Adding AR Overlays
There are two ways to add advanced AR overlays to a Data Capture View:
- Take advantage of the BarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlay class, which provides a ready-to-use implementation for view-based AR overlays.
- Provide your own custom implementation, using the function IBarcodeBatchListener.OnSessionUpdated() to retrieve the barcode’s current screen position for each frame.
- The first way is the easiest, as it takes care of adding, removing and animating the overlay’s views whenever needed. It’s also flexible enough to cover the majority of use cases.
- You can always handle touch events on the views you create like you normally would.
Using BarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlay
As mentioned above, the advanced overlay combined with its listener offers an easy way of adding augmentations to your DataCaptureView. In this guide we will add a view above each barcode showing its content.
First of all, create a new instance of BarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlay and add it to the DataCaptureView.
BarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlay overlay = BarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlay.Create(barcodeBatch, dataCaptureView);
At this point, you have two options.
- Add a IBarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlayListener to the overlay.
- Use the setters in the overlay to specify the view, anchor and offset for each barcode.
The second way will take priority over the first one, which means that if a view for a barcode has been set using BarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlay.SetViewForTrackedBarcode(), the function IBarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlayListener.ViewForTrackedBarcode() won’t be invoked for that specific barcode.
Using IBarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlayListener
- You need to implement IBarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlayListener. This interface’s methods are invoked every time a barcode is newly tracked.
- IBarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlayListener.ViewForTrackedBarcode() asks for a view to animate on top of the barcode. Returning null will show no view.
- IBarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlayListener.AnchorForTrackedBarcode() asks how to anchor the view to the barcode through Anchor. Be aware that it anchors the view’s center to the anchor point. To achieve anchoring the top of the view or the bottom etc. you will have to set an offset as explained in the next point.
- IBarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlayListener.OffsetForTrackedBarcode() asks for an offset that is applied on the already anchored view. This offset is expressed through a PointWithUnit.
public View ViewForTrackedBarcode(BarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlay overlay, TrackedBarcode trackedBarcode)
{
// Create and return the view you want to show for this tracked barcode. You can also return null, to have no view for
this barcode.
UITextView textView = new UITextView(new CGRect(0, 0, 200, 50));
textView.BackgroundColor = UIColor.White;
textView.Text = trackedBarcode.Barcode.Data;
return textView;
}
public Anchor AnchorForTrackedBarcode(
BarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlay overlay,
TrackedBarcode trackedBarcode)
{
// As we want the view to be above the barcode, we anchor the view's center to the top-center of the barcode
quadrilateral.
// Use the function 'OffsetForTrackedBarcode' below to adjust the position of the view by providing an offset.
return Anchor.TopCenter;
}
public PointWithUnit OffsetForTrackedBarcode(
BarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlay overlay,
TrackedBarcode trackedBarcode)
{
// This is the offset that will be applied to the view.
// You can use MeasureUnit.Fraction to give a measure relative to the view itself, the sdk will take care of
transforming this into pixel size.
// We now center horizontally and move up the view to make sure it's centered and above the barcode quadrilateral by
half of the view's height.
return new PointWithUnit(
new FloatWithUnit(0f, MeasureUnit.Fraction),
new FloatWithUnit(-1f, MeasureUnit.Fraction));
}
Using the setters in the overlay
The function IBarcodeBatchListener.OnSessionUpdated() gives you access to a session, which contains all added, updated and removed tracked barcodes. From here you can create the view you want to display, and then call BarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlay.SetViewForTrackedBarcode(), BarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlay.SetAnchorForTrackedBarcode() and BarcodeBatchAdvancedOverlay.SetOffsetForTrackedBarcode()
public void OnSessionUpdated(BarcodeBatch barcodeBatch, BarcodeBatchSession session, IFrameData frameData)
{
// Be careful, this method is not necessarily invoked on the main thread!
DispatchQueue.MainQueue.DispatchAsync(() =>
{
foreach (TrackedBarcode trackedBarcode in session.AddedTrackedBarcodes)
{
UITextView textView = new UITextView(new CGRect(0, 0, 200, 50));
textView.BackgroundColor = UIColor.White;
textView.Text = trackedBarcode.Barcode.Data;
overlay.SetViewForTrackedBarcode(trackedBarcode, textView);
overlay.SetAnchorForTrackedBarcode(trackedBarcode, Anchor.TopCenter);
overlay.SetOffsetForTrackedBarcode(
trackedBarcode,
new PointWithUnit(
new FloatWithUnit(0f, MeasureUnit.Fraction),
new FloatWithUnit(-1f, MeasureUnit.Fraction)
)
);
}
});
// Dispose the frame when you have finished processing it. If the frame is not properly disposed,
// different issues could arise, e.g. a frozen, non-responsive, or "severely stuttering" video feed.
frameData.Dispose();
}
Provide your own custom implementation
If you do not want to use the overlay, it is also possible to add augmented reality features based on the tracking identifier and the quadrilateral coordinates that every tracked barcode has. Below are some pointers.
- Set a IBarcodeBatchListener on the barcode tracking
- In the IBarcodeBatchListener.OnSessionUpdated() function fetch the added and removed tracked barcodes.
- Create and show the views for the added barcodes.
- Remove the views for the lost barcodes.
- Add a method that is called 60fps when BarcodeBatch is enabled. In this method, for each TrackedBarcode on-screen, update the position based on TrackedBarcode.Location.
Please note that there is no need to animate the change of location, the change of position will happen frequently enough that the view will look as it is animated.
The frame coordinates from TrackedBarcode.Location need to be mapped to view coordinates, using DataCaptureView.MapFrameQuadrilateralToView().
public void OnSessionUpdated(BarcodeBatch mode, BarcodeBatchSession session, IFrameData frameData)
{
// Be careful, this function is not invoked on the main thread!
DispatchQueue.MainQueue.DispatchAsync(() =>
{
foreach (int lostTrackIdentifier in session.RemovedTrackedBarcodes) {
// You now know the identifier of the tracked barcode that has been lost. Usually here you would remove the views
associated.
}
foreach (TrackedBarcode trackedBarcode in session.AddedTrackedBarcodes)
{
// Fixed identifier for the tracked barcode.
int trackingIdentifier = trackedBarcode.Identifier;
// Current location of the tracked barcode.
Quadrilateral location = trackedBarcode.Location;
Quadrilateral quadrilateral = dataCaptureView.MapFrameQuadrilateralToView(location);
// You now know this new tracking's identifier and location. Usually here you would create and show the views.
}
});
// Dispose the frame when you have finished processing it. If the frame is not properly disposed,
// different issues could arise, e.g. a frozen, non-responsive, or "severely stuttering" video feed.
frameData.Dispose();
}