<s>
The	O
OpenIllusionist	B-Language
Project	O
is	O
a	O
computer	O
program	O
for	O
the	O
rapid	O
development	O
of	O
augmented	B-General_Concept
reality	I-General_Concept
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OpenIllusionist	B-Language
provides	O
software	B-Library
libraries	I-Library
to	O
make	O
easier	O
the	O
tasks	O
of	O
generating	O
these	O
images	O
,	O
performing	O
the	O
necessary	O
computer	B-Application
vision	I-Application
tasks	O
to	O
interpret	O
the	O
user	O
input	O
,	O
modelling	O
the	O
behaviour	O
of	O
any	O
of	O
the	O
virtual	O
objects	O
(	O
or	O
'	O
agents	B-General_Concept
 '	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
threading	B-Operating_System
all	O
of	O
the	O
above	O
to	O
provide	O
the	O
illusion	B-Application
of	O
reality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Open	B-Language
Illusionist	I-Language
focuses	O
on	O
the	O
area	O
of	O
virtually	O
augmented	O
environments	O
(	O
VAEs	O
)	O
,	O
where	O
the	O
augmentation	O
is	O
not	O
worn	O
but	O
is	O
instead	O
inherently	O
communal	O
and	O
environmental	O
-	O
most	O
commonly	O
by	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
digital	B-Device
projector	I-Device
and	O
some	O
kind	O
of	O
video	O
camera	O
to	O
cause	O
some	O
surface	O
to	O
appear	O
to	O
be	O
populated	O
by	O
objects	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
manipulated	O
physically	O
by	O
the	O
user	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OpenIllusionist	B-Language
is	O
closely	O
connected	O
with	O
the	O
Media	O
Engineering	O
Group	O
(	O
MEG	O
)	O
of	O
the	O
Department	O
of	O
Electronics	O
at	O
the	O
University	O
of	O
York	O
,	O
UK	O
-	O
specifically	O
the	O
Visual	O
Systems	O
subgroup	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
group	O
was	O
formed	O
when	O
John	O
Robinson	O
took	O
up	O
a	O
professorship	O
in	O
the	O
Department	O
in	O
2000/2001	O
,	O
bringing	O
with	O
him	O
a	O
background	O
in	O
image	O
coding	O
and	O
an	O
interest	O
in	O
augmented	B-General_Concept
reality	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
manifested	O
itself	O
in	O
the	O
work	O
of	O
three	O
undergraduates	O
-	O
Dan	O
Parnham	O
,	O
who	O
experimented	O
with	O
the	O
interpretation	O
of	O
the	O
pose	O
of	O
a	O
mannequin	O
by	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
single	O
webcam	B-Protocol
focussed	O
exclusively	O
on	O
the	O
input	O
side	O
of	O
the	O
augmentation	O
problem	O
during	O
his	O
Master	O
's	O
degree	O
,	O
Sean	O
O'Mahoney	O
,	O
who	O
developed	O
the	O
first	O
incarnation	O
what	O
would	O
come	O
to	O
be	O
termed	O
PenPets	O
as	O
his	O
Masters	O
project	O
,	O
and	O
Enrico	O
Costanza	O
,	O
who	O
developed	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
tangible	O
augmented	O
interfaces	O
using	O
fiducials	O
stuck	O
to	O
blocks	O
of	O
wood	O
,	O
with	O
augmentation	O
provided	O
variously	O
by	O
audio	O
feedback	O
(	O
"	O
Audio	O
d-Touch	O
"	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
projector	O
(	O
"	O
Magic	O
Desk	O
"	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
d-Touch	O
,	O
by	O
moving	O
marked	O
blocks	O
in	O
front	O
of	O
a	O
webcam	B-Protocol
to	O
sample	O
,	O
edit	O
and	O
produce	O
music	O
with	O
very	O
low-cost	O
paraphernalia	O
-	O
just	O
a	O
cheap	O
microphone	O
,	O
printed	O
fiducials	O
and	O
a	O
standard	O
PC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PenPets	O
required	O
more	O
of	O
a	O
hardware	O
overhead	O
-	O
a	O
data	B-Device
projector	I-Device
pointed	O
at	O
a	O
table	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Onto	O
this	O
agents	B-General_Concept
resembling	O
mice	O
were	O
projected	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
PenPets	O
had	O
never	O
made	O
it	O
beyond	O
experimental	O
prototype	O
stage	O
,	O
they	O
decided	O
to	O
bite	O
the	O
bullet	O
and	O
rather	O
than	O
building	O
just	O
a	O
demo	O
instead	O
built	O
a	O
basic	O
but	O
extensible	O
generic	O
augmented	B-General_Concept
reality	I-General_Concept
framework	O
upon	O
which	O
an	O
aLife	O
demo	O
could	O
be	O
run	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
framework	O
became	O
the	O
core	O
of	O
the	O
OpenIllusionist	B-Language
Project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
demo	O
framework	O
became	O
an	O
entity	O
in	O
its	O
own	O
right	O
-	O
the	O
Illusionist	O
-	O
and	O
was	O
published	O
as	O
open	B-Application
source	I-Application
software	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2006	O
"	O
Robot	O
Ships	O
"	O
,	O
an	O
exhibit	O
built	O
using	O
OpenIllusionist	B-Language
,	O
was	O
installed	O
in	O
the	O
new	O
Connect	O
gallery	O
at	O
the	O
National	O
Museum	O
of	O
Scotland	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OpenIllusionist	B-Language
initially	O
ran	O
only	O
on	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
though	O
latest	O
versions	O
are	O
implemented	O
using	O
wxWidgets	B-Language
and	O
so	O
are	O
inherently	O
cross-platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
hardware	O
interfacing	O
required	O
by	O
OpenIllusionist	B-Language
,	O
video	O
capture	O
on	O
other	O
platforms	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
Linux	B-Application
)	O
is	O
still	O
in	O
early	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
