle activity that
unlocks an additional animated story is revealed in Augmented Reality.
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Figure 12-The four altars and their corresponding content.
A secret glyph is revealed at each altar once its AR puzzle has been solved. The
glyph is used as part of a four-part key to unlock a final secret story. This key is entered
by placing multiple Earth Age phicons on the Omphalos surface at the same time then
“dialing” each to its corresponding secret glyph. While this is the ultimate goal with
regard to the puzzles presented in the project, it is left up to the users to determine
whether or not they wish to pursue this course of action; some groups may instead prefer
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the goal of simply listening to all the stories from the various ages and be satisfied with
that. Thus, the user experience is still left up to the user.
Earth Ages Description
Greco-Roman Age, “Age of Gods and Myths”
If users place the Greco-Roman Age phicon on the Omphalos along with the
elemental phicons they will hear stories surrounding the characters of Apollo,
Prometheus, Zeus (Jupiter), Chronos (Saturn), and other gods of the time. The altar for
this age is adorned with a constellation of symbols representing the god Zeus, the
Olympic Spirit of Jupiter, and the astrological fire signs of the zodiac (Sagittarius, Leo,
and Aries). Also placed on the altar is a physical reproduction of Apollo’s chariot with
solar symbols and a real fennel stalk displaying the alchemical symbol for fire (Figure
22). In augmented reality, a fire envelops the model of Apollo’s chariot and a man stands
next to a firepit some distance away on the tabletop. At this altar, users reenact the act of
Prometheus giving fire to man by using the fennel stalk to carry the augmented reality
fire from the chariot to the virtual man’s firepit (Figure 14).
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Figure 13-Greek Age Altar.
Figure 14- Stealing fire from Apollo’s chariot to give to man.
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Mayan Age, “Age of Rituals and Astronomy”
If users place the Mayan Age phicon on the Omphalos along with the elemental
phicons they will hear stories about the Mayan observations of the night sky, their
calendar system, and their gods. The altar for this age is a working Tzolkin calendar
wheel using the Mayan symbols used by their calendar, as well as some modern
equivalents for some of the numerical glyphs (Figure 15). The modern glyphs help users
to identify the numerical pattern of the Mayan symbols in addition to being used along
with outlined versus filled glyphs to establish a pattern encoding Fibonacci and prime
number series (seen in other ages) within the available numbers of their calendar system.
Also placed upon the calendar’s inner wheel is a miniature physical reproduction of the
Palace of the Governor in Uxmal, Mexico, including the double-headed jaguar sculpture
found in its courtyard (Figure 16). In augmented reality, an arrow sightline guide appears
nearest the users while a virtual temple appears over an elevated symbol attached to the
calendar’s outer wheel. At this altar, users find the correct number and named-day glyph
combination denoting a date where the sightline comes into alignment with the date
selection, the Palace, the double-headed jaguar sculpture, and the virtual temple (Figure
17).
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Figure 15- Mayan Calendar Wheel Altar.
Figure 16- Calendar Wheel simulation of Venus alignment.
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Figure 17- Finding the date that aligns Uxmal’s Palace of the Governor with the
pyramid at Cetzuc and the most southerly rise of Venus as the morning star.
Renaissance Age, “Age of Recognition and Reason”
If users place the Renaissance Age phicon on the Omphalos along with the
elemental phicons they will hear stories about the search for wisdom through alchemy,
empiricism, and the works of da Vinci, Kepler, Copernicus, and Galileo. The altar for
this age features replica charts of the order of the planets and their orbital paths per
Ptolemy and Copernicus as well as a large Seal of Solomon incorporating orbital paths
(Figure 18). Six tiles with the ancient Greek and alchemical planetary symbols (Sol,
Mercurii, Venera, Terra, Maarti, and Iovis) printed upon them lie in a dish on the table
25
while the symbol for Saturnus, the Prima Materia, is permanently placed upon the seal.
In augmented reality, each planetary tile features its corresponding planet hovering a few
inches above the tile (Figure 19). At this altar, users place the tiles upon the seal to
complete the Copernican order of the planets.
Figure 18- Rennaissance Age Altar.
26
Figure 19- Putting planets in their Copernican order upon the Seal of Solomon.
Modern Age, “Age of Spiritual Machines and Ascension”
If users place the Modern Age phicon on the Omphalos along with the elemental
phicons they will hear stories about the U.S. space program, its roots in German World
War II rocketry, and mysteries surrounding the Nazi party. The altar for this age is a map
of the moon’s surface showing the landing sites for the Apollo lunar missions (Figure
20). The landing sites for Apollo 12 and Apollo 17 are designated by large Mayan
numerical glyphs for the numbers twelve and seventeen. Also placed upon the altar is a
modern wireless handheld game controller. In augmented reality, an Apollo style lunar
lander appears and falls to the table surface, simulating moon gravity. At this altar, users
27
must determine which of the two landing sites designated by the Mayan glyphs is the
correct site using the clues from the Omphalos then utilize the game controller on the
altar to control the lunar lander’s descent and land the craft safely at the correct site
(Figure 21).
Figure 20- Modern Age Altar.
28
Figure 21- A safe landing at the Apollo 12 landing site and the secret glyph for the
Modern Age is revealed.
“The Final Age”
In this mode, colored squares in specific, fixed positions are cues to “dial in” the
secret glyphs received at the end of each of the AR puzzles using the four Earth Age
phicons (Figure 22). When the correct glyphs are placed in the correct positions, a final
story is started in four windows upon the table as well as on the Oracle viewer (Figure
23).
29
Figure 22- “Final Age” puzzle prompt design.
30
Figure 23- The Omphalos displays the story of the Final Age. Arrows are projected
onto the floor to direct the user’s attention.
Hitting upon subtle themes, symbols, and ideas laced throughout the other stories,
this story is meant to fill the users with an eerie sense of both discovery and deja-vu
broadening the users’ perceptions into the realm of Carl Jung’s idea of the collective
unconscious (Jung 1964). Instead of bullying the users into a pre-packaged conclusion,
the narrative, which touches on 2,000 years of human culture and history, is intended to
leave many questions unanswered and many things up to the user to explore and discover
for themselves, so each user will experience something relatively unique based on their
thinking and perceptions.
31
The Content Description
Background
Apollo Beyond began with two research questions as the compass for the project.
These questions primarily dealt with the technologies we were to use. Our content was
meant to be an interesting informational support for exploring the use of these
technologies. However, the process of the research led us to bring the content more to
the forefront of the project, so that rather than just using the technology to communicate
prepackaged information, the content itself encourages users to explore and discover
individual meaning and connections. This was guided by our own discovery that man’s
relationship to the universe is really much more similar than different across the ages.
Rather than seeing the universe in totally different ways across the ages, man seems to
perpetually create similar stories to explain his perceptions of the universe. Apollo
Beyond hopes that the combination of Augmented Reality and Tangible User Interface
technologies support users not only in collaboration but also in the exploration and
further creation of these stories.
Apollo, one of the most well known Greek Gods, represented music, poetry,
medicine, civilized arts and learning. In later times he was also associated with the Sun
God (Helios), who according to legend drove a fiery chariot (the sun) across the sky each
day. His name was also given to the American space program that put the first man on
the moon. The name Apollo has been a part of man’s connection to the universe for a
long time. In the hopes that connecting the ancient and the modern will bring us beyond
32
our narrow perspective which is limited by space and time, the authors have chosen the
name Apollo Beyond.
Some astronomers have noted that contained in the folklore and mythologies of
many cultures are the observations of ancient peoples who watched the sky. Many of
these stories deal with times when death and mass destruction came from the cosmos.
These events have been portrayed as celestial battles between the Gods (Figure 24).
Figure 24- From “The Cosmic Serpent”-Dis (evil) Aster (star).
The collection of ancient Chinese astronomical observations contained in the
chronicle known as the "Bamboo Annals", are said to contain details of comets, fireballs,
and planetary conjunctions. Some modern astronomers have been using this ancient
archive to correlate the observations made by the skywatchers of various contemporary
cultures in other parts of the world.
Classical writings such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, and numerous passages from
the Old Testament, continue to be deciphered in comparable astronomical fashion. The
Book of Revelations mentions a star named Wormwood, which makes the waters bitter,
creating a wasteland similar to the wastelands of Arthurian legend. Some believe that
33
this was a reference to a comet which had in the past caused similar destruction, and
whose return may have been expected by the author of the Book of Revelations.
The ancient Chinese depicted comets as dragons flying through the skies.
Anthropologists, archeologists and astronomers speculate that the plumed serpent of the
Aztecs and the Mayans, and tales of winged serpents in the traditions of other ancient
peoples, refer to comets or large asteroids that had disintegrated in the upper atmosphere
producing fireballs (Figure 25). The smoke trails left by these fireballs were distorted by
air currents in the atmosphere and took on the eerie appearance of a serpent in the sky.
Figure 25- Ancient portrayals of comets and asteroids.
Legends, oral traditions, and written mythologies describing celestial events
which were regarded as important enough to be recorded and passed on to future
generations are now reinterpreted in our modern perspective. Ancient peoples worldwide
were preoccupied with these events of the cosmos, and almost all the megalithic
structures that have survived the past several millennia, on all continents, show that
remarkable degrees of astronomical observation were considered in their construction.
34
In modern times the view of the earth from space both unifies (we all share this
small planet), and belittles, (we are no longer bound to the small insignifigant planet).
From astronaut Buzz Aldrin’s space-based perspective, “the earth was eventually so
small I could blot it out of the universe simply by holding up my thumb.” Yet even as
our knowledge of the universe increased, fantastic stories still persist about the nature of
the universe and the life within it. Instead of deifying planets and comets, modern people
tell stories of aliens, abductions, and Nazi UFOs.
For thousands of years, people have looked into the sky and speculated about
what is really out there. From the personification and reverence of celestial bodies to a
modern scientific view of the universe, man’s relationship to the cosmos through the ages
has been many faceted. Yet in each age, the constant appears to be a seemingly
overwhelming compulsion, a need, to tell stories to explain the way the universe is
perceived to be. Apollo Beyond endeavors to provide its users several of these
perspectives including how ancient peoples related to the universe, and information on
early and modern astronomers/scientists.
Final Concept
Apollo Beyond, as an art exploration puzzle, is played out in real physical space,
examining man’s symbols, cosmologies, and collective unconscious through the ages. In
the narratives relayed within each age, some common themes are repeatedly touched
upon, such as opposing forces, cycles of existence, and the Ouroboros (Figure 26). The
Ouroboros is a snake devouring its own tail. It represents the cyclical nature of the
35
world, the eternal return, and natural cycles that begin anew as soon as they end. As well
as being an ancient Greek symbol it is also an important alchemical symbol and can be
found in many other times and cultures throughout the world. In some representations
the serpent is shown as half light and half dark, echoing symbols like the Yin Yang,
which illustrates the dual nature of all things, but more importantly, a unity of opposites
rather than a conflict.
Figure 26- Ancient Egyptian depiction of the Ouroboros.
In strategic places, relevant phrases and lines from culturally popular sources have
been interspersed throughout the narrative to enhance feelings of deja-vu that might
psychologically amplify Jung’s concepts. The final narrative, which touches on 2,000
years of human culture and history, is intentionally left open-ended. It purposefully
36
leaves many questions unanswered and many things up to the user to explore and
discover for themselves through further investigation instead of bullying them into a prepackaged conclusion. In this way, it is hoped that the concepts covered in the content
will be expanded upon, thus perpetuating the need to create stories about the universe.
The scripts for the content can be found in their entirety within Appendix II. Of
note is that the stories are simply voice-overs performed by Curtis Corlew of Los
Medanos College with no synchronized musical accompaniment. Ambient background
music is associated with the overall age, not the stories. Thus, when an age is selected,
music matching the the age is played in the background. The interesting aspect of this is
that it doesn’t follow the typical pattern of strictly matching moments in the music to
particular events in the narrative to heighten mood or emotion. Each participant may
play the stories in a different order at different times. Therefore, the installation has a
certain amount of indeterminism designed into it and each experience is unique. Oddly,
despite the indeterminate nature, thoughtful selection of the music’s mood and feel
caused the music to still seem perfectly timed with the narrative even though it was a
completely novel combination each time.
The musical selections were based upon relevance, period authenticity, and
general mood and feel. For the Greco-Roman age, the “Epitaph of Seikilos”, one of the
oldest known pieces of written music, is played in the background. The recording was
performed by the Stasimon chorus in 1995 on Disc 1 of set CD-129 of the Norton
Recorded Anthology of Western Music, Vol. 1. For the Mayan age, “In temazcalli,” a
37
2002 mesoamerican piece of music by the artist Coyotzin utilizing traditional musical
instruments, is played. For the Renaissance age, a period chamber music piece called
“Sett a5 in A Minor” by William Lawes (1602-1645) is played from a contemporary
(2003) recording by the Oberlin Consort of Viols from his “5 and 6 Part Fantasies.” For
the Modern age, Gustav Holst’s “Neptune, The Mystic,” from the 2004 recording of Sir
Charles Groves and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, is played. The music for the
initial “Standby” mode is Vangelis Papathanassiou’s “Movement 3” from his 1975
release “Heaven and Hell.” This track is best known as the main theme used in the 1980
public television series “Cosmos” produced by astronomer Carl Sagan. Music for the
“Final Age” movie are edited selections from the tracks “The Rose of Arimithea” and
“L’esprit des Gabriel” from Hans Zimmer’s 2006 “The Da Vinci Code” Original
Soundtrack recording. This was chosen due to the recency of the release of the film of
the same title with the intended effect that some participants who may have seen the film
may find something eerily familiar about the finale’s music.
Since this installation is a student research project and not a commercial
endeavor, these pieces of music are used here under the intention of “Fair Use” with
regard to copyright law. The same holds true for many of the images that were used to
help visually tell the stories told within the content of the installation. While many
images are original productions, efforts were made to use known works, such as "Saturn
Devouring One of His Children" by Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, where possible to
show the pervasiveness of some of the stories and overlapping ideas throughout different
ages even in the art world. Therefore, numerous historical pictures, images, and artworks
38
from the Google Image Archive (http://images.google.com) were included to produce the
nearly 60 minutes of story content written for the different ages.
In exploring the content for these ages, user’s that choose to follow the clues and
try to solve the puzzles will end up having to navigate through Apollo Beyond’s content
structure. This structure allows users to work along different, well-ordered paths of their
own choosing to reach the conclusion which features imagery of various symbols and
ideas throughout the ages, tied together and interspersed with the astronomy film “Flight
to the Virgo Cluster” by the University of Hawai’i’s Institute for Astronomy. The
flowchart expaining this flexible content structure can be found in Appendix III.
39
Project Explanation
Integrated Development Environment
Both the TUI device and the AR viewer utilize the Designer’s Augmented Reality
Toolkit (DART) developed by the Augmented Environments Laboratory at the Georgia
Institute of Technology. DART is used in the project for tracking objects and glyphs in
3D space as well as for content design and providing the conduit for content delivery.
DART was chosen for its ease-of-use. While incorporating the AR Toolkit supplied by
Mark Billinghurst and the Human Interface Technology Lab, this toolkit differs from AR
Toolkit in that it uses Macromedia’s Director to control and implement the augmented
content using standard multimedia design interfaces as opposed to the C programming
language. This requires far less programming in the initial design phases, allowing more
time for the development of meaningful and engaging content.
Though Macromedia Director MX 2004 now allows programming in Javascript,
which is a much farther-reaching, portable, and useful scripting language to learn than
Director’s previous sole choice, LINGO, DART’s preprogrammed behavior structures
are still coded in LINGO. Because of this, hacks, alterations, and custom programming
of DART behaviors for Apollo Beyond were implemented using LINGO.
Orientation & Tracking Technology
There are a number of different orientation and tracking methods for AR that
Apollo Beyond considered. Options included: magnetic trackers integrated into the AR
40
viewer, modified head trackers or “degrees of freedom” (dof) trackers, inclinometers and
accelerometers, markerless tracking, and fiducial marker tracking using both visible and
invisible markers (infrared retroreflective markers). After much research into suitable
and affordable systems, Apollo Beyond has chosen to use custom-made AR Toolkit
fiducial optical markers due to the cost-prohibitive expense associated with other tracking
technologies. Because of the mobile nature of the window and the way it could be held at
different heights to see content at different angles, a tracking technology would be
required that was capable of a full six degrees of motion freedom. This kind of
technology starts at around $450 for extremely limited performance models up to
$20,000 or more for systems where tracking errors are virtually non-existent. Other
considerations included latency issues, magnetic interference, size, weight, and whether
or not the system is wired or tethered to some device prohibiting a truly mobile,
unencumbered experience.
While visual markers share some problems with technologies such as IR and
ultrasonic systems, markers can be engineered to always be within sight by defining large
sets of patterns or using techniques similar to museum herding methods to keep the user’s
attention and gaze drawn to particular areas. Given the nature of the project’s content
with its recurring symbols and our desire to use the inexpensive AR fiducial symbol
marker system, it was not long before ideas began to grow on how to design simple
iconic anchors for virtual objects in the real world that would be artistic and seemless
parts of the content itself. Therefore, markers have been designed and illustrated to have
color, form, design, and meanings all to themselves—such as astrological glyphs that
41
correspond to the symbols for the content being viewed in AR (Figure 27). The symbols
used in this project can be found in their entirety within Appendix I.
Figure 27- Symbols for Markers from the four Ages.
3D Objects and Animation
California State University East Bay (CSUEB) owns many licences for the 3D
modeling and animation software package SoftImage XSI. These copies were used for
the development of 3D virtual objects and their animations used in the project’s content.
A personal copy of Maxon’s Cinema 4D (v. 8.207) was also utilized heavily due to its
easy-to-use Shockwave 3D format exporter.
42
The Oracle
Construction considerations
Originally, the project was conceived to utilize a handheld computer running
Windows CE or a tablet-type computer as the basis for the AR viewer (Figure 28).
However after much research, Apollo Beyond decided upon a custom-built componentbased system which seems to hold several advantages over such options. For one thing, a
“thin client” design where the window does essentially no computation at all but merely
relays wireless video and other signals to and from a more powerful desktop computer
would provide peace of mind that it would not be as easily overwhelmed by AR 3D
graphics demands and cripple the whole experience. In addition, it appears that such a
system could be built for about half the cost of an integrated handheld or tablet PC.
Figure 28- Example of a virtual train superimposed over a real world wooden track on
a handheld PC display (from Wagner et al. 2005).
43
Form factor considerations
Instead of using Head Mounted Displays (HMD), the Augmented Reality (AR)
experience in Apollo Beyond will augment the user’s environment utilizing the “magic
window” or “magic lens” metaphor. This approach will neccessitate that the display be
handheld and portable (Figure 29).
Figure 29- Original Concept drawing for the AR Viewer.
With recent advances in electronics getting smaller, lighter, less bulky, and with
smaller battery and lower power requirements, we engineered a solution that precludes
the need for carrying cumbersome cases strapped over the shoulder or integrated into a
heavy utility jacket (Error! Reference source not found.). With one of the project’s
sub-goals being to further work in the field towards “AR for the masses”, portability is a
great advantage. Apollo Beyond also wishes to avoid fashion and social issues,
associated with HMD-type systems, which may be hold-overs from early experiements in
Virtual and Augmented Reality systems that sometimes bring up personal feelings about
cybernetic integration and might detract from the Apollo Beyond experience.
44
Figure 30- Head Mounted Display mobile Augmented Reality (AR) versus Handheld
mobile AR (from Wagner et al. 2005).
To enhance collaboration, it was important that the social aspects of facial
expression and body language not be lost due to bulky, HMDs obscuring one of the most
expressive parts of the human face—the eyes. Using a handheld window retains the
visibility of the other user’s eyes and promotes greater interpersonal communication and
interaction (Mogilev et al., 2002). In addition, a handheld window may be viewed by
several people gathered around the display thus helping to promote an environment of
collaboration as opposed to the isolated one-person experience of the HMD.
Given some people’s reservations, about mobile video displays on small screens,
a screen in the 5” – 10” range seemed like an ideal choice. Such a size would be quite
visible but would still be small enough to not be too cumbersome to be handled for
extended periods of time. A component-based system could be stripped down to 3-4 lbs
in weight--not too bad but something to be considered when taking into account that
users may be holding the viewer to investigate content lasting a few minutes or more. An
example of a similar, though wired device, including a gamepad-like controller for AR
content control, was discovered in the course of research called, the AR Pad (Figure 31).
45
Figure 31- The AR Pad (from Mogilev et al., 2002).
Though an ergonomic wireless game controller as an integrated grip/handle and
interface for the Oracle was a part of the original concept, this would have made it too
easy for one person to complete puzzle tasks alone or make other participants feel “left
out” by controlling views and interface functions. By having the game controller
separate from the viewscreen, two or more participants are required to operate controls,
manipulate physical objects, as well as hold and orient the viewscreen. This higher
degree of required coordination and cooporation fit better with our goal to investigate
aspects of collaboration in goal-oriented tasks, so this separate design scheme was
adopted.
Budgetary considerations
Good, lightweight HMDs are currently selling for $300-$500 alone. The addition
of camera, wireless data link, and computing platform could drive the overall price for a
46
AR content viewer to $700-$900 or more. For $100-$200 more, a low-end tablet PC
with integrated Bluetooth, camera, display, computing platform running a version of
Microsoft Windows, and standard peripheral expansion port would provide the same
hardware solution without the hassle of having to fight with physical component outputs
and inputs, cabling, compatibility, and encasement/housing issues while still providing a
mobile large screen experience. Another recent development was investigated--hacking
the newly introduced PlayStation Portable (PSP) with it’s integrated game controller,
wireless connection, and bright display screen—but its firmware and software
capabilities have not yet been developed to the point to allow it to play some of the more
common forms of multimedia beyond mp3’s, mpegs, and jpegs, although this is rumored
to be coming soon. However, an even faster, more adaptable, and fully functional “thin
client” type component-based system was found to be realizable for just around $450.
Final Configuration
The Oracle AR viewer’s final configuration consists of:
•
A 12V, 8W mobile 8”-diagonal LCD TV
•
A 12V miniature wireless color video camera/transmitter
•
A 14.8V, 7200mAH battery pack
47
Figure 32- The Oracle AR viewer.
The Oracle/AR viewer (Figure 32) uses a wireless camera to record video and
transmit it to a receiver (Figure 33). The receiver relays the video signal via a “DV
bridge” to a computer. The DV bridge in this case is a miniDV tape deck with analog
video inputs and a FireWire passthrough capability though any real-time analog to
FireWire video conversion solution (including a camcorder) would do. This computer
then analyzes the stream and augments it with AR content as appropriate and transmits it
back to the Oracle via a standard UHF frequency which is picked up by the TV’s tuner
and then displayed. Occasional signals may be sent to the TUI table to synchronize
content via VRPN (Virtual Reality Peripheral Networking). The portable unit weighs 4
lbs. (1,848g) including the battery, and the battery lifespan under this configuration with
normal use is between five to six hours.
Figure 33- Oracle components from left to right: UHF video transmitter, LCD TV,
and wireless video camera.
48
The Omphalos
Construction considerations
Historically tables have played an important role as a focal point for group
interaction, from King Arthur’s Round Table to Donald Trump’s board room table.
Tables are intrinsically collaborative working spaces They generally function in four
different ways including, storage, rest-and-gesture, social focus, and display (Gubman
2004).
A table that is also a large computer screen is a functional solution for several
reasons. People may directly manipulate data physically and digitally. Physical objects
can be set out and moved on the screen’s surface; multiple users can simultaneously share
the space, and people can walk freely around the table. Interaction with computers
usually demands a disconnection between the person that uses the machine and the rest of
the world. The attention of the user is usurped by the screen in front of him, so the social
aspect is disrupted. A natural interface allows normal interaction between the people in
contact with the system. As a collective workspace a table inspires its users to interact
with each other and the table, instead of remaining isolated from each other. It can
stimulate and facilitate conversations between users, and may potentially encourage
exploration (Valli 2004). For these reasons, a tabletop approach was decided upon.
Final Configuration
The Omphalos/TUI interface final configuration consists of:
49
•
An octagonal table
•
An 80W 15 foot rope light around the tabletop’s perimeter
•
A high-resolution B&W video camera
•
A 1024x768 LCD projector
•
A mirror
•
Acrylic phicon objects
•
Magnetic pads
Figure 34- The Omphalos (TUI interface) during development.
The Omphalos/TUI device is an octagonal poker table with a clear glass/acrylic
top covered with frosted window film (Figure 34) and chip trays. The octagonal shape
was chosen in lieu of a circular one for ease of possible construction later as well as its
balance between the number of its sides and the number of phicons and the fact that the
50
sum of its interior angles (1,080, or the radius of the moon in miles) tied in with our
content nicely. A camera under the table tracks the phicons on the clear acylic tabletop
and sends the video signal via a DV bridge to a PC running a DART program (Figure
35). This program activates content according to which phicons are detected and their
relative positions on the surface of the table. Phicons are analyzed and used to branch to
different frames within the software content structure to display content for the different
ages. Content is then projected from an overhead projector and then reflected off a
mirror onto the table. Appropriate messages are sent to the other computer responsible
for the AR viewer’s display via VRPN signals over standard ethernet so that it remains in
synch with the TUI table content being displayed. The rope light was necessary to light
up users’ arms and hands from below. This kept phicons from being lost in the users’
silhouettes seen from the camera’s perspective (Figure 36). In addition, the rope light
tied nicely into content referring to the Ouroboros as the “serpent of light.”
51
Figure 35- A system diagram of the project showing all the integrated components.
Figure 36- Example of tabletop silhouettes from camera’s perspective.
52
Figure 37- Internal phicon frame and electronics.
The TUI objects/phicons are small acrylic boxes (made by BallCube™) between
2”-3” in size. Each has been modified to hold internal cardboard frames for attachment
of markers printed on backlit paper (Figure 37). The frame also retains and anchors some
simple electronics and a 3V, 1000mAH CR2477N battery supply. The phicons are lit by
the electronics within and include wide angle, high-flux LEDs to illuminate the marker
patterns on each face. The LEDs allow the camera under the table to see the markers on
the surface instead of mere silhouettes because the surface is flooded with light from the
overhead projection. This method allows the DART program to discriminate between
different objects via different markers and also to quickly determine their positions and
orientations.
The Elemental phicons each have one LED and one normally-closed reed switch.
The Earth Age phicons each have six LEDs, one for each face with a marker, and two
normally-closed reed switches in opposite corners at the vertex of three faces (Figure 38).
The Omphalos’ trays are equipped with magnetic pads, one for each phicon on each side.
The phicons turn on and off through the operation of the reed switches via the magnetic
53
pads. If picked up off the resting pad by a user the phicon will light up and turn back off
when replaced.
Figure 38- Wiring diagram for phicons.
54
Current Work in the Field
Augmented Reality (AR) and Tangible User Interface (TUI) technologies, once
strictly the domain of PhD researchers in computer science, are now growing more
accessible for multimedia projects. Resources and pertinent research projects in the field
of AR and TUI include:
MIT Media Lab
“Installation” by Simon Greenwold
http://acg.media.mit.edu/people/simong/installationNew/cover.html
Figure 39- “Magic Window” hardware.
55
The Handheld Augmented Reality Project
“Invisible Train” by Daniel Wagner, Thomas Pintaric and Dieter Schmalstieg
http://studierstube.org/handheld_ar/applications.php
Figure 40- AR on of- the-shelf handhelds.
YDREAMS Education and Culture
Tangitable
http://www.ydreams.com/ydreams_2005/index.php?page=113
Figure 41- “Tangitable” technical scheme.
56
MIT Media Lab
“Tangible Geospace” by Hiroshi Ishii and Brygg Ullmer
http://sigchi.org/chi97/proceedings/paper/hi.htm
Figure 42- Tangible Geospace.
57
Music Technology Group
Reactable
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/005227.php
Figure 43- Reactable.
MICC
tangiTable
http://naturalinteraction.org/pastworks.html
Figure 44- tangiTable.
58
Related CSU Multimedia Thesis Projects to Date
Mobile Augmented Reality System (MARS) (1999)
http://www.funhousefilms.com/MARS/ISWC99e.htm
Luminance (2005)
http://www.leemarrs.com/luminance/starthere.htm
Figure 45- Luminance.
59
Project Realization
Budget Plan
Most of the software needed for the production of Apollo Beyond will be
provided for by CSU East Bay’s Multimedia Department. The low-cost immersive
environment, known as “The Temple”, was constructed for a cost of around $605,
including physical props that will be used as augmented content foci. The Omphalos
table which will serve as the main interactive interface will require about $736 of
additional funds. Originally, the project conceived the utilization of a mobile computing
platform to serve as the AR content viewer. However, research revealed that a more
adaptable viewer could be constructed on a component-by-component “thin-client” basis,
reducing its cost to about $618 (including development and construction).
The table that follows outlines the detailed budgetary requirements to realize the
Apollo Beyond project based on the specific brands and vendors used during the project’s
development.
60
Apollo Beyond Project Budget
Product
Hardware
Analog-to-FireWire DV Converter/Passthrough “Bridge”
Price (ea.) Quantity Ext. Cost
*
2
Software
Macromedia Director MX 2004
Softimage/Cinema4D 3D Modeling Software
Designer's Augmented Reality Toolkit (DART)
Augmented Reality Toolkit (ARToolkit)
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Merlin Project Management Software
Basic Audio Recording/Editing Package
Basic Video Capture/Editing Package
*
*
**
**
*
*
$ 144.52
*
*
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
$
$
$
$
$
$
$ 144.52
$
$
-
The Temple (Environment)
Fabric, Floor, Lighting, & Fasteners
Projection System
Props & Associated Construction Supplies
Sound Amplifier & Speaker System
$ 172.84
$ 72.75
$ 355.97
*
1
1
1
1
$ 172.84
$ 72.75
$ 355.97
$
-
The Omphalos (Interface Table)
Desktop Computing Platform(s)
Assorted Cables
Camera
LCD Projector(s)
Tangible User Interface Objects & Associated Construction Supplies
Plexiglass & Construction Supplies
*
*
$ 91.20
*
$ 223.44
$ 322.67
2
1
1
2
1
1
$
$
$ 91.20
*
$ 223.44
$ 322.67
The Oracle (AR Content Viewer)
8" LCD Display (Portable TV)
UHF Wireless Video Sender (RCA Composite Video Input/Output)
Wireless Camera & Receiver
AR Viewer Battery Packs, Charger, and Connectors
Additional Electronics, Housing, & Construction Supplies
$ 133.00
$ 32.00
$ 74.00
$ 313.74
$ 32.86
1
1
1
1
1
$ 133.00
$ 32.00
$ 74.00
$ 313.74
$ 32.86
TOTAL
* CSU East Bay Multimedia Department In-Kind Contribution.
** Acquired under free public license.
Figure 46- Project Budget.
$
-
$ 1,968.99
61
Production Plan
With a team of only two designers, Apollo Beyond’s communications and
decision-making model is greatly simplified. However, to optimize the efficiency of the
development process, Apollo Beyond is utilizing a website to log all work and research.
This kind of Knowledge Management (KM) prevents confusion, repeated work, and
delays attributable to unguided re-orientation following an interruption to a particular
work cycle. Progress can be tracked by accessing the Apollo Beyond blog or project
website.
http://apollobeyond1.blogspot.com/
http://mmgrad.csuhayward.edu/apollobeyond/
Production Goals/Milestones
The following goals have been identified as being crucial to meeting the required
production timeline:
Fall Qtr.
September
AR Marker Customization Pipeline Established
Content Areas Finalized
62
October
Software, Equipment Purchased
Interface Designed
DART Networked Cues Established
TUI Technology Chosen
November
DART Joystick Controlled Animation Established
Content Research Completed
Positionally Cued Animation Established
TUI Technology Prototyped
December
The Omphalos Prototyped
The Omphalos Specifications Finalized
63
Specifications for “The Temple” Finalized
Winter Qtr.
January
The Omphalos Table Completed to Specifications
Spring Qtr.
March
The Oracle Completed to Specifications
The Oracle Completes Working Test of Sample Content
April
Controlled Lighting System Set Up
“The Temple” Interactive Environment Completed to Specifications
The Omphalos Completes Working Test of Interface and Projection System in
Environment
64
Sound System Arranged
All Audio Recorded and Edited
All Markers (TUI & AR) Re-calibrated for Utilization within the Interactive
Environment
May
All Content Work Finished and Fully Incorporated
All Interactive Functionality Finished and Fully Incorporated
June
Project Presented/Defended
Thesis Paper Finalized
65
Conclusions
Qualitatitive results were obtained through the observation and questioning of
nearly 70 participants through the course of both the project’s development and its final
public showing.
Though initially conceived to be intuitive by nature, the interfaces for Apollo
Beyond required extensive instruction and orientation for most users. This is
hypothesized to be mostly due to the fact that the TUI and AR interfaces in general are so
different from those that most people are encountering regularly in their lives.
Essentially, the simplicity of the interface’s operation was obscured by the lack of a
common frame of reference for most users to start from. However, after only a single
demonstration, most participants immediately picked up on the concept and were able to
operate the interface on their own. This seemed to validate that the methods chosen for
interfacing with the project were easy for the user and were natural to perform but that its
novelty created an initial hurdle to its use without instruction.
Many issues related to the design of collaborative environments with untrained
participants were uncovered. The issue that resulted in the highest impact to the user
experience had to do with functions assigned to TUI-active objects. In Apollo Beyond,
certain functions could be implemented immediately by a single user with a single
phicon. For example, selecting an age to be investigated is as simple as placing the
appropriate on the table. Taking it off, ends all content for that age and returns the
installation to its “standby” mode. Placing a second age phicon on the tabletop
66
immediately takes the user to the “Final Age” secret glyph entry mode. If all users are in
agreement as to which age to investigate and what content to view, then the installation
works in a very organized and orderly manner. However, the actions of a single user
pursuing his or her own interest by placing a second age phicon on the tabletop or
removing one to replace it with another can interrupt the content experience for all the
other users. One user may be investigating the AR content for the Greco-Roman age
when someone simply walks up and switches the experience to the Mayan age without
warning. This activity can quickly degenerate the project into a very frustrating and
chaotic experience for the users.
While some of this activity could be linked to simple orientation, investigation,
and experimentation, this activity still continued in some cases even after participants
learned how the interface operated. Interestingly, this is the challenge—getting people to
work together collaboratively to achieve goals. Thus, roguish behavior could have been
abated somewhat by designing phicons and objects that would only function when
worked together in tandem. However, this would then significantly increase the amount
of time that it would take for users to discover functions if left to discover them for
themselves without training, instruction, or demonstration. This is a design dilemna that
should probably be considered with any project utilizing novel interfaces and may be a
question best answered by considering the audience and whether or not they will have
prior knowledge on the interface’s operation before utilization.
67
The use of the handheld AR viewer appeared to achieve the goals originally
envisioned for its use. Even non-aquainted participants were observed to work closely
together side-by-side, look to each other, and share tips and instructions with each other
to successfully complete tasks. In retrospect, the authors feel that it can be said with high
confidence that the right choice on the form factor of this technology had been made.
68
References
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Learning. http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/technology/billinghurst.htm (19 June
2006).
Bonsor, Kevin. 2005. How Augmented Reality Will Work.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/augmented-reality.htm (19 June 2006).
Clube, Victor and Napier, Bill. 1982. The Cosmic Serpent.
Garb, Yaakov Gerome. 1990. Perspective or Escape? Ecofemenist Musings on
Contemporary Earth Imagery, in Diamond and Orenstein, eds., Reweaving the World.
Dunston, P. S., Billinghurst, M., Luo, Y., and Hampson, Ben. 2000. "Virtual
Visualization for the Mechanical Trade." 17th International Symposium on Automated
and Robotics in Construction (ISARC 2000), National Taiwan University, 1131-1136.
Dunston, P., Wang, X., Billinghusrt, M., and Hampson, B. 2002. “Mixed Reality
Benefits For Design Perception.” 19 th International Symposium on Automation and
Robotics Construction (ISARC 2002), NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, 191-196.
Gokhal, Anuradha A. 1995. Collaborative Learning Enhances Critical Thinking.
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/jte-v7n1/gokhale.jte-v7n1.html (19 June 2006).
Gubman, Joanna. Oehlberg, Lora. Yen, Corina. 2004. The MapNews Table: Group
Collaboration at an Interactive Horizontal Interface.
Hamilton, Karen E. 2000. Presenting to Different Types of Learners.
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between People, Bits and Atoms. Proceedings of CHI ’97.
http://tangible.media.mit.edu/content/papers/pdf/Tangible_Bits_CHI97.pdf (19 June
2006).
69
Ishii, Hiroshi and Brygg Ullmer. 2001. Emerging Frameworks for Tangible User
Interfaces. http://web.media.mit.edu/~ullmer/papers/tui-millenium-chapter.pdf (19 June
2006).
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New York.
Milgram, P. and F. Kishino. 1994. A Taxonomy of Mixed Reality Visual Displays.
IEICE Transactions on Information Systems E77-D (12): 1321-1329.
Milgram, P., H. Takemura, et al. 1994. Augmented Reality: A Class of Displays on
the Reality-Virutality Continuum. SPIE Proceedings: Telemanipulator and Telepresence
Technologies . H. Das, SPIE. 2351 : 282-292.
Mogilev, D., K. Kiyokawa, M. Billinghurst, and J. Pair. 2002. AR Pad: An
Interface for Face-to-Face AR Collaboration.
http://www.jarrellpair.com/arpad/arpadchi2002.pdf (19 June 2006).
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Space Science for the 21st Century.
Newman, Joseph, David Ingram, and Andy Hopper. 2001. Augmented Reality in a
Wide Area Sentient Environment. Proceedings of the 2nd IEEE and ACM International
Symposium on Augmented Reality (ISAR 2001), New York. http://wwwlce.eng.cam.ac.uk/publications/files/tr.2001.2.pdf (19 June 2006).
Packer, Randall and Ken Jordan. 2001. Multimedia from Wagner to Virtual Reality.
W. W. Norton & Company, New York.
Shin, D. 2002. “Communicating Designs through View Manipulation in Augmented
Reality CAD.” Independent Research Study, Civil Engineering, Purdue University.
Valli, Alessandro. 2004. Notes on Natural Interaction.
70
Vallino, Jim. 1997. Interactive Augmented Reality. Dissertation. University of
Rochester, New York. http://www.se.rit.edu/~jrv/research/ar/introduction.html (19 June
2006).
Wagner, Daniel, Thomas Pintaric, Florian Ledermann, and Deiter Schmalstieg.
2005. Towards Massively Multi-User Augmented Reality on Handheld Devices. Graz
University of Technology.
Wang, X. 2002. “Cognition Cost of Viewer Assistant Augmented Reality for
Computer Aided Drawing.” Master’s thesis, Civil and Environmental Engineering,
University of Washington.
71
Appendix I: Index of Symbols used in Apollo Beyond
#
Symbol
Name/Meaning
Location Symbol Appears
1
ancient Sun symbol, also
represented the Greek god
Apollo/Helios (also see 14)
Earth Age Phicon(GrecoRoman), Elemental
Phicon(fire), Renaissance
Age Altar
2
symbol for planet Earth, also
represented the Greek god
Gaia (also see 8, 19)
Earth Age Phicon(GrecoRoman), Renaissance Age
Altar
3
symbol for the planet Saturn,
Earth Age Phicon(Grecoalso represented the Greek god Roman), Renaissance Age
Cronus/Kronos
Altar
4
symbol for the planet
Mercury, also represented the
Greek god Hermes/Mercury
(also see 25)
5
symbol for the planet Mars,
Earth Age Phicon(Grecomale, also represented the
Roman), Renaissance Age
Greek god Ares/Mars (also see Altar
16, 43)
Earth Age Phicon(GrecoRoman), Renaissance Age
Altar
72
6
symbol for the planet Venus,
female, also represented the
Greek god Aphrodite/Venus
(also see 17)
Earth Age Phicon(GrecoRoman), Renaissance Age
Altar
7
symbol for the planet Jupiter,
Renaissance Age Altar
also represented the Greek god
Zeus/Jove (also see variants
45-48)
8
Kabal: Earth, 17th named day
of tzolkin (also see 2, 19)
Mayan Age Phicon(GrecoRoman), Mayan Age Altar
9
Chaac: Rain God,Water
Earth Age Phicon(Mayan),
Mayan Age Altar
10
K’an: Maize, 4th named day
of tzolkin
Earth Age Phicon(Mayan),
Mayan Age Altar
11
Lamat: Star/Venus, 8th named
day of tzolkin (also see 84)
Earth Age Phicon(Mayan),
Mayan Age Altar(variant)
73
12
Ahau: Lord, Ruler, 20th
named day of tzolkin
Earth Age Phicon(Mayan),
Mayan Age Altar
13
K’al: Moon, cardinal number,
“twenty”
Earth Age Phicon(Mayan),
Mayan Age Altar
14
alchemical Gold symbol (also
see 1)
Earth Age
Phicon(Renaissance)
15
alchemical Silver symbol
Earth Age
Phicon(Renaissance)
16
alchemical Iron symbol, also
associated with Mars/similar
to Sagittarius (also see 5, 43)
Earth Age
Phicon(Renaissance)
17
alchemical Copper symbol
(also see 6)
Earth Age
Phicon(Renaissance)
74
18
alchemical Bismuth symbol,
similar to symbol for
Taurus/Congelation
Earth Age
Phicon(Renaissance)
19
alchemical Earth symbol (also
see 2, 8, 28)
Earth Age
Phicon(Renaissance)
20
representative of Electronics
Earth Age Phicon(Modern)
21
Radiological symbol
Earth Age Phicon(Modern)
22
representative of modern
rocketry/space science
Earth Age Phicon(Modern)
23
Infinity symbol/ also a sign
associated with the Oroborus
(27)
Earth Age Phicon(Modern)
75
24
binary @ symbol, represents
the computer age
Earth Age Phicon(Modern)
25
Caduceus/DNA, the caduceus
is also associated with
Mercury (also see 4)
Earth Age Phicon(Modern)
26
Wak Ka’an "Six Sky Lord",
"lifted/ /erected/stood-up
lord"; elite title
Elemental Phicon(Aether)
27
Oroborus, the tail devourer
(also see 23)
Elemental Phicon(Aether)
28
seal of Solomon, hexagram,
combination of symbols for
earth, sky, fire and water (also
see 19, 32, 35, 38)
Elemental Phicon(Aether)
76
29
symbol for aether, similar to
the symbol for the holy trinity
Elemental Phicon(Aether)
30
Ik’: wind, breath, the wind
God, 2nd named day of
tzolkin
Elemental Phicon(Air)
31
Uranus symbol, God/Father of
the sky
Elemental Phicon(Air)
32
alchemical air symbol (also
see 28)
Elemental Phicon(Air)
33
modern representation of wind
and clouds
Elemental Phicon(Air)
34
K’ ak: fire, represents smoke
or tongues of flame
Elemental Phicon(Fire)
77
35
alchemical fire symbol (also
see 28)
Elemental Phicon(Fire),
Greco-Roman Age
Altar(variant)
36
modern representation of fire
Elemental Phicon(Fire)
37
Neptune symbol, God of Sea
Elemental Phicon(Water)
38
alchemical water symbol (also
see 28)
Elemental Phicon(Water)
39
modern representation of
water molecule
Elemental Phicon(Water)
40
Imix: first day sign of tzolkin,
represents water/water lilly
Elemental Phicon(Water)
78
41
Olympic spirit of Jupiter
combined with a
representation of the planet
(also see 7, 45-48)
Greco-Roman Age Altar
42
Astrological symbol for Leo, a
fire sign
Greco-Roman Age Altar
43
Astrological symbol for
Sagittarius, a fire sign (also
see 5, 16)
Greco-Roman Age Altar
44
Astrological symbol for Aries,
a fire sign
Greco-Roman Age Altar
45
Symbolic representations of
Zeus (also see 7, 46-48)
Greco-Roman Age Altar
46
Symbolic representations of
Zeus (also see 7, 45, 47, 48)
Greco-Roman Age Altar
79
47
Symbolic representations of
Zeus (also see 7, 45, 46, 48)
Greco-Roman Age Altar
48
Symbolic representations of
Zeus (also see 7, 45-47)
Greco-Roman Age Altar
49
Modern diagram of how to
achieve Earth orbit and Lunar
orbit
Modern Age Altar
50
Modern diagram relating to
space travel
Modern Age Altar
51
Kin: Mayan day symbol
Within Mayan movie content
52
Akbal: darkness, night, 3rd
named day of tzolkin
Mayan Age Altar
80
53
Ben: green/young maize, 13th
named day of tzolkin
54
Chikchan: celestial snake, 5th
named day of tzolkin
Mayan Age Altar
55
Chuwen: monkey, 11th named
day of tzolkin
Mayan Age Altar
56
Cib/Kib: wax, 16th named day
of tzolkin
Mayan Age Altar
57
Eb: rain, 12th named day of
tzolkin
Mayan Age Altar
58
Etznab: flint, 18th named day
of tzolkin
Mayan Age Altar
81
59
Imix: waterlilly, 1st named
day of tzolkin
Mayan Age Altar
60
Ix: jaguar, 14th named day of
tzolkin
Mayan Age Altar
61
Kawak: storm, 19th named
day of tzolkin
Mayan Age Altar
62
Kimi: death, 6th named day of
tzolkin
Mayan Age Altar
63
Manik: deer, 7th named day of Mayan Age Altar
tzolkin
64
Men: eagle, 15th named day
of tzolkin
Mayan Age Altar
82
65
Muluc: jade, water, 9th named
day of tzolkin
Mayan Age Altar
66
Ok: dog, 10th named day of
tzolkin
Mayan Age Altar
67
Binary representation of
Mayan temple
Mayan Age Altar
68
Mayan number one
Mayan Age Altar
69
Mayan number two
Mayan Age Altar
70
Mayan number three
Mayan Age Altar
71
Four
Mayan Age Altar
83
72
Mayan number five
Mayan Age Altar
73
Six
Mayan Age Altar
74
Mayan number seven
Mayan Age Altar
75
Mayan number eight
Mayan Age Altar
76
Nine
Mayan Age Altar
77
Ten
Mayan Age Altar
78
Mayan number eleven
Mayan Age Altar
84
79
Mayan number twelve
Modern Age Altar
80
Twelve
Mayan Age Altar
81
Mayan number thirteen
Mayan Age Altar
82
Mayan number seventeen
Modern Age Altar
83
Hunab Ku
Within Mayan movie content
84
Mayan representation of
Venus (also see 11)
Within Mayan movie
content, on the Mayan age
Altar
85
Phi, the Golden Proportion,
the Divine Ratio, 1.618
Within Renaissance movie
content
85
86
Power on/off indicator for
tangible objects
On the Omphalos (TUI
table)
87
The question mark
At the Renaissance Age
Altar
86
Appendix II: Story Scripts
“AGE OF GODS AND MYTHS”
Written by
Stephen Barker
87
"AGE OF GODS AND MYTHS"
FADE IN
SUPERTITLE “AGE OF GODS AND MYTHS”
CROSSFADE TO
SC. 1:
INTRO
We see either a short collage of simple images or
just a select simple image representitive of the age.
VOICE OVER
In the earliest of
recorded times, man
lived side by side with
the gods, and
interaction with them
was as common and
inescapable as the
rising of the sun and
the elements that
surround you.
FADE IN
SC. 2:
FIRE
We see the story of Prometheus stealing fire and
giving it to man through a series of images/video.
VOICE OVER
Fire. For as long as
anyone could remember it
had been the sole
possession of the Gods—a
symbol of their
divinity. Secure within
the halls of Mt.
Olympus, in the misty
88
aether, Jupiter kept it
always out of man’s
reach. A shrewd god, he
would only allow it to
light man’s life briefly
each day when the god
Apollo would ride it
across the sky in his
flaming chariot.
But the Titan Prometheus
wanted more for his
creation—something that
would raise him above
all other earthly
creatures. And so he
went about the task of
sneaking into the
chamber one night where
Apollo’s chariot was
housed and stealing the
fire to give to man.
He went up to the
chariot and lit the
stalk of a fennel bush
he had brought with him.
During the long trip
back to Earth from the
aether, the smouldering
fire was kept hidden
from the eyes of Jupiter
and remained alive and
safe within the hollow
of the stalk.
When Prometheus gave the
fire to man, man praised
Prometheus above all
other gods as his
friend, ally, and
patron. With fire, man
drew warmth, created
light, cooked food, made
89
weapons, and forged
great works of art. But
this couldn’t escape
Jupiter’s attention for
long.
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 3:
WATER
We see the story of the destruction of man by Jupiter
through a series of images/video (ie, human/god
interactions, an angered JUPITER, Mt. Olmpus, a
council meeting of gods, POSEIDON, flooding, etc.).
VOICE OVER
Man’s fate seemed to
always be determined by
the courses, choices,
and, sometimes, whims,
of the gods.
The Olympian Jupiter
followed what man was
doing with his gifts and
was not pleased. Man
spent much of his time
making weapons and war
and paying homage to
Jupiter less and less.
Jupiter called for a
council of the gods.
Taking the long road to
the palace of heaven,
the other gods converged
on Mt Olympus. Jupiter
set forth the case
against man and
announced his intention
90
to destroy the world and
start again with a new
race who would be more
worthy and pious. After
discussing various
plans, the council
resolved to drown the
Earth and its
inhabitants.
Jupiter’s brother
Neptune then loosed the
waters of the heavens
and rose the rivers over
the lands and the oceans
over their shores. A
spare few beings were
able to survive in
boats, but most of those
whom the waters spared
only later fell prey to
hunger and fatigue.
This age of man was
finished. A new age
would begin.
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 4:
SKY
We see the story of the creation of the gods, the
Earth, and man through a series of images/video.
VOICE OVER
In the beginning was the
void, whose name was
Chaos. And out of Chaos
sprang forth Gaia, the
Earth mother, and
Uranus, the sky father.
91
Uranus could not help
but love the beautiful
Gaia, and for aeons they
had the whole of
creation to themselves.
But Uranus eventually
took Gaia to sire the
first Titan gods,
including Kronos (also
known as Saturn), and
thus became the father
of all that was in the
world.
The Titans multiplied
over time, producing the
very clever Prometheus
and the exceptionally
strong Atlas. The
Titans took more and
more control over the
aspects of creation.
And Uranus began to grow
wary of his power-hungry
son Saturn. He decided
to imprison Saturn, but
Saturn escaped and took
revenge upon Uranus,
wresting control from
him to become king of
the gods.
Afraid that his own
progeny would turn on
him, Saturn devoured all
his children except one—
Zeus, or Jove or Jupiter
as he was also known.
Jupiter was saved by his
mother and later grew to
subdue Saturn and save
his devoured siblings by
using a potion given to
him by Gaia to make
92
Saturn vomit them back
up.
Jupiter and his siblings
then waged and won an
all out war against the
Titans to seize control
from them, and some of
the Titans, including
Prometheus, foreseeing
Jupiter’s victory,
forsaked their own
generation to fight
alongside Jupiter.
Thus as the new ruler,
Jupiter, set up his
council upon the peak of
Mt. Olympus and set
himself to recreating
the world to his liking.
Prometheus and his
brother, Epimetheus,
were tasked with
creating the world’s
mortal creatures. And
the proud Prometheus was
determined to create
something very special…
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 5:
AETHER/UNIVERSE
We see the story of how constellations came to be
through a series of images/video about Prometheus and
his rescue by Chiron and Herakles.
VOICE OVER
It was the way of things
that favored creatures
93
were immortalized by
Jupiter by being placed
in the heavens as
constellations. The
stars acted as nightly
reminders of their
heroic deeds.
Jupiter was surveying
the stars one night when
he noticed a strange
light emanating from the
Earth. He quickly
surmised that Prometheus
had stolen the fire from
Mt. Olympus and given it
to the humans. Jupiter
was instantly consumed
with rage over this
transgression and had
Prometheus chained to a
rock where each day his
liver would be eaten out
by Aquila, Jupiter’s
eagle. Each night
Prometheus’ liver would
then grow back, thus
ensuring long suffering.
Some time into
Prometheus’ suffering,
Jupiter’s son, Herekles,
along with Saturn’s son,
Chiron the Centaur, came
upon him. Taking pity
upon Prometheus and
feeling that he had
suffered enough,
Herakles killed Aquila.
However, Chiron also
suffered; he had
accidentally been
wounded previously by
one of Herakles’
94
poisoned arrows. Being
immortal, Chiron
couldn’t die from the
wound, but the poison
from the blood of the
Hydra was incurable and
so painful that he
wished he could.
So feeling both guilty
and sorry for his
friend, Herakles
brokered a deal with
Jupiter to exchange
Chiron’s immortality for
Prometheus’ freedom.
Favoring his son,
Jupiter agreed to this,
and was so moved by
Chiron’s tragic
sacrifice that he fixed
Chiron’s image amongst
the stars as the
constellation
Sagittarius after relief
came to his long ailing
wound.
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 6:
PROMPT/HINT
Here a hint or prompt is given to complete the puzzle
and move on to the AR experience.
VOICE OVER
Now take the Oracle into
your hands and gaze
through it onto the
Altar of Gods and Myths.
What do you see? If you
95
are clever like
Prometheus and follow
clues to the letter,
then a vision will be
granted to you to help
you unlock the mystery
of the Ages…
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 7:
CONCLUSION
We see the story Atlantis and the Ages of Man through
a series of images/video.
VOICE OVER
Many have counted the
blessings and benefits
that have come from the
gift of fire, but who
could ever truly count
the costs to both gods
and man? What could
hope to balance the long
suffering associated
with this event?
Far off the coasts of
the known world, past
the Pillars of Herakles
and a six-day sail from
the British Isles, the
mythical island some
called Ultima Thule was
overcome by Jupiter’s
wrath over the
consequences of fire.
Plato wrote of the
island that “…there
occurred violent
earthquakes and floods;
96
and in a single day and
night of misfortune all
your warlike men in a
body sank into the
earth, and the island of
Atlantis in like manner
disappeared in the
depths of the sea.”
This period was called
the “Suntelia Aion”—the
“End of the Age”—a cycle
of existence marked at
its end by catastrophe.
The flood of Plato’s
Atlantis some 9,000
years prior to his
writings could have been
the end of the second
Age of Man listed in the
Boeotian poet Hesiod’s
“Works and Days”. In
the poem, Hesiod listed
five Ages of Man: the
Golden Age, the Silver
Age (which was destroyed
by Jupiter with a
flood), the Bronze Age,
the Heroic Age, and the
current Iron Age.
The cycle seen in each
Age of life, death, and
rebirth was represented
by the image of a
serpent swallowing its
own tail, which the
Greek philosophers
called the Ouroboros,
“the tail-devourer”. It
is believed that the
cycle will turn yet
again someday when
Jupiter finally destroys
97
the current Iron Age of
Man in lieu of a new Age
and what lies beyond…
FADE OUT
The last thing we see is the Glyph Key for the Age
hovering and spinning over the altar.
98
“AGE OF RITUALS AND ASTRONOMY”
Written by
Stephen Barker
99
"AGE OF RITUALS AND ASTRONOMY"
FADE IN
SC. 1:
INTRO
SUPERTITLE “AGE OF RITUALS AND ASTRONOMY”
VOICE OVER
In the second half of
the first millennium,
Mesoamerican cultures
found harmony with both
nature and the gods.
Through painstakingly
detailed observations,
they unraveled secrets
to the cycles of their
universe.
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 2:
FIRE
We see the story of the sun god, his brother, and the
moon goddess through a series of images/video.
VOICE OVER
The Mayan god Kinich
Ahau ruled the sun in
the sky and wore the
Kin, or “day” symbol,
around his neck. He
would visit the temples
built to him each day at
noon and could only be
distracted from his
100
schedule by the presence
of his lover, Ix Chel,
the moon goddess who
would follow Kinich Ahau
to his palace, where
they would spend time
together.
But Kinich Ahau was
insanely jealous and
would become suspicious
of Ix Chel when she
would be late in coming
to meet him at his
palace, and he began to
suspect she was having
an affair with the
morning star, his
brother, Hun Ahau, also
associated with the name
Hunaphu or Kukulkan.
Kinich Ahau kicked Ix
Chel out of heaven for
her suspected
transgression, but the
monotony of his daily
routine gave him much
time to think about her
and miss her. He missed
her so dearly that he
could not stand her
absence and thus
eventually coaxed her
back to be with him.
Kinich Ahau’s
predisposition towards
suspicion, though, would
not allow this state to
last and he would yet
again send her away only
to repeat this cycle
101
with time.
But the strong Ix Chel
tired of this, and so
went off into the night
to be away from Kinich
Ahau. In this way, she
always avoided him and
came out only after
being told by the
evening star of Kinich
Ahau’s departure to the
west.
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 3:
WATER
We see the story of the destruction of man by Chaac
as well as specifics about Mayan cosmology, the
Palace of the Governor, the Mayan number system, and
Venus’ Grand Cycle through a series of images/video.
VOICE OVER
Mayans believed that the
Sacred World Tree rose
through the center of
the Earth-Sky, thus
dividing people and
their world into a
center point and four
quarters—each associated
with its own cardinal
direction and color.
Events in the universe,
they said, were
cyclical, and the
current race of man was
attributable to Kukulkan
102
giving life to the bones
of previous ages of man-each destroyed by gods
such as Chaac, god of
rain and thunder.
In the sequence below, outlines are superimposed over
photos to aid in discerning the masks.
VOICE OVER (CONT.)
Capable of dispensing
both life and death,
Chaac provided the means
to grow life-sustaining
maize and also the power
to create great floods
until none survived. In
Uxmal, the Mayans carved
103 hook-nosed
representations of Chaac
undulating like a
serpent across the face
of the Palace of the
Governor to honor his
greatness. But Chaac was
also associated with the
even greater heavenly
resident, Venus.
In the sequence below, outlines are superimposed over
photos to aid in discerning the Venus symbols and
numbers.
VOICE OVER (CONT.)
Every 1.6 years the
planet Venus follows a
cycle where it appears
as both morning star and
evening star--each cycle
carrying with it
different omens to the
103
Mayans. But once every
eight years, Venus rises
as the morning star on
the exact same day of
the year after repeating
its cycle five times and
tracing a five-pointed
star in the heavens
during this period.
And so the Mayans
incorporated both the
symbol for Venus as well
as the number eight (a
bar representing the
number five along with
three dots or ones) into
Chaac’s sculptures--thus
demonstrating and
memorializing their
knowledge of the 8:5
ratio of Venus’ cycles.
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 4:
SKY
We see the story of astronomical observations and
religious rituals as well as demonstrations of the
Tzolkin calendar system through a series of
images/video.
VOICE OVER
The Mayan creation story
begins in the sky with
Kukulkan, the Heart-ofSky. And so from the
beginning, the Mayan
people have looked to
the sky in fascination.
104
Through close
observation, they noted
the cyclical nature of
events in the sky and
developed sophisticated
calendars, such as the
Haab and Long Count
calendars, to track the
passage of time and
predict the appearance
of objects in the sky.
Religious rituals were
strictly linked to
particular events, but
not all events followed
the 365 day calendar.
The Tzolkin calendar was
a separate 260 day
sacred calendar.
The Tzolkin represented
dates with the
combination of a number
and a name. These
consisted of 13 numbered
days and 20 named days.
The named days were
represented by unique
glyphs and had
linguistic,
astronomical, and
mythical references and
meanings on many
different levels. Both
the named and numbered
components were advanced
each day but cycled
independently of each
other due to the
difference in the number
of each’s elements.
105
The 260 day period
closely coincided with
the interval between
Venus emerging as the
evening star and its
emergence as the morning
star, the 9-month human
gestation period, and
the common ratio seen
between many planetary
cycles.
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 5:
AETHER/UNIVERSE
We see the story of itz and the Wakah Chan through a
series of images/video.
VOICE OVER
Often when Mayan lords
or shaman performed
rituals, they would
engaged in the practice
of bloodletting. Within
the life blood, they
believed, was an
abundance of “itz”—“a
cosmic ooze” or “the
magical stuff of the
universe” that permeated
all things.
The bird god, Itzam-Ye
engraved atop the Sacred
World Tree (also known
as the Wakah Chan or
Palenque Cross) upon
Lord Pacal’s sarcophagus
lid was believed to have
controlled this
106
mysterious power to
prepare the cosmos for
its birth and the rising
of the Wakah Chan.
Translated, Wakah Chan
means “raised up sky”,
and it symbolizes many
things to the Mayans
including the Milky Way,
also called the Sak be,
or “white road”. It’s
roots start in the
underworld while its top
extends into the
heavens. The Tree’s
“branches” cross its
trunk often in the form
of a double-headed
monster or serpent since
the Mayan word Kan, or
“serpent”, is a homonym
to Chan, “sky”.
The double-headed
monster’s association
with the sky led to its
use as a sky-band symbol
representing the solar
ecliptic plane along
which the sun, planets,
and astrological
constellations course.
The double-headed
monster was often
depicted with the glyph
for the planet Venus
leading one head while
the Kin, “sun” or “day”,
glyph led the other.
107
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 6:
PROMPT/HINT
Here a hint or prompt is given to complete the puzzle
and move on to the AR experience.
VOICE OVER
Now take the Oracle into
your hands and gaze
through it upon the
Altar of Rituals and
Astronomy. If you are
observant like the
Mayans and find the
date, then a vision will
be granted to you to
help you unlock the
mystery of the Ages…
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 7:
CONCLUSION
We see the story of the Venus alignment at Uxmal
through AR content.
VOICE OVER
On 11 Ahau of the
Tzolkin calendar,
January 10, 2013, Venus
will rise at its most
southerly location as
morning star in direct
line with the Palace of
the Governor in Uxmal,
the double-headed jaguar
in its courtyard, and a
108
pyramid at the location
of Cehtzuc some 3 miles
away. But 20 days
before that, on 4 Ahau,
an even more prominent
occurrence will take
place.
Next we see the story of the Wakah Chan on Lord
Pacal’s sarcophagus lid, the Mayan Long Count, and
the coming End Date through a series of images/video
placed in AR over the calendar and framed with the
Quetzlcoatl Ouroboros.
VOICE OVER (CONT.)
According to writings of
the time, the dead Mayan
Lord Pacal had “taken
the road” to the gods
and would return
someday. The trunk of
the “raised up sky”
engraved on his tomb
represented the Milky
Way and was Pacal’s road
to heaven. The Cosmic
Tree’s branches crossing
its trunk represented
the sun aligning with
and passing directly
through the center of
the Milky Way--an event
occurring only once
every 26,000 years, or
five Long Count calendar
cycles.
This event will occur on
the winter solstice,
December 21, 2012, at
11:11AM, when the Milky
Way will be “raised up”
109
to stretch from the
South horizon straight
overhead to the North
like a road into heaven,
and the sun will be
aligned in the center of
the Milky Way in the
constellation
Sagittarius.
A symbol of the rebirth
of the First Father and
the birth of the current
Age in the Mayan
creation story, this
particular winter
solstice will have the
added significance of
also being the last day
of the Mayan’s current
5,128-year Long Count
calendar, thus truly
starting a new cycle and
heralding a new age.
FADE OUT
The last thing we see is the Glyph Key for the Age
hovering and spinning over the altar.
110
“AGE OF RECOGNITION AND REASON”
Written by
Stephen Barker
Song Speckels
111
"AGE OF RECOGNITION AND REASON"
FADE IN
SUPERTITLE “AGE OF RECOGNITION AND REASON”
CROSSFADE TO
SC. 1:
INTRO
VOICE OVER
In the age of rebirth,
mankind looked to both
the past and the future
for wisdom. A new
consciousness was
awoken, and those
observant enough saw it.
FADE IN
SC. 2:
FIRE
We see the story of the alchemists and their quest to
turn lead into gold through a series of images/video.
VOICE OVER
Fire is the essence of
change and purification.
By the element of fire,
all imperfections are
destroyed. Associated
with both the sun and
the metal gold, fire was
used in the alchemists’
quest to purify and
transmute common metals
into gold. Since all
metals were combinations
of elements and
elemental qualities, one
element could be changed
into another like mixing
a solution.
112
Lead, identified with
Saturn, was the prima
materia, or primal
matter, and represented
putrification and decay.
The transformation of
lead into gold was seen
as analogous to
spiritual progress, or
the transformation of
that which is base, or
common, into that which
is perfect, spiritual,
pure, refined, and
incorruptible. More
than just a chemical
process, this Great Work
or quest was the
alchemists’ search for
spiritual gold, rebirth
through spiritual
cleansing, and
immortality.
Transmutation of one
metal into another could
be affected by the
rearrangement of its
basic qualities. This
change could be achieved
with a substance, an
elixir, made from a
mythical stone, the
philosopher's stone.
Never found, the search
for the elusive
philosopher’s stone yet
continues, and it is
written that it will
persist in darkness
until perfection is
someday achieved.
113
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 3:
WATER
We see the story of da Vinci’s work as both artist
and scientist touching on ideas of phi and previous
ages and floods through a series of images/video.
VOICE OVER
What lies beneath the
water’s surface?
Alchemists would have
said the unconscious
forces of the spirit,
impermanence, change,
flux, and instability.
It flows, surges,
merges, and dissolves.
Water is the stuff of
life and sometimes
death.
Leonardo da Vinci,
famous for the golden
proportions found in his
works such as Vitruvian
Man, was as much a
scientist as he was an
artist. As a supervisor
for the digging of large
canals for hydraulic
engineering works, he
made many observations
of fossils in North
Italy. In a triumph for
direct observation and
empiricism, he deduced
that the fossils
indicated a history of
114
the earth on an immense
time scale extending
beyond man’s records.
Most conjecturists of
the time believed the
fossils to be remnants
of a great flood. Da
Vinci reasoned however
that such deposits would
have been all mixed up
within the mud from the
turbulent waters of a
single flood instead of
being found in discrete
strata as they were.
This suggested deposits
over multiple eras.
To explain the presence
of sea creature fossils
hundreds of kilometers
from shore, Da Vinci
reasoned that fish once
swam where birds now fly
and that land levels
were much different in
the past. Not knowing
about the role of polar
ice caps, he did not
believe in a worldwide
deluge scenario because
he couldn’t imagine the
water would have any
place to go once it
receded.
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 4:
SKY
115
We see the story of phi, the platonic solids, Kepler,
Copernicus, and Galileo along with their discoveries
through a series of images/video.
VOICE OVER
Beginning in the latter
half of the 15th century
classical scholarship
was revived. This led
to the search for
ancient texts and
alchemical processes
that would increase the
knowledge of the time.
This rebirth set the
stage for observations
of the sky that would
permanently change the
way the heavens were
perceived.
Johannes Kepler, who
discovered the ratio of
consecutive Fibonacci
numbers converged to the
golden proportion phi,
also was the first
astronomer to suggest
that planetary orbits
were elliptical. In
studying these orbits
and the math behind
them, he recognized the
mathematical proportions
of the solar system’s
planetary cycles and
proposed that the
distance relationships
between the six known
planets of the time be
described in terms of
the five Platonic
solids. In his scheme
116
one Platonic solid would
fit between each pair of
planetary spheres.
The most critical work
of the period though
came in 1543 when
Nicolaus Copernicus
wrote De Revolutionibus.
It was a work that
placed the sun at the
center of the solar
system and the planets
in a semi-correct
orbital order around it.
His work was an attempt
to revise the earlier
writings of Ptolemy, who
placed the Earth in the
center of the universe
with all other bodies
circling around it.
However, it was the
observations of Galileo
Galilei that actually
proved Copernicus’
heliocentric model of
the Solar System.
Observing the heavens
through a small
telescope, Galileo saw
that Venus could only
exhibit phases if it
orbited the Sun and not
the Earth. He also
proved with observations
of Jupiter’s moons that
bodies did, in fact,
orbit things other than
the Earth—something that
was completely in
opposition to popular
thought at the time and
117
that got him placed
under permanent house
arrest by the Church for
heresy.
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 5:
AETHER/UNIVERSE
We see the four elements travel diagonally from the
edge of the screen to the center until they overlap
forming the quintessence along with other visuals
relating to the idea of the quintessence, ouroboros,
and philosopher’s stone through a series of
images/video.
VOICE OVER
There are five elements,
four of matter (earth,
air, fire and water) and
one of spirit--the
quintessence, or aether
as it was conceived of
by the greeks. It is
that which unites the
other elements through
the Seal of Solomon and
is also represented by
the cyclical nature of
the Ouroboros serpent or
dragon.
The tail devourer
constantly re-creates
itself through its
endless spiral rotation
and the eternal return.
It is watery, airy,
fiery and earthy. The
rotation of these
118
elements is a key
alchemical procedure,
the principal means by
which the purified
essence of a substance
is extracted and raised
to its most sublime
state. Indeed, the
rotation symbolizes an
important transformative
process, which manifests
throughout the spiritual
and material worlds.
The Ouroboros’ tail is
phallic and its head is
vaginal. It is both
male and female—the
marriage of opposites,
the Rebis, the
Hermaphrodite. It is at
this boundary that the
grand cycle starts and
begins again and again.
This is the point of
rebirth, the Great Work.
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 6:
PROMPT/HINT
Here a hint or prompt is given to complete the puzzle
and move on to the AR experience.
VOICE OVER
Now take the Oracle into
your hands and gaze
through it upon the
Altar of Recognition and
Reason. Through reason,
you will discover the
true order of things,
119
and a vision will be
granted to you to help
you unlock the mystery
of the Ages…
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 7:
CONCLUSION
We see the planets move in AR to align themselves
from Saturn to Sun and pulse a few times in order,
representing the path from lead to gold.
VOICE OVER
Lead to gold was the
order of the planets and
the order of spiritual
progression for the
alchemists. Thus they
saw their philosophy not
just in their books but
also when they looked
into the heavens.
We see the story of the Milky Way as Ouroboros
through a series of images/video masked to fit within
the center of the Solomon’s Seal in AR.
Every so often, the
Milky Way moves relative
to the Earth in such a
way that it can be seen
in the sky as one long
continuous band
stretching all the way
around the horizon as if
“laid down” flat upon
the Earth like a giant,
encircling hoop.
120
It was this image that
inspired the idea of the
Ouroboros. Also
referred to as the
“Serpent of Light”, the
Milky Way has a dark
rift in its center near
the constellation
Sagittarius which is
generally seen to be the
mouth of the serpent
where the head and tail
ends of the celestial
path of white light
meet. The Milky Way is
the physical
manifestation of the
Ouroboros.
It is written that the
fifth element will be
found in the mouth of
the Oruboros, in the
unity of opposites,
where life and death
meet. The Great Work,
the discovery of the
Philosopher's Stone, was
never really about
turning lead into gold;
it was about a prophecy-spiritual gold arising
out of the mouth of the
Ouroboros.
FADE OUT
The last thing we see is the Glyph Key for the Age
hovering and spinning over the altar.
121
“AGE OF SPIRITUAL MACHINES AND ASCENCION”
Written by
Stephen Barker
122
"AGE OF SPIRITUAL MACHINES AND ASCENCION"
FADE IN
SC. 1:
INTRO
SUPERTITLE “AGE OF SPIRITUAL MACHINES AND ASCENCION”
VOICE OVER
In the years that
followed the coming of
the twentieth century,
man left behind the
mysticism that clouded
his earlier endeavors
and built machines to
carry his body and his
spirit to the heavens
themselves.
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 2:
FIRE
We see the story of the Nazi V-2 rocket, Wernher von
Braun, and the early U.S. space program through a
series of images/video.
VOICE OVER
In the quest for Aryan
purification during
World War II, the Nazi
war machine sought to
unleash fire upon its
enemies from above.
A young scientist
obsessed with rocketry
by the name of Wernher
von Braun labored long
123
to develop the V-2
rocket that rained
explosives over London.
However, in 1944 seeing
things were going badly,
von Braun fled Germany,
was captured, and was
brought to the United
States through a secret
program called Operation
Paperclip where he was
quickly assimilated into
the U.S. space program.
In 1972, von Braun
helped NASA to launch
Pioneer 10, which after
doing a fly-by of
Jupiter would sail on
past the edges of our
solar system into deep
space toward Aldebaran,
a star 68 lightyears
away in the “Bull’s Eye”
of the constellation
Taurus. Attached to
this spacecraft was an
anodized gold plaque
designed by scientist
Carl Sagan featuring
male and female figures
standing next to the
spacecraft along with a
map of our solar system
verifying the location
of Earth.
Despite his Nazi
background, von Braun’s
development of the
Saturn V rockets which
fired the Apollo
missions to the moon
124
secured his legacy as
the “Father of the U.S.
Space Program”.
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 3:
WATER
We see the story of the importance of water to
extended space exploration and the existence of life
through a series of images/video.
VOICE OVER
One of the most telling
moments about the U.S.
space program was when
the first images of the
earth were taken from
space. In leaving home
to explore space, one
could not guess that the
most fascinating
activity would be
looking back at home and
noting how small it
looked and how blue it
looked--almost
completely covered with
the life-sustaining
waters of its oceans. As
it would turn out, water
would also be the
lifeblood of space
exploration.
Early astronomers saw
interconnected lines on
Mars through inadequate
telescopes and
envisioned vast networks
of sophisticated canals
and aqueducts supporting
125
thriving colonies of
alien life. These were
merely the mirages seen
by hopeful imaginations.
As man heads out deeper
into space, the search
for water becomes all
important to
establishing longer-term
bases and exploring
farther and farther into
the reaches of the solar
system and beyond. In
addition to human
consumption, water can
provide energy and
breathable air through
electrolysis, and in
general, the possibility
of life wherever it may
exist.
Water ice found on the
moon and Mars in 1998
and 2002 will thus fuel
the next giant leap. In
2010, when the space
shuttle is retired from
service, new designs and
technologies will
fulfill the Apollo era
vision of human space
travel. The Crew
Exploration Vehicle
then, riding upon the
celestial fires of the
Prometheus Project, will
become our chariot to
new worlds as we chase
water across the
heavens.
126
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 4:
SKY
We see the story of UFO sightings and rumors
regarding secret Nazi flying disks and weapons
through a series of images/video.
VOICE OVER
In the twentieth
century, mankind became
obsessed with watching
the skies and became
convinced that he was
being observed by beings
not from the Earth.
Reports of UFO
sightings, crashes, crop
circles, and even
abductions were common
and continue to this
day.
In the 1970s the U.S.
Air Force conducted
Project Bluebook to
openly investigate the
phenomena. Some could
not agree with its
findings that most of
the sightings were
merely mistaken
atmospheric anomalies or
off-course weather
balloons and felt that
the true nature of the
investigation was to
purposefully debunk and
cover up a growing
suspicion of alien
activity that started as
early as the 1940s.
127
British Air Force pilots
in World War II often
reported seeing glowing
disks in the sky they
thought to be secret
Nazi flying machines
being tested. They
called them “Foo
Fighters”. And from
this, rumors spread that
the Nazis were deriving
designs from unknown
advanced sources.
Some said that the
information for the
flying disks came
largely from two secret
society groups--the
Thule Society and the
Vril Luminous Lodge-both closely tied to the
establishment, support,
and continued control of
the Nazi party.
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 5:
AETHER/UNIVERSE
We see the story of the possibility of life on other
planets through a series of images/video.
VOICE OVER
In his book “Cosmos”,
Carl Sagan laid out and
explained a formula that
estimated the number of
alien life forms that
might be possible in our
128
universe. Essentially,
it boiled down to this:
even if only an
infinitesimal fraction
of all possible
inhabitable planets in
an infinitesimal
fraction of possible
solar systems in an
infinitesimal fraction
of galaxies were looked
at, there would still be
millions of possible
sentient life forms out
there due to the
inconceivable vastness
of the universe.
Mankind’s fascination
with this subject has
led to the establishment
of many serious
scientific programs,
such as SETI (the Search
for Extra-Terrestrial
Intelligence), the
addition of microbe
sensing equipment on
planetary probes, and
even messages sent into
space both physically
and over radio waves.
Since it takes a year
for radio waves to
travel the distance
known as a “lightyear”,
it’s not unusual to
figure that it could
take even as long as
several decades just to
get a reply from a
planet located several
tens of lightyears away,
129
if anyone was even there
to reply in the first
place. Thus, due to the
long distances between
star systems, this is a
very patient endeavor,
and many put this quest
in the heart and hands
of the computer to be
their ever wakeful
lookout and diplomat.
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 6:
PROMPT/HINT
Here a hint or prompt is given to complete the puzzle
and move on to the AR experience.
VOICE OVER
Now take the Oracle into
your hands and gaze
through it upon the
Altar of Spiritual
Machines and Ascencion.
If you have the courage
to set down upon another
world, then a vision
will be granted to you
to help you unlock the
mystery of the Ages…
FADE OUT
FADE IN
SC. 7:
CONCLUSION
We see an AR Earth Hemisphere appear over the moon
map and a movie screen appearing over it with the
story of the bizarre and mysterious links between the
130
beliefs of the secret Thule Society, its roots in the
Theosophical Society, and the activities of the Nazi
party through a series of images/video.
VOICE OVER
At the turn of the
century and in the early
1900’s several secret
societies came into
being. One such
society, the Thule
Society, founded in
1918, was greatly
influenced by Far
Eastern philosophies and
symbols, as well as
mysticism and the
writings of Theosophical
Society founder Madame
Helena Blavatsky.
Among other things,
Blavatsky and the
Thulists believed that
humanity descended from
a series of “Root
Races”, including the
fifth, or “Aryan”, race
which came from the Lost
Continent of Atlantis.
Founders of the Thule
Society believed that
the Aryan race would be
brought to greatness one
day by the appearance of
a luminous race of
supermen.
In 1919, the Thule
Society formed the
German Worker’s Party,
and a year after that,
this party became what
131
was known as the Nazi
party. Although Hitler
himself was not a member
of the Thule Society,
many of his inner circle
who influenced the
policies of the Nazi
party were, including
Rudolph Hess and
Dietrich Eckart.
Once the Nazi party had
gained enough money and
power, Thule Society
teams were sent all over
the world in search of
information on the
luminous race and the
origins of the Aryan
people as well as other
occult items and
information. The
conclusions of their
expedition teams and
counsel were that the
Aryan race had indeed
spread from Atlantis but
had ultimately not
originated upon Earth
but from the star system
of Aldebaran in the
constellation Taurus—the
very star former Nazi
Wernher von Braun
eventually sent Pioneer
10 towards with a
message.
However, even a message
sent via radio in 1944
to Aldebaran 68
lightyears away would
still be waiting for a
response. If frightened
132
members of the Thule
Society had attempted to
contact life forms in
the Aldebaran star
system near the end of
World War II when things
were going poorly for
the Nazis, they could
not possibly have hoped
for a response any
earlier than the still
distant year of 2012.
FADE OUT
The last thing we see is the Glyph Key for the Age
hovering and spinning over the altar.
133
“THE FINAL AGE”
Written by
Stephen Barker
134
"THE FINAL AGE"
FADE IN
SC. 1
We see the final tie together of the concepts exposed
through the ages through a series of images/video and
AR. Four video windows are projected onto the
Omphalos nearest each altar as well as there being a
marker for AR content projected in the center of the
table.
VOICE OVER
There are those who
believe that life here
began out there, far
across the heavens, that
gods that once walked
with man first walked on
other worlds. These
beings may have mixed
with or given rise to
the mystic Atlanteans,
or the Mayans.
The famed Emerald
Tablets of Thoth that
hold the keys to the
knowledge of life and
death tell the tale of
the spread of the
Atlantean people
following the
destruction of their
island. Some spread to
the lands of the Maya
where they retained the
ancient ways long after
any memory of their
origin had left them.
But the wave of armies
and inescapable war from
the east scattered those
135
remaining memories over
the fields and liberated
them from their mortal
bonds. There, bathed in
the daylight battles,
the ancient ways drifted
into darkness…
However, interest in the
ancient ways was always
smoldering and was
eventually rekindled.
Freeing their minds of
prejudice, men were open
to the mysteries and
secrets in nature around
them. Lauding
empiricism and shunning
the non-confirmable,
they refined spiritual
perfection and knew more
about self individuation
than the ages that
followed. They hid the
paradox in the symbology
of alchemy, the rotation
of the elements, and the
self-sustainment of the
Ouroboros.
The alchemists and
others of the age
rediscovered the ancient
understanding of the
duality in a
singularity, the unity
in opposing forces, and
the balance of the
universe. Yin-Yang.
Male-Female. “As above,
so below”. Ancient
wisdom, ancient
understanding beyond
this world’s
136
consciousness.
So some believe that
there may yet be
brothers of man who even
now watch this world
keenly and closely,
drawing plans.
Such ideas pass from Age
to Age but they bore
particular significance
in the age when man
himself discovered that
the sky was not the sole
territory of the gods.
The mystery of faith was
reworked: “As man is,
God once was. As God
is, man may be.” And
some were eager to
pounce upon this open
invitation. Secret
societies were formed,
plans were made, minds
were washed. And
although the men who
would be gods were
vanquished before their
plans could be
fulfilled, none can be
certain that messages
weren’t sent or that
chariots weren’t
completed…though many
speculate.
Some call these ideas
fiction and fancy,
finding it easier to
believe instead the
scientific observations
that our universe
137
exhibits the
characteristics and
appearances of a mere
hologram at the
subatomic scale. Real
or imaginary, it makes
no difference so long as
there is a deadly
serious belief to its
defense. And all
beliefs will be put to
the test on December 21,
2012.
Just before sunrise, as
the warm light of the
sun just starts to
threaten the sky, the
Milky Way will lie flat
along the horizon in the
form of the Ouroboros.
The light of Venus as
the Morning Star will
fade and the Sun will
lift itself up and rise
out of the serpent’s
mouth, bearing death to
night. An age will come
to an end. Another will
begin, and a countdown
to a chain of events
that exists only in the
wildest of imaginations
will start ticking.
In the 7th hour of the
Great Work, in golden
relation to the first,
the white road will
rise,
and a portal will open
in the skies.
The prophecy will be
138
fulfilled. But what
will we find?
Illumination?
Destruction? Or
Duality?
FADE OUT
139
“ADDITIONAL DIALOGUE FOR APOLLO BEYOND”
Written by
Stephen Barker
140
"ADDITIONAL DIALOGUE FOR APOLLO BEYOND"
FADE IN
SC. 1:
THE ORACLE
This is just a soundbite that will play whenever the
Oracle becomes active.
VOICE OVER
I am the Oracle.
Through me all things
hidden are made known
and the unseen made
visible. View now the
world through my allseeing eye.
FADE OUT
141
Appendix III: Content Flowchart
142