A Comparative Study of Two Marker-Based Mobile Augmented Reality Applications for Solving 3D Anamorphic Illusion Puzzles

Anamorphic illusions are a class of optical illusions wherein objects are perspectively distorted in some way so that the object becomes recognizable when viewing them from a certain point of view or direction. We develop two marker-based mobile augmented reality applications to demonstrate 3D anamorphic illusions. We frame this as a puzzle-solving mechanic where users must align the anamorphic pieces through the movement of the device camera to form a distinguishable virtual model. The first AR proposed utilizes 2D printable markers (2D marker-based AR). In contrast, the second AR uses tabletop items as markers, such as cereal boxes, tin cans, action figures, and the like (3D marker-based AR). The AR applications differ regarding scene setup, user interactions, and examples of anamorphic illusions. We sliced public 3D models, and the corresponding slices were randomly distributed in a given virtual space, using a camera viewpoint where the model would become recognizable. Our proposed framework ensures that each playthrough provides a new anamorphic illusion. Early user testing results show that our 2D-marker-based AR application is more effective in showcasing anamorphic illusions.