QR-code calibration for mobile augmented reality applications: Linking a unique physical location to the digital world

Advancements in mobile technology have recently contributed to the surfacing of viable mobile augmented reality applications. Still, the main problem of mobile AR, as with all implementations of augmented reality, is the accurate and robust registration of the live camera feed and the digital contents (e.g. images, video, 3D models). So far, mobile AR applications make use of GPS and marker technology (fiducials) to solve this problem (e.g. Sekai Camera, Layar, AR-toolkit, Unifeye). The disadvantages are that, firstly, GPS can only guess the position of the device within a 5 to 10 meter radius, is subjected to weather changes, and does not work indoors. Secondly, although marker registration is very accurate, a marker has to be printed and visible by the camera in order to work.