Update 18/7

Since my last update I've been learning how to use ReacTIVision with Flash. It's been hard because there's not as much information online to help as I'd like but I (think) I've finally figured it out - with a lot of help from the forums I've found. I downloaded the sample Flash client on ReacTIVision's site to get an idea of how to integrate the webcam and ReacTIVision with Flash. It's more complicated than I thought. I had to download (and figure out how to use) Flosc which acts as a gateway for Flash to talk with other software. This allowed me to run the Flash client which represents a fiducial symbol as a blue block on screen.

A screenshot of what this looks like:
The two terminals run java and jar files which flosc and the flash demo need for this to work. Under the terminals is the flosc client. On the top right is the flash demo with blue blocks showing the location of the fiducials that ReacTIVision (bottom right) is picking up.

I'm still having a couple of problems with this. More often than not, the flash demo's terminal throws an exception which stops the flash from working. Other times, it simply stops working with no explanation! I'm going to look into this more to see if I can figure it out.

I'm also having some problems when I position the camera under a sheet of plastic and use that as a table to move the markers around on. Glare and reflections are sometimes blocking the camera's view of the markers. I'm going to try to get my hands on some frosted plastic or glass (or frost my own glass!) which will hopefully prevent reflections.

On Monday I'll be in Dublin and going shopping for some materials - the sheet of plastic/glass being the most important. I'll also need some card to make the outline of the map (and maybe models of the buildings if I think I'll have time).