ARToolkit supports a variety of marker types, including what they call Square Tracking markers. As the name implies, they are square with thick solid borders and a recognizable pattern in the center. The pattern can be a custom design. Or, it can be a 2D bar code. In this project, we will use Square Tracking targets with 2D bar code markers.
To learn more about AR Toolkit markers, see their documentation, including the following:
- Creating and training traditional Template Square markers at https://archive.artoolkit.org/documentation/doku.php?id=3_Marker_Training:marker_training
- Using 2D bar code markers at https://archive.artoolkit.org/documentation/doku.php?id=3_Marker_Training:marker_barcode#Examples
You can generate 2D bar code markers using an online tool from AR Toolworks. For example, for this project, we generated code for the ID values 0 through 9, as follows:
- Go to https://archive.artoolkit.org/documentation/doku.php?id=3_Marker_Training:marker_training.
- Select Generate a range of markers from code, enter 0 and 9 for the range.
- Click on the download link to get AR_MATRIX_CODE_3x3_0-9.zip.
- Unzip the file.
This produces 2D bar code images, named 00.png, 01.png, through 09.png. We then paste the markers into a Word template to make the solar system planet cards, as shown in the following figure, and save it to a PDF file; see the PlanetMarkerCardsARTK.pdf file included with the file downloads for this book.
