This document proposes an "Augmented Dinner" application to motivate children to eat healthy foods using augmented reality. The application would detect foods on a plate using image processing or markers, then project an augmented reality game above the plate starring a superhero character to make eating vegetables fun for children. Key challenges include reliably detecting the plate and food blobs despite various lighting conditions, and finding stable markers that work in different environments without complex placement. The goal is to create an engaging game that children will want to play in order to encourage healthy eating habits without them realizing they are being influenced.

1. Augmented Dinner
Steve Bottelbergs
Mathias Raets
Pieter Vanderlinden

2. What?
• Original idea: Augmented Cook
– Not very useful
• New idea: Augmented Dinner
– Augmented reality application
– Motivate children to eat healthy food
– Important: kids shouldn’t notice that they are being
pushed into eating vegetables

3. How?
• Augmented Dinner
– Make children eat vegetables by making it fun!
– Introducing an augmented reality game
– Starring our superhero: Metaioman!

4. How?
• Detect food on a plate
– Parent’s responsibility to make it healthy
– How to detect the plate:
• Two methods: - Image Processing (blob detection)
- Markers
– How to detect the food:
• Blob detection

5. Image Processing
• Need a division between the food
• Calculate the longest uninterrupted line in
the image to find the centre of the plate
• Use center and radius of the plate to
search for blobs
• Problems:
– Food cannot be placed arbitrarily
– Heavy influence of environmental lighting

6. Image Processing

7. Markers
• Place markers left/right of the plate
• Estimate center and radius of the plate by
using the markers
• Problems:
– Finding decent markers
– Plate should be placed exactly between markers (placemat)
• Advantages:
– No white space on plate needed
– Less influence of lighting

8. Markers

9. Blob Detection
• How we improved blob detection
– Averaging
– Compensate hand occlusions
– Normalization of the averaged Image

10. Augmented Reality
• Using MetaioSDK
• Biggest issue: finding decent markers
– Should be stable on most conditions (lighting,
reflections, …)
• Initial idea:
– Project game on edge of plate
– Problems:
• Game objects detected as blobs
• Positioning of game objects
• Objects deformed by slope of edges
• Occlusions when eating

11. Augmented Reality
• Solution:
– Project game above plate

12. Game
• Goal: create a fun game that children
WANT to play
• Appealing to children:
– Superhero
– Sounds
– Animations
– Humor

13. Setup

14. Questions?