ENHANCING TANGIBLE CONTENT ON PHYSICAL ACTIVITY SURFACE

1 . A method comprising:

capturing, using a video capture device of a computing device, a video stream that includes an activity scene of a physical activity surface located in front of a display of the computing device;

detecting in the video stream, using a detector executable on the computing device, a tangible content item on the physical activity surface;

recognizing, from the video stream, one or more visually instructive elements in the tangible content item;

determining a tangible identifier based on the one or more recognized visually instructive elements in the tangible content item;

automatically retrieving a digital content item using the tangible identifier; and

providing the digital content item for display in a user interface of the computing device.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting, in the video stream, a distinct visual element on the tangible content item; and wherein

determining the tangible identifier includes determining the tangible identifier based on the distinct visual element on the tangible content item.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein:

the distinct visual element includes one or more of an image, a drawing, a diagram, and a vision marker visible on the tangible content item.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

recognizing, from the video stream, one or more of a document title, a page number, a section title, and a section number associated with the tangible content item; and wherein

determining the tangible identifier includes determining the tangible identifier based on one or more of the document title, the page number, the section title, and the section number associated with the tangible content item.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting, in the video stream, a user marking visible on the tangible content item;

recognizing, from the video stream, one or more characters associated with the user marking; and wherein

determining the tangible identifier includes determining the tangible identifier based on the one or more characters associated with the user marking.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein:

the user marking includes one or more of a highlighting effect and a user note created by a user on the tangible content item.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the tangible content item is a first tangible content item:

the first tangible content item is included in a tangible object that also includes a second tangible content item; and

the method includes:

determining that a user interacted with the second tangible content item of the tangible object;

recognizing one or more visually instructive elements in the second tangible content item; and

determining the tangible identifier based on the one or more visually instructive elements in the first tangible content item and the one or more visually instructive elements in the second tangible content item of the tangible object.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

determining the tangible identifier includes determining a first tangible identifier and a second tangible identifier based on the one or more visually instructive elements in the tangible content item; and

retrieving the digital content item using the tangible identifier includes:

determining a contextual relationship between the first tangible identifier and the second tangible identifier; and

retrieving the digital content item based on the contextual relationship between the first tangible identifier and the second tangible identifier.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the computing device is placed on a stand situated on the physical activity surface; and

a field of view of the video capture device of the computing device is redirected by a camera adapter situated over the video capture device of the computing device.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the tangible content item on the physical activity surface includes a first tangible content section and a second tangible content section, the method further comprising:

detecting, using a detector executable on the computing device, an arrangement of the first tangible content section relative to the second tangible content section on the physical activity surface;

determining a supplemental digital content item based on the arrangement of the first tangible content section relative to the second tangible content section; and

displaying in the user interface on the computing device, the supplemental digital content along with the digital content item.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the first tangible content section is a first programming tile and the second tangible content section is a second programming tile, the first programming tile being coupled with the second programming tile to form the tangible content item.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the supplemental digital content is an instruction set for how to use the first programming tile and the second programming tile.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein displaying the supplemental digital content further comprises:

automatically displaying a first digital representation of the first programming tile in the user interface;

automatically displaying a second digital representation of the second programming tile in the user interface; and

automatically displaying an animation of the first digital representation interacting with the second digital representation to provide instructions on how to arrange the first digital programming tile and the second digital programming tile on the activity surface.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the digital content item for display in the user interface on the computing device further comprises:

generating a visualization of the digital content item for display in the user interface; and

displaying an animation of the digital content item appearing in the user interface.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the animation of the digital content item depicts a first portion of the visualization of the digital content item extending out from a bottom side of the display screen and a second portion of the visualization of the digital content item appearing as the animation causes the visualization of the digital content item to move into the user interface.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the animation of the digital content item corresponds to an appearance of the tangible content item being detected on the physical activity surface.

17 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the visualization of the digital content item is selectable by a user and responsive to the digital content item being selected, the digital content item may be displayed.

18 . A method comprising:

capturing, using a video capture device of a computing device, a video stream that includes an activity scene of a physical activity surface;

detecting in the video stream, using a detector executable on the computing device, a tangible content item on the physical activity surface, the tangible content item including a page visible within a field of view of the video capture device;

determining, using a processor of the computing device, an identity of the page of the tangible content item from the video stream;

determining, using the processor of the computing device, a concept of the tangible content item using the identity of the page;

determining, using the processor of the computing device, a digital content item based on the concept of the tangible content item and the identity of the page of the tangible content item; and

presenting, in a display of the computing device, the digital content item in a graphical user interface.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein determining the identity of the page of the tangible content item further comprises:

detecting a page identity anchor on the page; and

matching the page identity anchor to a database of page identities.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the tangible content item is a book that includes a plurality of pages and each of the plurality of pages has a unique page identity anchor.

21 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the digital content item is a video related to the identified page of the tangible content item.

22 . The method of claim 21 , wherein presenting the digital content item further comprises:

embedding an external link to the video related to a topic present on the identified page of the tangible content item; and

causing the external link to be executed responsive to an input received from a user.

23 . The method of claim 19 , wherein determining the digital content item based on the concept of the tangible content item and the identity of the page of the tangible content item further comprises:

identifying visually instructive elements that are present on the page of the tangible content;

determining a subject context based on the visually instructive elements; and

identifying the digital content item based on the subject context.

24 . The method of claim 23 , wherein identifying the digital content item based on the subject context further comprises:

determining a category level of a user based on the concept of the tangible content item and the identity of the page of the tangible content item;

accessing a node of a knowledge graph that is related to the subject context, the node of the knowledge graph including links to a plurality of digital content items related to the subject context; and

determining a relevant digital content item from the plurality of digital content items based on the category level of the user.

25 . The method of claim 19 , wherein detecting a page identity anchor on the page further comprises:

performing a matching search to identify the page identity anchor, the matching search including ignoring all text that does not include the page identity anchor.

26 . The method of claim 18 wherein the digital content item is one or more of a video, a question, a quiz, and a worksheet.

27 . The method of claim 18 , wherein determining an identity of the page of the tangible content item from the video stream further comprises:

detecting, using a processor of a computing device, a finger of a user present in the video stream of the physical activity surface;

determining an area of the tangible content item that is being pointed to by a point of the finger;

determining a tangible identifier included within the area of the tangible content item; and

determining an identity of the page of the tangible content item based on the tangible identifier.

28 . A visualization system comprising:

a computing device positioned on a physical activity surface;

a video capture device coupled to the computing device, the video capture device including a field of view directed towards the physical activity surface and capable of capturing a video stream of the physical activity surface;

a detector of the computing device configured to detect a tangible content item within the video stream and recognize one or more visually instructive elements in the tangible content item;

a processor of the computing device configured to determine a tangible identifier based on the recognized visually instructive elements in the tangible content item and automatically retrieve a digital content item using the tangible identifier; and

a display screen coupled to the computing device, the display screen being configured to display the digital content item in a graphical user interface.