Augmented Tattoo: Evaluation of an Augmented Reality System for Tattoo Visualization

Augmented Reality complements reality overlaying computer modeled virtual objects in real world images, allowing users to be immersed in synthetic environments. Tattoos are an ancient cultural practice, performed for centuries, with intervention in epithelial layers of the human body, and technological devices can further expand this practice. Here we describe and evaluate an Augmented Reality system for visualization of virtual tattoos on the skin, accompanying the surface of the human body. From a captured image, the system detects markers on the skin, and outputs an image without the markers with an AR tattoo inscribed to the skin. Markers detection provides high accuracy rates that allow adequate mesh and, along with skin segmentation and markers removal, the system generates suitable final images. Our system reveals robustness concerning the several possible operation conditions, dealing with different lighting conditions, background content, skin tones, drawing quality of the markers in the skin, and possible occlusions of skin and markers.