How to Turn Your Logo into an Augmented Reality Marker (with Gimp)

Posted on by

What is an Augmented Reality Marker?

An Augmented Reality Marker is a black and white image that has a border and pattern inside. The marker is held up in front of a webcam which overlays (or augments) the live video with additional material. The augmented reality marker below is a good example of an augmented reality marker. It is for one of my favorite examples by GE called:

Plug Into the Smart Grid

GE Plug Into the Smart Grid Augmented Reality

You can see a list of other augmented reality markers (and even print a sheet of them to save paper) from my previous post.

Guidelines for creating an Augmented Reality Marker

  • Your marker needs to be a Square Box.
  • The marker should have a 40mm Square Border (this can be smaller as shown above but it will not be as accurate in the final example.  The thinner the border the harder it is to recognize).
  • The marker should be printed at a minimum of Two inches (2″).
  • Use a simple pattern inside the box. The more simple the better the augmented reality will work.
  • Everything else is creativity. (The most creative augmented reality marker I have seen is from www.VampirePowerSucks.com)

Step-by-Step Instructions for Making Your Logo into an Augmented Reality Marker using Gimp

  1. Create a new file. File >> New
  2. Set the width and height to 8.5 x 11 inches (612 x 792 pixels, or 215.9 x 279.4mm)
  3. Using the “Rectangle Select” tool [R] create a 4″ square in the middle of the page.
    – Hold the [SHIFT] key and start dragging from 2.75″ horizontally and 3″ on vertical axis.
    -Drag down to 6.75 and 7 respectively
  4. Use the “Bucket” [B] tool and fill the square with black
  5. Again using the “Rectangle Select” tool [R] create a 2″ square centered inside the original box.
  6. Hit the [DELETE] key
  7. Open your logo file in GIMP (Make sure that the logo is entirely black if not select it with the “Fuzzy Select Tool and then fill it with Black)
  8. Select your logo file and put it inside the border
  9. Type your URL at the top of the page so that people will remember where to go to see the augmented reality working.
  10. Save the file as a PDF. This is really not intuitive in GIMP. Instead of “Save As” you have to click “Print” and then select “Print to file”
  11. Post this to your website and you are done.

As Always Happy Flashing,

Curtis J. Morley