ARCaptioningApplication

OverviewIt’shardworktocreatethemedattractionsthatoffersallguestsanimmersiveexperience.Audiooftenplaysakeyroleinthis,butnotallguestscanenjoytheaudioorunderstandthelanguageinwhichitwasrecorded.Greatcaptioningsolutionsallowtheseexperiencestobemoreinclusive.Thechallengeispresentingcaptionsinawaythatdoesn’tinterferewiththeotherelementsoftheguest’sexperienceortheexperienceofothers.Thisisespeciallytrickyincomplexapplicationslikedarkrides

wheretherearemultipleareasandmanyridevehicleswithuniqueaudiosources.ThisapplicationnoteshowshowtheAlcornMcBrideV16ProandRidePlayerproductsareidealforprovidinganenhancedcaptioningexperienceforthemedattractionslikedarkridesandtheaters.

HowIt’sDoneIntroductionCaptioningisreinforcingaudioexperienceswithtext.Thisoffersanalternativeexperienceforthosethatareunabletoheartheaudioorunderstandthelanguagebeingspoken.WeseethisconceptusedallthetimeonTVsinnoisybarsorbusyairports.Perhapsyou’veevenkickedbackonyourcouchtowatchaforeignfilmwithsubtitlesinyournativelanguage.Thisconceptworkswellifyouhaveavideoscreen,aspecificlanguage,andastationaryaudiosource.Unfortunately,whatworksforbars,airports,andlivingroomsdoesn’talwaysdothetrickinthemedattractions.Ifyouconsideradarkride,eachguesttravelsthroughacarefullycraftedexperience.Theygofromqueueline,topre-show,toloadplatform,andthentotherideexperienceitself.Throughouttheirjourney,audiomaycomefrommanysourcesbesidesvideoscreens.Theguestmightencounteratalkinganimatroniccharacter,safetyannouncementsincorridors,orbackgroundsoundstoenhancethethemedenvironment.Wemustalsoconsiderthateachguesthasuniqueneeds.Forcingcaptionsuponpeoplethatdon’twantthemmaydistractfromtheirexperience.Guestswithhearingdisabilitieswillwanttoseecaptionsthatdescribetheaudioexperience.Internationalvisitorswillprefertoseedialogtranslatedintotheirnativelanguage.Howcanweenhancetheexperienceofeachguestwithspecialneedswithoutaffectingtheexperienceofothers?Simple!Weofferthemaportabledevicethatisawareoftheirlocationintheattractionandcandelivercaptioninguniquelysuitedforthem.ThisguidedemonstrateshowtocreateasystemthatdeliversAugmentedReality(AR)captionstoguestswithinadarkrideattraction.SinceAlcornshowcontroldevicesliketheV16ProandRidePlayerareawareofshowtimingandaudiothroughouttheentireexperience,theyaretheidealsystemstostreamthecaptioningdata.CaptionsarethendeliveredtotheguestsbasedontheirneedsandlocationusingaseamlesscombinationofiBeacontechnology,EpsonMoveriosmartglasses,andtheInThrallapp.

IntegratingtheSystemAsyoucanseefromtheapplicationdiagram,we’regoingtoimplementcaptioningforadarkrideattraction.Darkridesinvolveseparatesystemsformanagingareaslikequeuelines,pre-shows,andindividualridevehicles.TheideaisthateachsystemisresponsibleforstreamingitsowncaptioningdataviaWIFIMulticast.Forexample,aridesystemwithapre-showand20ridevehicleswouldinvolveatleast21simultaneousmulticaststreamsofcaptioningdata.Whenthegueststepsintothepreshowarea,thesmartglasseswillsensetheirlocationandtuneintothe‘Preshow’captioningstream.Whentheguestboardsavehicle,theglasseswilltuneintothecaptioningstreamfortheirvehicle.

SystemComponentsLet’slookatthegearwehavedesignedintothisridesystemandlearnabouttheroleitplaysinthecaptioningexperience.RidePlayer–OnboardSynchronousAudioPlayerandShowControllerThisproductisdesignedtoendurethehigh-vibrationenvironmentsofridevehiclesandtoprovidemanyfeaturestoreducetheneedforauxiliaryequipmentaboardthevehicle.Someofthekeyfeaturesinclude16channelsofpolyphonicaudioplaybackaswellasonboardshowcontrol.OtherusefulfeatureslikeDSP,amplification,networkaudio,voltagemonitoring,andGPSintegrationareallrolledintoanicecompact,rugged,andenergyefficientpackagetomakethisproducttheultimateonboardaudioandcontrolsolution.Forthisdarkrideapplication,aRidePlayerisinstalledoneachridevehicle.Thisdevicelinkswiththeridecontrolsystemandcoordinateswiththeoffboardshowcontrolsystems.Thisensuresanonboardaudioexperiencethatsynchronizesperfectlywithalltheshowelementsgoingonaroundthevehicle.Captioningdataisaddedalongsidetheaudiotracksinashowcontroltimelinesothattheyarestreamedinperfecttimewiththeaudioexperience.

V16Pro–ShowControllerTheV16Proisresponsibleforshowcontrolinthepreshowarea.ItisfullyprogrammableusingourfreeWinScriptLivesoftwareandremotelycontrolsalltheequipmentinthepre-show.ThisincludestriggeringAVplaybackintheAVBinloopUncompressedunit.ItalsoincludesstreamingcaptioningdatathatissynchronouswiththepreshowAVpresentation.

A/VBinloopUncompressed–Multi-channelSynchronousVideoPlayerThepurposeofthisunitistoprovide3channelsof1080p60uncompressedplaybackfora3-screenexperienceinthepre-showarea.Contentisstoredonsolid-statemediadrivesasuncompressedTargasequences.Thisproductphysicallyconnectstoeachdisplaydeviceusinga3G-SDIconnectiontoprovidevideowithouttheneedforextensiondevices.ThisdevicealsoconnectstotheV16ProviaEthernetsothatvideoclipscanbeplayedattheappropriatetimeandsynchronizedwithotherdevicesinthesystem.ThisdevicesynchronizeswiththeV16ProsocaptionsstreamedfromshowcontrolwillbeinperfecttimewiththeAVpresentation.

EpsonMoverioBT-300–SmartGlassesThisisasmartdevicethatrunstheAndroidOSandfunctionsinasimilarmannerastabletsandsmartphones.Thekeydifferenceisthatthedisplayoutputofthedeviceisnotatouchscreen,butratheraprojectionthatappearswithinthewearer’sfieldofview.ThisconceptisoftenreferredtoasAugmentedReality(AR).Whenthedisplayisblack,thewearercanseerightthroughtheglasses.Inthisapplication,weusethistechnologytodisplaycaptionswithintheguest’slineofsightwhileallowingthemtoseetheenvironmentaroundthem.

iBeaconsThesedevicesareintelligenttranspondersbasedonBluetoothLEtechnology.Smartdevicesliketablets,phones,andsmartglassescansensewheniBeacondevicesarenearandreaduniqueinformationfromthem.Forthisapplication,thisuniqueinformationcontainsamulticastIPaddressassociatedwithcaptioningdataforaspecificarea.iBeaconsinstalledinthepre-showareawillsharethemulticastaddressforpreshowcaptions(224.0.0.1).IBeaconsinstalledontheridevehicleswillsharetheaddressforthatvehicle(224.0.0.11,224.0.0.12,etc.).

InThrall–CaptioningAppThisisanapplicationthatcanrunonanyAndroid-baseddevice;includingtheEpsonMoveriosmartglasses.Thisappisresponsibleforcombiningthefunctionalityofthesmartglasses,iBeacons,andcaptioningstreamsfromAlcornMcBridedevicesintoaseamlesscaptioningexperiencefortheguest.InThrallrunsautomaticallywhentheglassespowerup.Mostofthetime,ablackscreenisdisplayedsothattheguestcanseerightthroughtheglassesandenjoytheattraction.WhenaniBeaconissensed,theapptunesintothemulticastaddressspecifiedbytheiBeaconandbeginsdisplayingcaptionsforthatarea.Thelocation,size,andcolorofthecaptionsareflexibleandaredeterminedbytheprogrammingofthecaptioningdata.WIFINetworkInfrastructureTheEpsonMoverioglassesdependonaWIFInetworktoreceivecaptioningdata.Thisrequiresaninfrastructureofnetworkswitches,routers,andwirelessbridgestoensureWIFIdistributionthroughouttheattraction.KeepinmindthatWIFIisonlyrequiredforglassestoreceivecaptioningdata.Othertypesofwirelessorwirednetworksmaybemoresuitableforintegratingdeviceslikeridecontrolsystems,showcontrolsystems,andAVsystems.

Implementation

ShowControlProgrammingThecaptioningforthisattractionisimplementedwithtwoshowcontrolscripts;onefortheV16ProrunningthePreshowandanotherforaRidePlayeronboardoneoftheridevehicles.TheV16ProisresponsibleforstreamingcaptionsintendedforguestsinthePreshowarea,andtheRidePlayerwillstreamcaptionsforguestsonboardthesameridevehicle(RV).Thesetwoscriptshavebeenincludedwiththisapplicationnoteandareappropriatelynamed:

• DarkRide-Captions-Preshow.WS4• DarkRide-Captions-RV.WS4

AlthoughAlcornMcBridegoesthroughgreatefforttomakethisprogrammingsignificantlyeasierthanmanyothercontrolsystems,thereisalearningcurvewithusingWinScriptLive,theV16Pro,andRidePlayer.Tolearnmoreaboutthisinterface,weofferfreetrainingintheformofinteractivein-personclassesandonlinecourses.Wealsoprovidemanyapplicationnoteslikethisonethatdemonstratehowtouseourproductsinvariousapplications.DevicesAgreatfirststepwhenwritinganyscriptistoconfigurethelistofdevicesthatwillbeconnectedtotheshowcontrollers.ThisinvolvesbrowsingacomprehensivelistofdevicesintheWinScriptlibrarybymanufacturerandmodelnumber,choosingthedevice,andthenconfiguringthephysicalconnectiontothedevice(i.e.Ethernet,Serial,etc.).ThePreshowV16PromustcontroltheAVBinloopUncompressedandstreamcaptioningdatatotheInThrallappviaauniquemulticastaddress(224.0.0.1):

TheRVRidePlayermuststreamcaptioningdatatotheInThrallapponadifferentmulticastaddress(224.0.0.11):

Sequences-PreshowSequencesaretheheartoftheshowcontrolscriptandcontainallthefunctionaleventsthatareprogrammed.MostofthesequencesofthePreshowV16Proaredevotedtotaskslikestartingorstoppingtheshow,controllingelementsoftheshowsuchasthedoors,andmonitoringshowstatus.TheactualshowitselfishandledwithintheTimeline_Preshowsequence.Thisisalsotheonlysequencethatisimportantforcaptioningpurposes.

WhenwelookattheeventswithinTimeline_Preshow,weseeavideotrackrepresentingtheplaybackofthepreshowpresentation.Below,thereisagroupcalledCaptionsthatcontainsseveralSendCaptionevents.Theseareusedthroughoutthetimelinesothatthecaptionsaretransmittedattheappropriatetimeduringthepreshow.Thetimingofthesecaptionscaneasilybeadjustedbydraggingtheeventsormodifyingtheexecutiontimeontheleft.

Sequences–RideVehicleMostofthesequencesintheRVscriptaredevotedtotriggeringtimelinesforthevarioussceneswithintherideinsyncwiththeoffboardsystems.Tolearnmoreabouttheseconcepts,besuretocheckoutourapplicationnotesdevotedtoDarkRides.Thisapplicationwillonlyfocusonthesequencesthatpertaintocaptioning.Here’swhattheRVsequenceslooklike:

AllcaptioningwithinthisscriptiscontainedwithintheTimeline_Scenesequences.TheTimeline_Scenesequencesaretimelinesthattriggeraudioplaybackonboardandtransmitcaptioningdatainsyncwiththeaudiotrack.Theaudiotrackappearsinthetimelineasaribbonthatrepresentsthelengthoftheclip.JustlikethePreshowtimeline,you’llfindaCaptionsgroupcontainingSendCaptioneventsthattransmitcaptionsattheappropriatetimesthroughoutthescene.

ConfiguringiBeaconsAlthoughiBeaconsareastandardizedtechnology,theconfigurationinterfaceofthesedevicesistypicallyuniquetotheirmanufacturer.ThismeansthatthemethodinwhichtheiBeaconisconfiguredmaylookalittledifferentthanthisexample,butthesamekeyconceptswillstillapply.iBeaconshaveconfigurablevaluescalledMajorandMinorthataresharedwithnearbysmartdevices.InThrallisdesignedtoassociatethesefieldswithaMulticastIPaddress.Theideaissimple.IfthesmartglassesgetclosetoaniBeacon,theMajor/MinorvaluesoftheiBeacontellInThrallwhichmulticastaddresstolistentoforcaptioningdata.AllyouneedtodoismakesurethatthesefieldsareconfiguredforthesameMulticastIPaddressthattheshowcontroldeviceisusingtotransmitcaptioningdata.Here’showyouconfiguretheMajorIDandMinorIDfieldstoconfigurethemulticastaddress:Multicastaddress=AAA.BBB.CCC.DDDMajorID=(AAA*256)+BBBMinorID=(CCC*256)+DDDHere’showyouwouldconfiguretheID’stousethedefaultmulticastaddress224.0.0.1:MajorID=(224*256)+0=57344MinorID=(0*256)+1=1

ConfiguringSmartGlasses&InThrallAppTheEpsonMoveriosmartglassesareanAndroid-baseddevice.LinkingtheglassestotheWIFInetworkoftheattractionisjustamatteroflaunchingtheWIFIsettingsintheAndroidOS.Fromhere,youcanscantheavailableWIFInetworksandconnectthedevice.Onceconfigured,thedevicewillconnecttotheWIFInetworkautomaticallywheneveritpowersup.Next,youneedtoinstalltheInThrallapp.InThrallisalicensedappthatmustbeside-loadedontoyourAndroiddevice.PleasecontactAlcornMcBrideformoredetailsonobtainingtheappandlicensing.Onceyoureachthispoint,allyouneedtodoislaunchtheInThrallapp.Thescreenofthedevicewillgocompletelyblack,allowingyoutoeasilyseethroughtheglasses.ItwilltuneintoMulticastaddress224.0.0.1bydefaultandbeginscanningforiBeacondevices.IfaniBeacondeviceisdetected,itwillreadtheMajor/MinorvaluesfromtheiBeaconandtuneintotheassociatedMulticastaddress.

ConclusionThisapplicationnotecanserveasastartingpointinimplementingcaptioningwithyourownapplication.Keepinmindthatit’seasytoscalethesystemtoincludeasmanyorasfewcaptioningsourcesasyouneed.Infact,youdon’tevenrequiretheiBeaconsifyouonlyhaveasinglecaptioningsource.YoucansimplyprogramyourAlcornMcBrideshowcontrollertoMulticastcaptionstoInThrall’sdefaultaddress.Nowit’stimeforyoutoimplementyourownprojectwiththeV16Pro,RidePlayerandtheAVBinloopUncompressed.Pleasedon’tforgetthatweareheretohelpyousofeelfreetocontactuswithquestions.