An Augmented Reality Tool for Perforated Board Design

Analog paper prototyping of perforated board layouts assisted by real-time digital analysis with OpenCV and scikit-image

“Computers are alienating because they put a sheet of glass between you and whatever is happening… The computer brings out the uptight perfectionist in us — we start editing ideas before we have them… It wasn’t until I started bringing analog tools back into my process that making things became fun again and my work started to improve… Scribble on paper, cut it up, and tape the pieces back together…. Once you start getting your ideas, then move over to your digital station.” — Austin Kleon

It is hard to beat the immediacy of paper and pencil for brainstorming and capturing design ideas. However, digitally capturing these sketches to determine whether they conform to desired design rules is not only difficult but breaks your flow state. I was looking for an intermediate method; something that allows very rapid prototyping of design ideas AND quick feedback on design rules conformance.

Austin Keon’s words inspired the creation of a hybrid analog/digital tool for rapid prototyping of perforated board designs. The idea is to use paper cutouts to mask areas of the design window while a web camera captures the resulting design. A Python script then analyzes the design in real-time, creating an “Augmented Reality (AR)” overlay on the image, as well as plots to guide design…