Augmented Reality and the O-Gauge Hobby...

I'm having a hard time imagining how that would work, so my first impulse is to say that I wouldn't like it. It would seem more like a computer game than trains, but I'm not the most tech savvy guy. I don't understand the role of the trains. Why not just include virtual reality trains along with the virtual reality scenery when you put on the glasses? Am I totally misunderstanding this?

I like the idea K.C. As far as futuristic items, I would venture to say your thoughts are very probable. Not sure about the smells, but virtual scenes using glasses could very well be a reality. I don't believe Lionel or any train manufacturer would produce it, it would be from companies that are involved with virtual reality software.

 

Bob   

 

Jerry

Probably have to activate that chip that was implanted in the back of your neck,

Don't think so. I kind of like planned reality on the layout.

Brian,

   I agree 100%

PCRR/Dave

Interesting point.   I could see spending time with a virtual layout in an immersive environment to plan layouts and run trains.   I don't see the value in augmented reality for the real layout.   But as technology evolves and improves I might change my mind.

 

Interesting thought!

Nit interested.

I talked recently with a friend who works for a government agency messing around with the stuff and he was convinced that in the near future, the entertainment industry will be thrown on it's backside when holograms become better and affordable. He said, "Imagine on your layout, when a train stops, the crew actually gets off and oils around the locomotive and scale passengers, who can look like anyone you want, run to the train before it leaves!" He also said that someday, there won't need to be a layout at all, that you'd just set up the basic benchwork as a place for the computer to register where to place the digital layout you created. You design exactly what you want, press a button and it's suddenly there, as real looking as any real layout, with everything extracted from real places.

He also was convinced that historical re-enacting will no longer exist in 50 years, that you'll be able to go to Gettysburg or Normandy and every year, they'll digitally put all the soldiers into the real field, and show you the battle without anyone needing to show up with wool uniforms or weapons. No re-enactors to house, feed and deal with their issues, he promised.

I agree that this could (and will) happen if the technology someday exists, but people will always want the 'stuff' to sit on a shelf or be held in hand. In other words, those digital passengers running for the model train as it leaves would be great, but many will still want the physical model of said train to exist in real life.

I argued that while they might throw 50,000 digital soldiers into the field at Waterloo for the 250th anniversary of the battle, there'll always be a need for several guys dressed in the gear with the rifles, cannon and horses for spectators to walk around and be able to interact with.

Maybe, if/when they get it to work like the Star Trek Holodeck (sp?). I will keep an eye out and an open mind until then and we will see what develops. 

It would be too easy.  No train derailments. I would miss looking for the one car that is off the track, shorting out the transformer when running 3 passenger trains on the same loop. 

Thanks for posting Everyone!

P51 you’re very close to the way I see this technology going .  

The train you are running will be real as will derailments, and track wiring.  It’s what you see with the augmented-reality display--informative graphics will appear in your field of view, and audio (smell?) will coincide with whatever you see.

Just think ….you are running Your Best Engine on the best layout you have ever seen and the Owner of that layout hands you the Glasses…All of a sudden that layout is populated and Alive.
You would have to run your “Real” Train, using your “Real” Legacy Remote to the best of your Ability.. because Real Train versus Virtual School Bus on the tracks could happen. You would really need to pay attention or you could hurt virtual people and their pets…lol

Hope I Live To See It 

Thanks for reading ..

K.C.

Good point, that sure would add to your op session, when you really have watch out for pedestrians and cars at grade crossings.

I just can't get past the idea of a train stopping at a station and little people get off and walk into the depot and vice versa.

Augmented reality could actually be pretty easily added to a layout. 

 

Picture a set of glasses that you wear or just looking at your phone and pointing it at you layout.  Everytime you point it towards an accessory or building that the program recognizes you'll see (either through the glasses or on the phone) people interacting on that accessory, perhaps vehicles pulling up to it, likely some sound and light effects also.  If you point it at a train, you might see the engineer waving or somesuch.  

 

Early on, there might have to be a sensor or a particular sign or color combination for the program to recognize it, but as visual recognition gets better, programs will probably be able to easily recognize any accessory once you take a picture(s) of it.

 

Consider that LEGO already has a program whereby you build something, and take a picture of it in front of a certain background and suddenly you can play with it in the digital world.  Not quite the same thing, but it gives you an idea of what a computer can recognize. The leap between playing with such a LEGO creation in a fully digital environment and having a computer overlay such visuals on a "live" real time environment is not much.

All I know is that the most joy I've gotten from my layout was actually building it...in terms of the mental and physical challenge and rewards. "Just looking" will be OK when/if I'm confined to a nursing home.

I've always though of virtual modeling as totally separate from model trains.  With virtual railroading you could create a whole railroad without needing to worry about how far you can reach.  On the other hand you run hundreds of trains in a virtual world.  

 

Virtual modeling might be useful on a model railroad as a scenic feature for giant screen animation like you might be see in a big city core or sports stadium.

'Virtual' for me, is like the train sims:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc4Nx8qOLjs

What I'm hearing about is the potential to add 3D scale elements to model trains. You'd be standing there, from any angle, and watch what looked like O scale people getting out of the train and doing their stuff. It's be like a real, scale person, walking around and interacting with elements on the layout.

That's something I want to live to see someday.

Beam me up, Scotty.

Go out and PLAY.

not necessarily...  once you get your virtual layout the way you like, just port the data over to your 3-D printer and now you have your layout as a hard copy.  when you get tired of it, just crank up the UV light and the scenery will dissolve so you can start over again.  ...fun stuff!

 

cheers...gary

I've seen that, in general, many of the regulars do not construe a community that enjoys and adapts well to left-of-center ideas or thinking outside the original box, pun intended. One can own all the up to date toy train/scale train technology and spend appreciable amounts of cash on engines, rolling stock, scenic detailing with dozens or even hundreds of figures worth 5-10 bucks each, and still have an essentially staid or even boring layout. I prefer postwar Lionel, and I'm sure the scale guys would look at my efforts and yawn, so beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but when you have the guts to speak a certain truth and dream about something that's different or have a slightly unusual way of approaching this hobby, you're bound to get a stick in the eye from some of the crew who "don't cotton to no eggheads around these here parts, buddy". I say think big and give others encouragement - it's only a hobby; there are no report cards or prizes given for shooting down innovators. Some people are just plain nasty; they tend to create O scale versions of HO models. There is room for everyone, I say...

If I understand this correctly, you have a train table with a train or 2 but no scenery, buildings or details of any kind. You put on the glasses and see a scenicked layout with moving vehicles and people. Why do you need a train table and train? That's the part I don't get. If everything else is virtual, why not the train and table as well? Why would I be restricted to my spare bedroom trainroom? Why wouldn't I sit in my easy chair, put on the glasses, and see a layout as big as my dreams rather than the limited space I have? How is that different than a computer game? I'm not being negative, I just don't understand the concept and why it's not a computer game.

I think you and alot of others are thinking within an either/or, (virtual/Real) dichotomy that is increasingly becoming artificial.  I admit that I often think the same way, however, it seems like most tech folks see the future being a combination.  Augmented reality is just that, a combination of material and virtual to make something better.  There's only so much automation and interaction that your average railroader can build into their layout.  Augmented reality has the potential to take the environments we build and bring them to life in new ways.  Imagine being able to watch a person leave home on your layout, walk to the station, board your train and ride to work.

 

I don't think many of us can really tell where the technology will take us, but consider:

-The LEGO product that I mentioned before where you build something and then you have the option to play with it online and offline.

-Wii and X-Box connect which allow you to translate your movement into the virtual world.

 

These just scratch the surface of the way the real and virtual world will interact.

Personally, I will always want the tactile component of the hobby.  However, as an example of how augmented reality might be implemented see the following.  The Hololens is real, cannot provide detail on release date or target market.  Folks that have actually used the prototypes have said the technology exceeded their expectations.  Any, have a look at the info and videos at the following link:

http://www.cnet.com/products/microsoft-hololens/

Virtual reality doesn't just have to be for building and scenery, although it would be useful for planning a layout that way. It could also be for passengers boarding the trains and exiting them. It could be for cars driving down the streets and having to stop at the crossing gate it could be for loading coal into the tender or into freight cars. It could just add to the play value of an already built and static layouT component.