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 Adrian David Cheok
Masahiko Inami
Teresa Romão (Eds.)
LNCS 10714

Advances in Computer
Entertainment Technology
14th International Conference, ACE 2017
London, UK, December 14–16, 2017
Proceedings

123
Lecture Notes in Computer Science 10714
Commenced Publication in 1973
Founding and Former Series Editors:
Gerhard Goos, Juris Hartmanis, and Jan van Leeuwen

Editorial Board
David Hutchison
Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
Takeo Kanade
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Josef Kittler
University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
Jon M. Kleinberg
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
Friedemann Mattern
ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
John C. Mitchell
Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
Moni Naor
Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
C. Pandu Rangan
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India
Bernhard Steffen
TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany
Demetri Terzopoulos
University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Doug Tygar
University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Gerhard Weikum
Max Planck Institute for Informatics, Saarbrücken, Germany
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/7409
Adrian David Cheok Masahiko Inami
•

Teresa Romão (Eds.)

Advances in Computer
Entertainment Technology
14th International Conference, ACE 2017
London, UK, December 14–16, 2017
Proceedings

123
Editors
Adrian David Cheok Masahiko Inami
City, University of London University of Tokyo
London Tokyo
UK Japan
and Teresa Romão
NOVA University of Lisbon
Imagineering Institute Lisbon
Iskandar Puteri Portugal
Malaysia

ISSN 0302-9743 ISSN 1611-3349 (electronic)

Lecture Notes in Computer Science
ISBN 978-3-319-76269-2 ISBN 978-3-319-76270-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76270-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018934342

LNCS Sublibrary: SL3 – Information Systems and Applications, incl. Internet/Web, and HCI

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018

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 Preface

This book consists of the proceedings of the 14th International Conference on

Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology (ACE 2017), held in the vibrant city
of London, UK, during December 14–16, 2017. There were a total of 59 paper pre-
sentations, including 14 short presentations, and over 100 participants from 21 coun-
tries at this annual academic event.
For many years, ACE followed a somewhat traditional conference format in terms
of presentation styles, with separate tracks for submissions such as full/short papers,
posters, and creative showcases etc. During ACE 2016 in Osaka, keynote speaker
Prof. Hirokazu Kato initiated many discussions about the future directions of ACE in
computer entertainment research, especially with the emergence of more and more
academic conferences in this field over the years. ACE has always aimed to stand out as
the leader and one of the best conferences in computer entertainment, and that means
we need to fundamentally challenge and change the ways “entertainment” is assessed
and presented to our community. The Steering Committee decided that it was time to
break the boundaries of the traditional 20th century conference format and truly
embrace the value of entertainment by transforming the conference into an inspira-
tional, interactive, and creative playground for researchers.
At ACE 2017, a radical new format was tested out from the paper submissions, to
the selection process, to the presentation requirements. First, we eliminated different
tracks for submissions and carefully reviewed every paper as a full paper. We also
removed previous restrictions and requirements for the presentation of each accepted
work. Instead of allocating different sessions for oral presentations and demonstrations,
we simply assigned a time slot to each paper during which authors could use any
technique or style to present their work. Authors could also display and demonstrate
their work during the coffee breaks and lunch breaks to stimulate more discussions. We
encouraged presenters “as leaders in computer entertainment to make their presentation
as entertaining as possible and not a normal PowerPoint presentation.” Besides
showing demonstrations, videos, or posters, they could also “recite a poem, do a dance
or sing a song etc.” Many presenters surprised us with their creativity and effort put into
making their presentations fun and innovative. Most notably, one presenter delivered
his entire presentation in a poem, another presenter turned his presentation into a
realtime quiz in which the audience competed with each other by answering questions
related to the paper.
To complement the goal of making radical changes, we invited Dr. David Levy to
give a though-provoking keynote speech “Can Robots and Humans Make Babies
Together?” Through our choice of the keynote speech, we hope to have conveyed to
our participants that not only does ACE look into the conventional research topics, but
VI Preface

we also accept and invite discussions of the somewhat controversial topics of computer
science.
Lastly, we hope all delegates enjoyed the new experiences at ACE 2017 in one
of the world’s most exciting cities. We also hope you enjoy reading these proceedings
and find the papers helpful in your research.

December 2017 Adrian David Cheok

 Organization

Steering Committee
Adrian David Cheok City, University of London, UK,
Imagineering Institute, Malaysia
Masahiko Inami University of Tokyo, Japan
Teresa Ramão Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Portugal

General Chair
Adrian David Cheok City, University of London, UK,
Imagineering Institute, Malaysia

Program Chair
Saša Arsovski Imagineering Institute, Malaysia

Demo Chair
Masahiko Inami University of Tokyo, Japan

Organizing Chair
Emma Yann Zhang Imagineering Institute, Malaysia

Senior Program Committee

Anton Nijholt University of Twente, The Netherlands
Daisuke Sakamoto Hokkaido University, Japan
Eduardo Dias Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Portugal
Fernando Birra Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Portugal
Haruhiro Katayose Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan
Lindsay Grace American University, USA
Maic Masuch University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
Shoichi Hasegawa Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
Yoram Chisik Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute, Portugal
Wolfgang Mueller PH Weingarten, Germany
Ralf Doerner HS Rhein-Main, Germany
VIII Organization

Program Committee

Ali Nassiri Manuel Fonseca

Antonio Roda Marc Herrlich
Augusto Sousa Marcello Gomez-Maureira
Beatriz Sousa Santos Masahiro Furukawa
Bongkeum Jeong Mitsuru Minakuchi
Bosede Edwards Nishikant Deshmukh
Chamari Edirisinghe Nosiba Khougali
Daniel Rea Oscar Mealha
Filipe Luz Patricia Pons
Frank Nack Patrícia Gouveia
Frutuoso Silva Pedro A.-Santos
Gavin Sim Pei-Yi Kuo
Henrik Warpefelt Phil Lopes
Hiroyuki Kajimoto Robert Allison
Hiroyuki Mitsuhara Robert Mcgrath
Holger Reckter Rui Nóbrega
Ichiroh Kanaya Sharon Kalu Ufere
Idris Muniru Simone Kriglstein
Insook Choi Somaiyeh Vedadi
Jose Danado Susanne Haake
Jose Luís-Silva Thomas Laubach
Julian Fietkau Thomas Klauer
Kaoru Sumi Tom Vierjahn
Kasun Karunanayaka Valentina Nisi
Kevin Bielawski Winyu Chinthammit
Khiet Truong Yongsoon Choi
Knut Hartmann Yuichi Itoh
Leonel Morgado

Sponsoring Institutions

Multimodal Technologies and Interaction Journal

 Can Robots and Humans Make Babies
Together?
(Keynote Speech)

David Levy

15 December 2017

This talk gives a guided tour of the advances achieved by researchers in cell biology
and biorobotics, which prompted the question whether it is possible for humans and
robots to make babies together. Until the birth of the first test tube baby, it was believed
that a human baby could only be conceived by the means of sexual intercourse between
a man and a woman. A series of breakthroughs in stem cell research, such as the frog
experiments done by John Gurdon, the ability to reprogram cells, the creation of
embryos from skin cells, as well as the TNT technology, has proven once and again
that life can be created by the genetic engineering of human cells. This talk also looks
into the genetic robot, created from a set of computerized DNA codes that determine its
personality. It is possible for such genetic codes from a robot to be combined with
human cells to create a baby that has genetic information from both a human and a
robot. The talk concludes by discussing the ethical implications related to the genetic
engineering of human embryos.
 Contents

Creating Room-Scale Interactive Mixed-Reality Worlds Using

Off-the-Shelf Technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Vlasios Kasapakis, Damianos Gavalas, and Elena Dzardanova

Evaluation of a Mixed Reality Head-Mounted Projection Display

to Support Motion Capture Acting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Daniel Kade, Rikard Lindell, Hakan Ürey, and Oğuzhan Özcan

Step by Step: Evaluating Navigation Styles in Mixed Reality

Entertainment Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Mara Dionísio, Paulo Bala, Valentina Nisi, Ian Oakley, and Nuno Nunes

Increasing Presence in a Mixed Reality Application by Integrating

a Real Time Tracked Full Body Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Felix Born and Maic Masuch

An Approach to Basic Emotion Recognition Through Players Body

Pose Using Virtual Reality Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Gabriel Peñas and Federico Peinado

Development and Evaluation of an Interactive Therapy Robot . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Tomoko Kohori, Shiho Hirayama, Takenori Hara, Michiko Muramatsu,
Hiroyuki Naganuma, Masayuki Yamano, Kazuko Ichikawa,
Hiroko Matsumoto, and Hiroko Uchiyama

Lost Puppy: Towards a Playful Intervention for Wandering

Dementia Patients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Yacintha Aakster, Robby van Delden, and Stefan Lentelink

A Dynamic Scenario by Remote Supervision: A Serious Game

in the Museum with a Nao Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Damien Mondou, Armelle Prigent, and Arnaud Revel

Hugvie as a Therapeutic Agent in the Improvement of Interaction Skills

in Children with Developmental Disabilities: An Exploratory Study . . . . . . . 117
Diana Leonor Garcês Costa, Yoram Chisik,
and Ana Lucia dos Santos Faria

A Week Without Plastic Bags: Creating Games and Interactive

Products for Environmental Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Anna Gardeli, Spyros Vosinakis, Konstantinos Englezos,
Dimitra Mavroudi, Manolis Stratis, and Modestos Stavrakis
XII Contents

A Tentative Assumption of Electroacoustic Music as an Enjoyable Music

for Diverse People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Takuro Shibayama, Hidefumi Ohmura, Tatsuji Takahashi,
and Kiyoshi Furukawa

Voice Animator: Automatic Lip-Synching in Limited

Animation by Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Shoichi Furukawa, Tsukasa Fukusato, Shugo Yamaguchi,
and Shigeo Morishima

Polymorphic Cataloguing and Interactive 3D Visualization for Multiple

Context of Digital Content: MoSaIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Hiroyo Ishikawa and Kunitake Kaneko

Leveraging Icebreaking Tasks to Facilitate Uptake of Voice

Communication in Multiplayer Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Kieran Hicks, Kathrin Gerling, Patrick Dickinson, Conor Linehan,
and Carl Gowen

Including Non-gamers: A Case Study Comparing Touch and Motion Input

in a 3D Game for Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Isabelle Kniestedt, Elizabeth Camilleri,
and Marcello A. Gómez Maureira

Player Adaptivity and Safety in Location-Based Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

João Jacob, Ana Lopes, Rui Nóbrega, Rui Rodrigues,
and António Coelho

Dreadful Virtualities: A Comparative Case Study of Player Responses

to a Horror Game in Virtual Reality and Flat Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Marta Clavero Jiménez, Amanda M. S. James,
Marcello A. Gómez Maureira, and Isabelle Kniestedt

HapPull: Enhancement of Self-motion by Pulling Clothes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Erika Oishi, Masahiro Koge, Takuto Nakamura, and Hiroyuki Kajimoto

Promoting Short-Term Gains in Physical Exercise Through

Digital Media Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Oral Kaplan, Goshiro Yamamoto, Takafumi Taketomi,
Yasuhide Yoshitake, Alexander Plopski, Christian Sandor,
and Hirokazu Kato

Towards Player Adaptivity in Mobile Exergames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

João Jacob, Ana Lopes, Rui Nóbrega, Rui Rodrigues,
and António Coelho
 Contents XIII

A Hybrid Virtual-Augmented Serious Game to Improve Driving

Safety Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Lucía Vera, Jesús Gimeno, Sergio Casas, Inma García-Pereira,
and Cristina Portalés

Cheer Me!: A Video Game System Using Live Streaming Text Messages . . . 311
Yu Matsuura and Sachiko Kodama

Exploring the Use of Second Screen Devices During Live Sports

Broadcasts to Promote Social Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Marco Cruz, Teresa Romão, Pedro Centieiro, and A. Eduardo Dias

Picognizer: A JavaScript Library for Detecting and Recognizing

Synthesized Sounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Kazutaka Kurihara, Akari Itaya, Aiko Uemura, Tetsuro Kitahara,
and Katashi Nagao

Towards an Emotion-Driven Adaptive System for Video Game Music. . . . . . 360

Manuel López Ibáñez, Nahum Álvarez, and Federico Peinado

Koto Learning Support Method Considering Articulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

Mayuka Doi and Homei Miyashita

Evaluation of the Game Exermon – A Strength Exergame Inspired

by Pokémon Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
Alf Inge Wang, Kristoffer Hagen, Torbjørn Høivik,
and Gaute Meek Olsen

Photo Curation Practices on Smartphones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

Xenia Zürn, Koen Damen, Fabienne van Leiden, Mendel Broekhuijsen,
and Panos Markopoulos

The Handling of Personal Information in Mobile Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

Stefan Brückner, Yukiko Sato, Shuichi Kurabayashi, and Ikumi Waragai

A Serious Mobile Game with Visual Feedback for Training

Sibilant Consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
Ivo Anjos, Margarida Grilo, Mariana Ascensão, Isabel Guimarães,
João Magalhães, and Sofia Cavaco

Optimized HMD System for Underwater VR Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451

Hiroyuki Osone, Takatoshi Yoshida, and Yoichi Ochiai

Magnetic Table for Levitating Food for Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462

Kevin Stanley Bielawski, Nur Ellyza Abd Rahman, Azhri Azhar,
Kasun Karunanayaka, Mohammed Rabea Taleb Banalzwaa,
Ibrahim Gamal Mahmoud Moteir, and Adrian David Cheok
XIV Contents

FunCushion: Fabricating Functional Cushion Interfaces

with Fluorescent-Pattern Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470
Kohei Ikeda, Naoya Koizumi, and Takeshi Naemura

Immersion and Togetherness: How Live Visualization of Audience

Engagement Can Enhance Music Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488
Najereh Shirzadian, Judith A. Redi, Thomas Röggla, Alice Panza,
Frank Nack, and Pablo Cesar

Accuracy Evaluation of Remote Photoplethysmography Estimations

of Heart Rate in Gaming Sessions with Natural Behavior. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
Fernando Bevilacqua, Henrik Engström, and Per Backlund

eSport vs irlSport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531

Christopher McCutcheon, Michael Hitchens, and Anders Drachen

Heritage Hunt: Developing a Role-Playing Game for Heritage Museums . . . . 543

Suzanne de Kock and Marcello A. Gómez Maureira

Words in Freedom: A Manifesto Machine as Critical Design . . . . . . . . . . . . 557

Simone Ashby, Julian Hanna, Sónia Matos, and Ricardo Rodrigues

Omnidirectional Video in Museums – Authentic, Immersive

and Entertaining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
Jaakko Hakulinen, Tuuli Keskinen, Ville Mäkelä, Santeri Saarinen,
and Markku Turunen

Photographing System Employing a Shoulder-Mounted PTZ Camera for

Capturing the Composition Designated by the User’s Hand Gesture . . . . . . . 588
Shunsuke Sugasawara and Yasuyuki Kono

Roulette++: Integrating Physical Lottery Process with Digital Effects . . . . . . 601

Misturu Minakuchi

Online Communication of eSports Viewers: Topic Modeling Approach . . . . . 608

Ksenia Konstantinova, Denis Bulygin, Paul Okopny,
and Ilya Musabirov

The Development of an Augmented Virtuality for Interactive Face

Makeup System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614
Bantita Treepong, Panut Wibulpolprasert, Hironori Mitake,
and Shoichi Hasegawa

UPP (Unreal Prank Painter): Graffiti System Focusing on Entertainment

of Mischievous Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 626
Shunnosuke Ando and Haruhiro Katayose
 Contents XV

Interactive Dance Choreography Assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637

Victor de Boer, Josien Jansen, Ana-Liza Tjon-A-Pauw, and Frank Nack

DanceDJ: A 3D Dance Animation Authoring System

for Live Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653
Naoya Iwamoto, Takuya Kato, Hubert P. H. Shum, Ryo Kakitsuka,
Kenta Hara, and Shigeo Morishima

Automatic System for Editing Dance Videos Recorded Using

Multiple Cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
Shuhei Tsuchida, Satoru Fukayama, and Masataka Goto

Structured Reciprocity for Musical Performance with Swarm Agents

as a Generative Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 689
Insook Choi

Creating a Theatrical Experience on a Virtual Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 713

Joe Geigel

Serious…ly! Just Kidding in Personalised Therapy Through Natural

Interactions with Games. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 726
Rui Neves Madeira, André Antunes, Octavian Postolache,
and Nuno Correia

Building Virtual World for a Project Management Game – A Case Study . . . 746
Akash Mohan, Pranalika Arya, and Sandeep Athavale

Timebender: A Multiplayer Game Featuring Bullet Time Mechanics . . . . . . . 761

Christoph Pressler and Helmut Hlavacs

Move, Interact, Learn, Eat – A Toolbox for Educational

Location-Based Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774
Leif Oppermann, Steffen Schaal, Manuela Eisenhardt,
Constantin Brosda, Heike Müller, and Silke Bartsch

Awkward Annie: Game-Based Assessment of English Pragmatic Skills . . . . . 795

G. Tanner Jackson, Lindsay Grace, Patricia Inglese, Jennifer Wain,
and Robert Hone

Using a Serious Game to Assess Spatial Memory in Children and Adults . . . 809
Mauricio Loachamín-Valencia, M.-Carmen Juan,
Magdalena Méndez-López, and Elena Pérez-Hernández

Mafia Game Setting Research Using Game Refinement Measurement . . . . . . 830

Shuo Xiong, Wenlin Li, Xinting Mao, and Hiroyuki Iida

Exploring Patterns of Shared Control in Digital Multiplayer Games. . . . . . . . 847

Philipp Sykownik, Katharina Emmerich, and Maic Masuch
XVI Contents

RAIL: A Domain-Specific Language for Generating NPC Behaviors

in Action/Adventure Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 868
Meng Zhu and Alf Inge Wang

Speech Emotion Recognition Based on a Recurrent Neural Network

Classification Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 882
Rubén D. Fonnegra and Gloria M. Díaz

Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 893

 Creating Room-Scale Interactive Mixed-Reality
Worlds Using Off-the-Shelf Technologies

Vlasios Kasapakis1 ✉ , Damianos Gavalas2, and Elena Dzardanova2

( )

1
Department of Cultural Technology and Communication, University of the Aegean,
Lesvos, Mytilene, Greece
v.kasapakis@aegean.gr
2
Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering, University of the Aegean,
Syros, Hermoupolis, Greece
{dgavalas,lena}@aegean.gr

Abstract. Mixed-Reality (MR) represents a combination of real and virtual

worlds. Off-the-shelf solutions already exist for quite some time which enable the
creation of MR worlds where physical and digital objects co-exist and interact in
real time. However, little is still known regarding methodological and technical
challenges involved in the development of room scale MR worlds with the use
of high-end technologies, especially when considering real-object representation.
This paper reports hands-on experiences in creating a room-scale MR world,
using widespread, off-the-shelf object-tracking technologies and 3D modelling
techniques, which enable free user movement, accurate real-object representation
in the virtual world, as well as interactivity between real and virtual objects.

Keywords: Mixed reality · Virtual reality · Photogrammetry · 3D scanning

Real-time object tracking

1 Introduction

Virtual Reality (VR) refers to interactive synthetic worlds which often mimic the prop‐
erties of real-world environments and allow user immersion. Notwithstanding, these
synthetic worlds may exceed the limitations of physical reality, since any law, which
naturally governs space, time, mechanics, material properties and so on, can be tempered
with [1]. A related field of immersive technologies, which involves mixing of real and
virtual elements, is referred to as Mixed Reality (MR) [1]. Intensive research has allowed
the implementation of MR in fields such us gaming [2], education [3], industrial design
[4] and medicine [5].
Recent advances in VR-related technology generated affordable and compact
systems, such as Head Mounted Displays (HMDs), resulting to the commercial breach
of VR systems since 2015. These developments have triggered various VR and MR
expansions, especially by independent developers and small laboratories. According to
ongoing research reports, it appears that the use of real objects in MR worlds, has a
positive impact on users [6]. However, studies specifically addressing real-object usage
in MR are scarce, whereas the techniques used to incorporate real objects in virtual

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018

A. D. Cheok et al. (Eds.): ACE 2017, LNCS 10714, pp. 1–13, 2018.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76270-8_1
2 V. Kasapakis et al.

worlds do not take advantage of recent technological standards, which greatly increase
user comfort and quality of experience.
In this paper, we showcase the design and development of a room-scale MR envi‐
ronment which will provide a testbed for future experiments. More importantly, several
critical aspects related to MR implementation are addressed such as free user movement,
accurate real-to-virtual object representation in the VR environment, as well as inter‐
activity between real and virtual objects. Therefore, this study supports future developers
by providing a detailed report of the steps involved in creating a room-scale MR world
with the use of widespread, off-the-shelf technologies. More specifically, in this paper
we showcase the development process of a dungeon- themed MR world which incor‐
porates:
– registration of user movement, performed in the real world, into the VR environment,
– accurate representation of texturally rich real objects (i.e. a rock and a wooden stick)
in the VR environment,
– registration of accurate user-interaction with real objects into the VR environment,
and
– interactivity between real and virtual objects.
The remainder of the paper is structured as follows: Sect. 2 discusses some seminal
conceptual issues regarding VR and MR, as well as examples of MR applications;
Sect. 3 presents the process followed to generate accurate virtual representations of real
objects; Sect. 4 presents the process followed to materialize the MR world along with a
number of emerging issues and finally, Sect. 5 concludes our work and draws directions
for future research.

2 Related Research

The evident, ascending development growth of VR technologies is in accordance with

what has been foretold, even though the pursuit of the “ultimate display” [7] is nowhere
near its finish line. In 1995, Slater and Usoh refer to a totality of inputs and the need of
total immersion for each sense separately [8] which could only mean the seamless
expression of proprioceptive mechanisms, both conscious and non-conscious, to exter‐
oceptive stimuli that at no point disrupt the otherwise naturally occurring environmental
and bodily events. This understanding does not equal virtual worlds grounded in realism,
as this is not a matter of content, but rather the taming of those realistic elements which
would allow the introduction of any implausible content imaginable.
What precedes the ideal immersive virtual experience is a long list of conceptual and
technical prerequisites. And, as complicated as those may be, intertwining the real with
the virtual, particularly on the right-end side of the reality-virtuality (RV) continuum [9],
is an additional, head-on challenge of whichever degree of immersion might have been
achieved till that point. The human body and its sensorimotor channels, as the “primor‐
dial communication medium”, are indeed the perpetual central question [10] and the
gravitational pull of an orbital quest. In other words, the simultaneous engagement of
virtual and real events, elements and, more importantly for the present study, objects in
 Creating Room-Scale Interactive Mixed-Reality Worlds 3

MR worlds, deals with challenges on two fronts and by default, presents higher tech‐
nological challenges as well [11].
Examples of MR, specifically Augmented Reality (AR) applications, can be traced
back to Ivan Sutherland and the emergence of prototype, see-through displays projecting
3D graphics [11]. To date, several MR systems have been designed, providing users
with high quality immersive experiences [12, 13].
For instance, one of such interactive MR systems is the eXperience Induction
Machine (XIM), which is mostly used in psychology and human-artifact interaction
related experiments. XIM consists of a physical room equipped with peripherally placed
projector screens, a luminous floor, interactive sound systems, and several sensors (e.g.
pressure sensors, microphones, cameras), allowing multi-user interaction, with both
physical and virtual worlds, in real-time [14].
Another example is MR MOUT (Mixed Reality Military Operations in Urban Terrain),
providing training simulation with the use of a video see-through HMD and re-creation of
urban landscape. Using a combination of bluescreen technology and occlusion models,
MR MOUT allows the trainees to move around a courtyard and hide behind objects, whilst
real and virtual players emerge from portals and engage in close-combat battle [15].
Touch-Space is an ubiquitous, tangible, and social MR game-space, which, whilst
using the physical and social aspects of traditional game-play, incorporates the real-
world environment as an intrinsic and essential game element [16]. Touch-Space
provides a full spectrum of game interaction as well as an embodied experience that
starts off in the real, physical surroundings (human to human and human to physical
world interaction) and gradually transcends through augmented reality (AR) towards
the virtual environment [16].
Several other MR systems, developed by widespread technology providers, blend
the real world with virtual ones. The accelerating emergence of such systems is indica‐
tive of the field’s industrial and marketing appeal. Real Virtuality1 for instance, is a
multi-user immersive platform, combining a 3D environment which can be seen and
heard through a VR headset, with a real-life stage set. Users are tracked by a motion
capture system, whilst being able to see their own bodies, move physically in the virtual
environment and interact with physical objects. Whereas, VIRTSIM2 is a highly immer‐
sive virtual reality system which can pit squads of players against each other in a realistic
virtual reality combat environment. The system utilizes full-motion body capture, VR
headsets, gun props, and even shock-feedback.
Even though MR systems like Real Virtuality and VIRTISM are not yet commer‐
cially available, room-scale VR experiences are; Oculus room-scale solution3 allows
users to freely move in a room with the use of Oculus Rift.
Research and development of MR systems, that allow simultaneous interaction with
a real object and its virtual representation, a process termed as passive haptics, are
already being carried out [17]. Such a case is the creation of a virtual world on top of
the physical one with the use of Tango enabled smartphone devices whilst users’ full

1
http://www.artanim.ch/blog/tag/siggraph/.
2
https://www.roadtovr.com/virtsim-virtual-reality-platform/.
3
https://www.oculus.com/blog/oculus-roomscale-tips-for-setting-up-a-killer-vr-room/.
4 V. Kasapakis et al.

body locomotion is tracked with Microsoft Kinect sensors allowing free movement. In
this MR system real objects and their virtual representations differ in appearance, yet
maintain some tactile characteristics (e.g. size and weight), to secure coherence in some
sensory feedback. For example, the system allows users to touch two real, paper boxes,
assigned with markers, in the physical world and interact with their virtual representa‐
tions in the virtual world. Again however, boxes are easy to recreate in 3D and the system
does not offer solutions for complex objects in regards of texture and morphology.
The technological advances presented above reveal a promising future for MR, where
users will be able to freely move around real and virtual spaces simultaneously, while
interacting with both real and virtual objects. However, the development of room-scale
MR worlds like Real Virtuality and VIRTISM is a challenging process, especially since
there are no guidelines in regards of technical setup, cost-effective solutions, or suggested
methods of development. In addition, the aforementioned MR systems do not in fact
include texturally rich objects and thus, there are no paradigms of complex real-object
representations into MR worlds. As already mentioned, when users interact with a real-
object’s virtual representation, tactile augmentation through touch and grasp increases the
realism of the virtual environment in MR systems [6]. Thus, the ability to incorporate any
object, regardless of texture and morphology, is critical for MR development.

3 Accurate Real-Object Representations

When designing an interactive MR world, one of the most crucial components is accurate
real-to-virtual object representation. Dimensions of the virtual object should of course be
identical to the original, but also, its virtual ‘physiology’, simulated via appropriate textures
and materials, should also be in accordance with the original object. Immersed users who
are meant to touch a real object, virtually represented in the VR environment, should not
experience inconsistencies regarding tactile-to-visual correlating information.
Therefore, realistic correlation of characteristics is a requirement which can be met via
conventional 3D modelling methods (e.g. polygonal modelling) only for simple objects, in
regards of geometry and texture. Otherwise, the modelling process is strenuous and time
consuming, especially for complex objects like the rock used for the present development
of a MR experience. To address this issue, the 3D modelling techniques of Photogram‐
metry and 3D object Scanning were used, using low-cost methods and equipment.

3.1 Photogrammetry

Photogrammetry, with the use of image measurement and interpretation, delivers the
form and location of an object by using one or more photographs of that object [18].
Nowadays, various accessible software solutions simplify the process of creating 3D
models via photogrammetry. In this work Autodesk Remake4 was used.
In order to create an interactive 3D object with the use of digital imaging, a sequence
of photographs is required, circling the perimeter of the object and alternating the capture

4
https://remake.autodesk.com.
 Creating Room-Scale Interactive Mixed-Reality Worlds 5

angle at about 5° to 10° between each shot so that the resulting photographic sequence
has approximately 70% of overlapping information [19]. Moreover, all photographs
need to be sharp and overall capture all possible angles of the object. Finally, the room/
space, where the Photogrammetry process is taking place, needs to have proper lighting
conditions to achieve diffused illumination of the object, whilst high contrast, intense
shadows and the use of a flash light are prohibited.
For the purposes of the present study the 3D model of a rock was generated using
photogrammetry, to be later incorporated in a MR experience within a dungeon themed
VR environment. Figure 1a shows the preparation of the room where the sequential
photographing of the rock took place. The rock was elevated with the use of a tripod to
expose the maximum number of visible angles, whereas artificial lighting ensured
diffused lighting conditions.

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Fig. 1. (a) Photoshoot preparation (b) Initial photogrammetry results; (c) Final 3D model; (d)
Photos positions.

The resulting sequence of photographs was imported into Autodesk Remake and the
primitive 3D model was created. However, 3D objects, modelled via photogrammetry,
often require additional tweaking, since surrounding objects may interfere with the
extraction of object information through digital imaging (see Fig. 1b). Autodesk Remake
offers a set of tools which allow alterations of the object and removal of excess infor‐
mation. The final 3D model representing the rock object is presented in Fig. 1c, while
Fig. 1d shows the positions wherefrom the photos of the object were taken.

3.2 3D Scanning

The second method utilized to create 3D models for the purposes of the present study,
was the 3D scanning of real objects, with the use of relevant technologies, such as
6 V. Kasapakis et al.

structured light or laser scanners, to create detailed 3D models of real objects [20]. To
perform 3D scanning in this work, the low-cost, 3D depth camera-enabled, Microsoft
Kinect sensor was used. The Microsoft Kinect sensor is based on an infrared light (IR)
projector and an IR camera which allows the capture of changes on an IR pattern (see
Fig. 2a). The Microsoft Kinect sensor utilizes the abovementioned process to produce
depth images (see Fig. 2b). Finally, an RGB camera allows the capture of color [21].

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Fig. 2. (a) Microsoft Kinect sensor IR image; (b) Microsoft Kinect Sensor depth image; (c) 3D
Scanning of object using Microsoft Kinect sensor; (d) 3D Scanning result (3D model on the left)
and texture replacement into Cinema 4D (3D model on the right).

Having installed the Microsoft Kinect sensor using the Kinect SDK5, the Skanect6
software has been used to 3D scan objects. The object chosen to be 3D scanned was a
wooden stick, also placed on a tripod to ease the scanning process. After feeding the
dimensions of the object into Skanect, the 3D scanning process began, moving the
Microsoft Kinect sensor around the wooden stick to capture as much geometry as
possible (see Fig. 2c). Then, the colorize function of the Skanect software was used to
analyze data captured by the RGB camera of the Microsoft Kinect sensor, creating a
texture to be applied on the 3D model.
Finally, the 3D model was exported from Skanect to the 3D graphics creation soft‐
ware, Cinema 4D7, where the additional unwanted geometry caused by surrounding
objects was removed, finally producing the desired 3D model. However, the colorize
function of Skanect produced low quality textures. Therefore, the wooden stick texture
was replaced with one of higher quality, also representing a wood interface, created in
Cinema 4D (see Fig. 2d).

5
www.microsoft.com/en-us/kinectforwindows.
6
http://skanect.occipital.com/.
7
https://www.maxon.net/en/products/cinema-4d/overview/.
 Creating Room-Scale Interactive Mixed-Reality Worlds 7

It should be noted that, based on the software available to this study, the 3D models
produced with the process of photogrammetry were better suited for a MR experience,
in terms of texture quality and lower number of polygons. However, using photogram‐
metry to create 3D models of objects with slim parts, such as the wooden stick, resulted
in inaccurate models, thus dictating 3D scanning as a preferred option.
Therefore, the choice of modelling method depends on various parameters and
combination of software is mandatory for accurate real-to-virtual representation of
objects, especially for MR worlds.

4 MR World Materialization

4.1 Real Object Registration to the MR World

Vicon’s motion capture system, along with its complementary software, Blade, were
the crucial components of the present study8. The Vicon motion capture system is built
upon infrared cameras (see Fig. 3a), commonly placed along the perimeter of a room’s
ceiling, allowing the tracking of retroreflective markers in real space (see Fig. 3b).

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Fig. 3. (a) Infrared camera; (b) Retroreflective marker; (c) Retroreflective markers assignment;
(d) Prop creation in Vicon Blade.

Apart from full-body human motion capture, which is Vicon’s main purpose,
tracking of prop objects is also possible by placing retroreflective markers around an
object. To be able to track the position of the rock and the wooden stick objects in the
real space, both were assigned with at least five (5) retroreflective markers (Fig. 3c) to
ensure smooth tracking. Moreover, retroreflective markers were also assigned to an

8
https://www.vicon.com/products/software/blade.
8 V. Kasapakis et al.

Oculus Rift Head Mounted Display (HMD), which was used by the user to navigate and
experience the MR world (Fig. 3c).
Following the marker assignment, the objects were placed on the floor and a data
sample, including location and rotation of markers, was recorded using Blade. After
reconstructing the data sample, the retroreflective markers’ positions appear in Blade,
wherefrom they can be selected in groups. Finally, each retroreflective markers-group
can be converted into a prop object, by assigning a prop name and then calibrating the
prop using Blade’s built-in prop creation tool (see Fig. 3d).
The process described above allows the real-time registration (i.e. solving) of the
position and rotation of the real objects to the props through Blade (see Fig. 4a and b).
It must be noted that Blade calculates the position of a prop using a bone object, with
the first marker selected during prop creation serving as the root of the bone and the
second marker selected to represent the end-point of the bone. Figure 4a, presents the
rock item assigned with markers, while Fig. 4b shows the root, end-point and bone of
the respective prop in Blade.

(a) (b)

Fig. 4. (a) Objects location in the real world; (b) Solving of real object location to the props in
Blade.

Next, to successfully materialize the MR world created in this work, the Unity 3D
engine has been used9. Unity 3D allows the creation of 3D interactive virtual worlds,
whilst also allowing incorporation of Oculus Rift supported VR applications develop‐
ment. Firstly, a VR space representing a dungeon cell has been created, having the same
square dimensions as the real room where the user was whilst experiencing the MR
world. Then, the 3D objects, created using photogrammetry and 3D scanning, have been
imported in the VR space (see Fig. 5a). 3D objects are often affected by the software
used when creating or processing them. Therefore, once they are imported into Unity
3D, their scale factor may require adjustment to secure proper dimensions in relation to
the real objects.

9
https://unity3d.com/.
 Creating Room-Scale Interactive Mixed-Reality Worlds 9

(a) (b)

Fig. 5. (a) Objects location in the virtual world; (b) Objects location in the real world.

The next step refers to the data flow between Blade and Unity 3D; a process which
is typically handled by Vicon’s Tracker10 or the Pegasus11 software. Since those however
were unavailable, a cost-effective solution was implemented using Vicon’s Datastream
SDK12, along with a custom script created for Unity 3D. The custom script was based
on the script used to enable interaction between Unity 3D and Vicon Pegasus13. More
specifically, the script collected information sent through Blade’s data stream function
and used the names of the props to match the 3D objects’ and real objects’ location and
rotation14.
The Oculus Rift Core Package for Unity 3D15 allowed preparation and application
of the Oculus Rift HMD in the MR world. This package includes tools which enable the
integration of Oculus Rift HMD as part of a Unity 3D project, using simple drag and
drop functions. Also, the Oculus Rift HMD comes with a separate sensor which tracks
the HMD location up to a certain distance. However, the tracking process only works
when the HMD is directly in front of the sensor, thus limiting the user’s range of move‐
ment whilst in the MR world. In addition, whilst trying to track the Oculus Rift prop
location and rotation, the Oculus sensor interfered with the ones provided by Vicon, and
therefore had to be disabled. Even though Oculus Rift comes with official instructions
on how to implement a room scale solution, it is not suitable for real-time object tracking.
The processes described above results to an MR world wherein the user, in real-time,
is free to move around, interact with real objects and their accurate virtual representa‐
tions, and apply interaction/collision between real and virtual objects16.

10
https://www.vicon.com/products/software/tracker.
11
https://www.vicon.com/products/software/pegasus.
12
https://www.vicon.com/products/software/datastream-sdk.
13
https://docs.vicon.com/display/Pegasus12/Using+Vicon+Pegasus#UsingViconPegasus-
UnrealIntegration.
14
The script used to register 3D objects location and rotation to the virtual space based on the
props positions can be found at: http://zarcrash.x10.mx/Program.cs.
15
https://developer.oculus.com/downloads/unity/.
16
An example of the MR world created in this work can be found at https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Hy_wCD1LJYk.
10 V. Kasapakis et al.

4.2 Real-Time Hand Representation

Even though the above process was successful, several issues emerged when trying to
implement hand interaction and subsequently test the accuracy of users’ touch with the
real objects. First, Leap Motion17, an infrared sensor allowing precise hand tracking into
VR environments was tested, to provide users with real-time hands visualization.
However, the retroreflective markers placed on the real objects considerably affect Leap
Motion’s performance. Figure 6a illustrates the issue while using Leap Motion as the
left hand of the user (while holding the rock object) is not accurately tracked in VR18.
Therefore, the use of Leap Motion is not recommended. This issue can be dealt with the
use of alternative solutions for finger and hand movement tracking, which do not use
infrared light, such as the ManusVR data glove19.

Fig. 6. (a) Leap motion hand tracking and occlusion issue.

4.3 Object Tracking Accuracy Issues

When developing MR worlds with technologies such as the ones proposed in this paper,
another issue to consider is proper adjustment of the 3D object’s pivot points (the center
of the object’s rotational system), in order to enable accurate representation of real
objects in the virtual world.
The pivot point of every 3D object should be adjusted at the same location as its
respective prop’s root point, to increase the tracking precision and also avoid incidents
such as rotation and location offsets during user interaction with the real objects.
To test the precision of this process we designed (using Cinema 4D) and 3D Printed
a 10 × 10 cube, assigned it with retroreflective markers and finally registered it as a prop
in Blade (see Fig. 7a and b). Moreover, the pivot point of the 3D model of the cube was
assigned to the root of the prop item (see Fig. 7b and c). Finally, a coded script which
acquired the markers positions from Blade and visualized them into Unity 3D, thus

17
https://www.leapmotion.com/.
18
An example of the LeapMotion performance can be found in https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=MoY7R02_ShE.
19
https://manus-vr.com/.
 Creating Room-Scale Interactive Mixed-Reality Worlds 11

testing in detail the prop markers’ location both in real and virtual world (see Fig. 7d).
This way we could accurately move and rotate the cube object20 (see Fig. 7e).

(a) (b) (c) (d)

(e) (f)

(g)

Fig. 7. (a) 3D Printed cube assigned with retroreflective markers; (b) 3D Printed cube prop in
Blade; (c) Pivot point adjustment; (d) Markers visualization in Unity 3D; (e) 3D Printed cube
registration in VR; (f) Accurate hand interaction with the 3D Printed cube in VR; (g) Accurate
hand interaction with the rock object in VR.

To test accuracy of user touch on real objects and their virtual representations, we
used a 3D hand model which represented a user’s real hand tracked by Blade in the
virtual world (see Fig. 7f). The 3D hand had the same dimensions as the user’s hand.
Tests examining interactivity of the virtual hand with both the cube21 and the rock22
object showed successful levels of accuracy, since the user was able to touch each detail
of the objects, both in real and virtual world.

20
An example of the interaction between the user and the cube item can be found at https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-f7z2oUk7s.
21
An example of the interaction between the user hand and the cube item can be found at: https://
youtu.be/nwnU8BiJX00.
22
An example of the interaction between the user hand and the rock item can be found at: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4b3QDFap2Ok.
12 V. Kasapakis et al.

5 Conclusion and Future Work

This paper presented the process followed and challenges faced whilst creating an inter‐
active MR world using off-the-shelf technologies. The MR world generated for the
purposes of this paper, along with the implementation process, will serve as a testbed
for further experimentation. However, the development process of the MR world, which
can assist future developers, revealed useful directions such as:
• photogrammetry and 3D Scanning can be used to accurately represent real objects
in the virtual world,
• object tracking accuracy is highly affected by the tracking method adopted; therefore,
the pivot points and object scaling should be carefully treated as the tiniest offsets
may greatly affect user experience,
• hand tracking accuracy is important and Leap Motion is incompatible with systems
using retroreflective markers, therefore other solutions, such as ManusVR gloves,
should be used.
Our future research plans involve the development of a prototype using Arduino23
and Flex Sensors24, which will allow finger interaction with virtual objects. We also
intend to investigate the impact of real object usage (also incorporating 3D printed
objects) as part of a MR experience and study its potential effect on users’ co-ordination
and perceived level of immersion.

Acknowledgment. This work was supported by VR First (https://www.vrfirst.com/).

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 CHAPTER XXVI
EDMONTON—THE GATEWAY TO THE
NORTHWEST

Come with me to Edmonton, the capital and second largest city

of Alberta. It is built on high bluffs on both sides of the Saskatchewan
River, and we can see standing out against the landscape the great
steel girders of the Canadian Pacific “high level” bridge, which joins
the north and south sections of the city. Edmonton has between
sixty-five and seventy thousand people. It is noted for its factories
and wholesale houses and as a distributing point for the Northwest.
There are several meat packing houses here, and the city’s
creameries supply forty per cent. of the entire output of butter in the
province. It owns its own street railway, and its water, light, power,
and telephone systems. It is an important educational centre, and in
the University of Alberta has the farthest north college on the
continent. It has eight hundred acres of parks and golf links
belonging to the municipality.
The city is not far from the site of a Hudson’s Bay Company fort
built in 1795. Near by was a trading post of the Northwest Fur
Company, its one time rival. When, in 1821, the two companies were
amalgamated, a new fort was erected. This was called Edmonton,
which was the name of the birthplace of the Hudson’s Bay official in
charge. You remember how the English town figures in John Gilpin’s
famous ride:

To-morrow is our wedding day,

And we will then repair
Unto the Bell at Edmonton
 All in a chaise and pair.

My sister and my sister’s child,

Myself and children three
Will fill the chaise, so you must ride
On horseback after we.

For a half century afterward Edmonton was an important trading

and distributing point for all western Canada. Furs were sent from
here down the Saskatchewan to York Factory on Hudson Bay, and
supplies were packed overland to the Athabaska and taken by canoe
to the head waters of that stream. Some were floated down the river
to Lake Athabaska, thence into Great Slave Lake, and on into the
Mackenzie, which carried them to the trading posts near the Arctic.
Big cargoes of goods are still shipped by that route every year, and
hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of furs are brought back over
it to Edmonton, to be sent on to New York or London.
After the transfer of this northern territory from the Hudson’s Bay
Company to the Canadian government, the town grew steadily. Its
first real land boom occurred in 1882, when it was rumoured that the
Canadian Pacific would build through here on its way to the
Yellowhead Pass over the Rockies. The excitement caused by this
rumour was short lived, however, as the officials decided to cross the
mountains by the Kicking Horse Pass farther south. It was not until
1891, or almost ten years later, that the Canadian Pacific built a
branch line to Strathcona, just across the river. A year later
Edmonton was incorporated as a town, and in 1898 its growth was
greatly stimulated by its importance as an outfitting post for the
thousands of gold seekers who made their way to the Klondike by
the overland route.
 Four fifths of the coal reserves in the Dominion
are in Alberta. In addition to the big producing mines,
there are many “country banks,” where the settlers
can come and dig out the coal for themselves.
 Throughout central Alberta are many dairies that
supply the creameries of Edmonton and other towns.
Butter is sent from here to the Northwest and Yukon
territories, and is even shipped to England by way of
the Panama Canal.
 In 1904, when its population was ten thousand, Edmonton
became a city and the capital of Alberta. It was then a typical frontier
town of the New West. Its main thoroughfare was a crooked street
laid out along an old Indian trail, and its buildings were of all shapes,
heights, and materials. The older structures were wooden and of one
story, the newer ones of brick and stone and often four stories high.
The town was growing rapidly and the price of business property
was soon out of sight. A fifty-foot lot on Main Street sold for twenty
thousand dollars, and there was a demand for land in the business
section at four and five hundred dollars per front foot.
That year the Canadian Northern transcontinental line reached
Edmonton, and four years later the Grand Trunk Pacific was put
through. In 1913 the Canadian Pacific completed the bridge uniting
the northern part of the city with its former terminus across the river
at Strathcona, which had been made a part of Edmonton the year
before. In addition to these three transcontinental lines, Edmonton
now has railway connection with every part of central and southern
Alberta, as well as a road built northwesterly along the Lesser Slave
Lake to the Peace River district. The trains run over that route twice
a week; they are equipped with sleeping cars and a diner for most of
the way.
The location of Edmonton is much like that of St. Louis. The city
is on a large river in the midst of a farming region almost as rich as
the Mississippi Valley. It is in the northern part of the wheat belt, and
the surrounding country is adapted to mixed farming as well as
wheat growing. It produces enormous crops of oats, barley, and
timothy. I have seen wheat near here so tall that it almost tickled my
chin, and oats and timothy as high as my head. The land will raise
from seventy-five to a hundred and twenty-five bushels of oats to the
acre, and an average of forty bushels of winter wheat. The farmers
are now growing barley for hogs; they say that barley-fed pork is
better than corn-fed pork. They also feed wheat to cattle and sheep.
Indeed, when I was at Fort William I was told that thousands of
sheep are fattened there each winter on the elevator screenings.
I am surprised at the climate of Edmonton. For most of the winter
it is as mild as that of our central states. The weather is tempered by
the Japanese current, just as western Europe is affected by the Gulf
Stream. The warm winds that blow over the Rockies keep British
Columbia green the year round and take the edge off the cold at
Edmonton and Calgary.
Edmonton is an important coal centre, with thirty mines in its
vicinity. Indeed, Alberta’s coal deposits are estimated to contain
1,000,000,000,000 tons, which is one seventh of the total supply of
the world. It is eighty per cent. of Canada’s coal reserves. Coal is
found throughout about half of the province from the United States
boundary to the Peace River, and is mined at the rate of about five
million tons a year. Half of the product is lignite, about two per cent.
anthracite, and the remainder bituminous. Nova Scotia is a close
second in the coal production of the Dominion, and British Columbia
ranks third.
Because of the long haul across the prairies, Alberta coal cannot
compete in eastern Canada with that from the United States. Even
the mines of Nova Scotia are farther from Canada’s industrial
centres than is our Appalachian coal region. Cape Breton is more
than a thousand miles from Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto, and
about two thousand miles from Winnipeg. Scranton, Pennsylvania,
on the other hand, is only four hundred miles from Toronto, and
Pittsburgh but three hundred and sixty-seven. Consequently, Alberta
coal supplies little more than the local demand.
Of the three hundred mines in operation, only about seventy are
important. Many of the others, some operated by only one man, are
known as “country banks.” In these the coal is dug out by the
farmers, who often drive thirty miles or more to one of the “banks.” At
some places bunk houses and stables have been erected to provide
shelter for settlers who cannot make the round trip in one day.
Alberta ranks next to Ontario in the production of natural gas,
which is found chiefly about Medicine Hat and in the Viking field,
which supplies Edmonton. Oil in small quantities is produced south
of Calgary, and new wells are being drilled in the southeastern part
of the province near the Saskatchewan border, and even north of
Peace River.
 The Peace River Valley, the southernmost part of which is four
hundred miles above Montana, is the northern frontier of Alberta. It
has been opened up largely within the last ten years. Across the
British Columbia line, part of the valley has been set aside as the
Peace River Block, where the settlement is controlled by the
Dominion government.
The basin of the Peace River consists of a vast region of level or
rolling land, much of which is thickly wooded with fir, spruce, pine,
tamarack, and birch. The forests are full of moose, deer, and bear,
and the beaver, lynx, marten, and muskrat are trapped for their furs.
There are vast stretches of rich black loam that produce annually
about a million bushels of wheat, three or four million bushels of
oats, and almost a million bushels of barley. Considering the latitude,
the winter climate is moderate, and in summer there is almost
continual daylight for the space of three months.
This district is dotted with settlements along the route of the
railway from Edmonton. It has telephone and telegraph connections
with southern Alberta, and a half dozen weekly newspapers are
published in its various towns. There are all together a hundred or
more schools. The largest settlement is Grande Prairie, near the
British Columbia border, but the oldest is the town of Peace River,
which lies in a thickly wooded region on the banks of the Peace. It is
two hundred and fifty miles northwest of Edmonton. The trip, which
was formerly over a wagon trail and took two or three weeks, can
now be made by rail in twenty-six hours.
Steamboats ply up and down Peace River for hundreds of miles,
the route downstream to Fort Smith being used by many trappers
and prospectors bound for the far Northwest. The trip takes one past
the historic old post of Fort Vermilion, two hundred and fifty miles
beyond Peace River town. To the northeast of Vermilion is said to be
a herd of wood buffalo, probably the last of their species roaming
wild.
A shorter route from Edmonton to the Northwest, and one that
has grown in popularity since oil has been found along the
Mackenzie, is down the Athabaska River, through Great Slave Lake,
and down the Mackenzie to Fort Norman, the trading post for the oil
region.
Let us imagine ourselves taking a trip over this route, which
penetrates to the very heart of the Northwest Territories. The train
leaves Edmonton only once a week. It usually starts Tuesday
morning, and we should reach “End of Steel,” on the bank of the
Clearwater River, the following day. Here we take one of the little
motor boats that push along the freight scows carrying supplies to
the trading posts during the open season, and chug down that
stream for twenty miles to its junction with the Athabaska at Fort
McMurray.
At Fort McMurray we take a steamer and go down the
Athabaska and across the lake of that name. The river loses its
identity when it empties into the lake, the river that joins Lake
Athabaska and Great Slave Lake being known as the Slave. The
latter stream at times flows through land soaked in oil. This “tar
sand,” as it is called, has been used as paving material in Edmonton,
and is said to have outlasted asphalt. It is probable that when better
transportation facilities are available it will be commercially valuable.
Just before reaching Fort Smith, halfway between Lake
Athabaska and Great Slave Lake, we leave our boat and ride in
wagons over a portage of fifteen miles. Fort Smith is just across the
Alberta boundary. It is the capital of the Northwest Territories. Here
the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is all-powerful, and it must be
satisfied that the traveller going farther north has food and other
essentials sufficient for his trip. In this land, where supplies are
brought in only once a year, no chances are taken on allowing
inexperienced prospectors to become public burdens.
Two hundred miles north of Fort Smith we reach Great Slave
Lake, the fourth largest inland body of water on the North American
continent. It is almost three hundred miles long, and the delta that is
being pushed out at the mouth of the Slave River may some day
divide the lake into two parts. Great Slave Lake is drained by the
mighty Mackenzie, down which we float on the last lap of our
journey. This river is as long as the Missouri, and carries a much
larger volume of water. It is like the mighty waterways of Siberia.
We are several days going down the Mackenzie to Fort Norman.
Fifty-four miles north of here, and only sixty miles south of the arctic
circle, is the first producing oil well in the Northwest Territories. The
well was the cause of a miniature “oil rush” to this land that is frozen
for nine months of the year. At this time no one knows how much oil
there is here. The region may never be of any greater importance
than it is now, or it may be another mighty oil field such as those in
Oklahoma and Texas. But even if oil is found in paying quantities it
will be many years before its exploitation will be commercially
profitable. The nearest railway is twelve hundred miles away, and the
river boats are of such shallow draft that they cannot carry heavy
freight. A pipe line to Prince Rupert or Vancouver would mean an
expenditure of almost one hundred million dollars, and to make such
a line pay it would be necessary to produce thirty thousand barrels of
oil daily.
In the meantime, prospectors have come in from at directions,
travelling overland as well as by river. One man made the fifteen-
hundred-mile trip from Edmonton with a dog team, and others have
mushed their way over the mountains from the Klondike. Two
aviators of the Imperial Oil Company attempted to fly to Fort
Norman. They were obliged to land several hundred miles to the
south and both planes were smashed. However, by using the
undamaged parts of one plane they were able to repair the other,
except for a propeller. They finally collected a pile of sled runners
from a near-by trading post, stuck them together with glue made by
boiling down a moose hide, and with a hunting knife carved out a
pair of propellers that enabled them to fly back the eight hundred
miles to Peace River.
On every hand I hear stories of how the vast Canadian
Northwest is being opened up. Edmonton is at the gateway to the
valleys of the Peace, the Athabaska, and the Mackenzie rivers, and
each year sees more settlers penetrating the remote areas that once
knew the white man only through the traders of the Hudson’s Bay
Company. Arthur Conan Doyle has caught the spirit of this new
Northwest in his “Athabaska Trail”:

I’ll dream again of fields of grain that stretch from sky to sky,
And the little prairie hamlets where the cars go roaring by,
Wooden hamlets as I saw them—noble cities still to be——
To girdle stately Canada with gems from sea to sea.

* * * * *
I shall hear the roar of waters where the rapids foam and tear;
I shall smell the virgin upland with its balsam-laden air,
And shall dream that I am riding down the winding woody
vale,
With the packer and the pack horse on the Athabaska Trail.
 CHAPTER XXVII
THE PASSING OF THE CATTLE RANGE

The story of southern Alberta is the story of the passing of

Canada’s great cattle ranches, the reclamation of millions of acres of
dry land by irrigation, and the growth of general farming where once
the open range stretched for hundreds of miles.
From Calgary I have ridden out to visit the mighty irrigation
works of the Canadian Pacific Railway. This corporation has taken
over three million acres, or a block of land forty miles wide and
extending from Calgary one hundred and forty miles eastward. It is
divided into three sections. The central division gets its water from
the Saint Mary’s River, and the east and west divisions from the Bow
River, which does not depend upon the rainfall for its volume, being
fed by the snows and glaciers of the Rockies.
At Bassano, about eighty miles from Calgary, is the great
Horseshoe Bend dam, where the level of the Bow has been raised
forty feet. The dam is eight thousand feet long, with a spillway of
seven hundred and twenty feet. From it the water flows out through
twenty-five hundred miles of irrigation canals and ditches. This dam
has been the means by which the semi-arid lands of southern
Alberta, formerly good only for cattle grazing, have been turned into
thousands of farms, raising wheat, alfalfa, and corn, as well as fruits
and vegetables.
 The dam at Bassano is the second largest in the
world, being exceeded in size only by the one at
Aswan, which holds back the waters of the Nile. The
water stored here flows out through 2,500 miles of
irrigation canals and ditches.
 The riproaring cowboy with his bucking bronco
was a familiar figure of the old Alberta, but with the
passing of the “Wild West” he is now rarely seen
except in exhibitions known as “stampedes.”
 Among the ranch owners of the Alberta foothills is
no less a personage than the Prince of Wales, who
occasionally visits his property and rides herd on his
cattle.
The ranching industry of Alberta was at its height during the
thirty years from 1870 to 1900. With the disappearance of buffalo
from the Canadian plains, cattle men from the United States began
bringing their herds over the border to the grazing lands east of the
foothills of the Rockies. The luxuriant prairie grass provided excellent
forage, and the warm Chinook winds kept the winters so mild that
the cattle could feed out-of-doors the year round. When the high
ground was covered with snow, there were always river bottoms and
hollows to furnish shelter and feed.
The United States cattle men were followed by Canadians and
Britishers. One of the first big ranch holders was Senator Cochrane
of Montreal. He owned sixty-seven thousand acres, and most of it
cost him only a dollar an acre. There were other immense holdings,
and the grazing industry continued to grow until it extended into
southwestern Saskatchewan and included horses and sheep as well
as cattle.
 Then the homesteaders began to take up their claims. In 1902
the first tract of land for irrigation purposes was bought from the
government by the Alberta Railway and Irrigation Company, and in
1903 the Canadian Pacific Railway’s big irrigation project was
begun. In May of the same year there occurred one of the severest
snow storms in the history of the plains. It lasted for a week, and fully
half the range cattle in what was then Alberta territory perished. The
introduction of wire fences dealt another hard blow to cattle ranching.
Large herds can be run all the year round only on an open range.
There are still a few big stock men in Alberta, but they have been
crowded into the foothills west of the old original “cow” country. Small
herds pasture on the open range also in the Peace River district. As
a matter of fact, Alberta still leads the Dominion in the production of
beef and breeding cattle. It has as much livestock as ever, each
mixed farm having at least a few head. There are a half million dairy
cattle in the province.
Most of the stock raised to-day is pure bred. There are cattle
sales at Calgary every year as big as any in the United States. The
favourite animal is the Shorthorn, but there are many Polled Angus
and Galloways. The best breeding animals come from England, and
there are some ranchmen who make a specialty of raising choice
beef for the English market. Within the last ten years the cattle in
Alberta have tripled in number, and their total value is now in the
neighbourhood of one hundred and twenty-five million dollars.
On my way from Edmonton to Calgary I passed through the
famous dairying region of Alberta. The cheese industry is still in its
infancy, but the province makes more than enough butter each year
to spread a slice of bread for every man, woman, and child in the
United States. It supplies butter for the Yukon and Northwest
Territories, and is now shipping it to England via Vancouver and the
Panama Canal.
Sheep can exist on poorer pasture than cattle, and some large
flocks are still ranged in the higher foothills of southern Alberta. They
are chiefly Merinos that have been brought in from Montana. On the
small farms the homesteaders often raise the medium-fleeced
English breeds, such as Shropshires, Hampshires, and Southdowns.
Some of the ranchers are experimenting in raising the karakul
sheep, a native of Central Asia, whose curly black pelts are so highly
prized for fur coats and wraps.
Horse raising was another big industry of early Alberta. The
bronco is now almost extinct, and almost the only light-weight horse
now reared is a high-bred animal valuable chiefly as a polo pony. In
Alberta, as elsewhere in the Dominion and in the United States, the
motor car has taken the place of the horse as a means of
transportation, and nine tenths of the animals in the province to-day
are of the heavy Clydesdale or Percheron types, and used solely for
farm work.
I have gone through Calgary’s several meat packing houses, and
have visited its thirteen grain elevators, which all together can hold
four million bushels of wheat. Calgary ranks next to Montreal and the
twin ports of Fort William and Port Arthur in its grain storage
capacity. It is surrounded by thousands of acres of wheat lands, not
in vast stretches such as we saw in Saskatchewan, but divided up
among the general farming lands of the province. The city is an
important industrial centre, and in some of its factories natural gas,
piped from wells a hundred miles away, is used to produce power.
Calgary is less than fifty years old. Nevertheless, it has sky-
scrapers, fine public buildings, and wide streets and boulevards.
Many of the business buildings are of the light gray sandstone found
near by, and nearly every residence is surrounded by grounds. The
city lies along the Bow and Elbow rivers, and the chief residential
section on the heights above these streams has magnificent views of
the peaks of the Rockies, one hundred miles distant.
Like many of the big cities of Western Canada, Calgary began as
a fort of the Mounted Police. That was in 1874. Its real growth dates
from August, 1883, when the first train of the main line of the
Canadian Pacific pulled into the town. Before that time much of the
freight for the ranch lands came farther south through Macleod,
which, the old-timers tell me, was the real “cow town” of southern
Alberta. Goods were brought up the Missouri River to the head of
navigation at Benton, Montana, and thence carried overland to
Macleod in covered wagons drawn by horse, ox, or mule teams.
The cattle town of Calgary is now a matter of history, and the old
cattle men who rode the western plains when Alberta was a
wilderness have nearly all passed away. Indeed, it is hard to believe
that this up-to-date place is the frontier town I found here some years
ago. Then cowboys galloped through the streets, and fine-looking
Englishmen in riding clothes played polo on the outskirts. The
Ranchers’ Club of that day was composed largely of the sons of
wealthy British families. Many of them were remittance men who had
come out here to make their fortunes and grow up with the country.
Some came because they were ne’er-do-wells or their families did
not want them at home, and others because they liked the wild life of
the prairies. They received a certain amount of money every month
or every quarter, most of which was spent in drinking and carousing.
The son of an English lord, for instance, could be seen almost any
day hanging over the bar, and another boy who had ducal blood in
his veins would cheerfully borrow a quarter of you in the lean times
just before remittance day.
 Calgary, chief city of the prairie province of
Alberta, is less than fifty years old. Beginning as a fur-
trading and police post, it now has sky-scrapers and
palatial homes.
 At Macleod, in southern Alberta, the headquarters
of the Mounted Police are in the centre of an
important live-stock region, where, in the early days of
open ranges, cattle thieves were a constant menace.
Others of these men brought money with them to invest. One of
them, the son of Admiral Cochrane of the British navy, owned a big
ranch near Calgary on which he kept six thousand of the wildest
Canadian cattle. Every year or so he brought in a new instalment of
bulls from Scotland, giving his agents at home instructions to send
him the fiercest animals they could secure. When asked why he did
this, he replied:
“You see, I have to pay my cowboys so much a month, and I
want to raise stock that will make them earn their wages. Besides, it
adds to the life of the ranch.”
“I went out once to see Billy Cochrane,” said a Calgary banker to
me. “When I arrived at the ranch I found him seated on the fence of
one of his corrals watching a fight between two bulls. As he saw me
he told me to hurry and have a look. I climbed up beside him, and as
I watched the struggle going on beneath, I said: ‘Why, Billy, if you do
not separate those bulls one will soon kill the other.’ ‘Let them kill,’
was the reply. ‘This is the real thing. It is better than any Spanish bull
fight, and I would give a bull any day for the show.’
“We watched the struggle for more than an hour, Cochrane
clapping his hands and urging the animals on to battle. Finally one
drove his horns into the side of the other and killed it. To my protest
against this wanton waste of valuable live stock, Cochrane replied:
‘Oh! it doesn’t matter at all. We must have some fun.’”
Another famous character of old-time Calgary was Dickie Bright,
the grandson of the man after whom Bright’s disease was named.
Dickie had been supplied with money by his grandfather and sent
out. He invested it all in a ranch and then asked for a large
remittance from time to time to increase his herds. He sent home
florid stories of the money he was making and how he was fast
becoming a cattle king. Shortly after writing one of his most
enthusiastic letters he received a dispatch from New York saying that
his grandfather had just arrived and was coming out to see him. The
boy was in a quandary. He had spent his remittance in riotous living
and he had no cattle. Adjoining him, however, was one of the largest
ranch owners of the West. Dickie confided his trouble to this man
and persuaded him to lend a thousand head of his best stock for one
night.