Weekly Wrap-Up Thing 11: Augmented reality

Apologies for this late wrap-up. Totally didn’t realise it was my week.

However I’m really glad that it’s my turn, as this has given me an opportunity to reflect on the bright and sometimes scary future with augmented reality.

Let’s start by checking on Twitter:

Twitter

This video shared by Katherine @Kraznozem is a great example of our future with augmented reality.

While watching this, I was awed, amazed and a little freaked out about the massive potential augmented reality could play in our future.

Already Google Glass has shown this reality is closer than we expect. As this article points out, there are already fears and risks associated with Google’s new tool. Like every other generation, “grouches” will fear new technologies. The article also points out that wearbable lenses that overlay data and record-video is a decades-old idea in the minds of science fiction writers. As this idea becomes more of a reality, David Brin noted in the article there could be temptations to legislate against it, so as to protect people’s privacy. However, Brin also pointed out that innovation always out paces regulation and therefore technology should be freely available to everyone. This allows everyone to be on the same level playing field instead of the tool just being accessible to governments or a select few.

Katherine has been a prolific sharer last week. Not satisfied with sharing the above video and the mentioned article above, she also gave us examples of cases where augmented reality has been experimented with.

From History Space, an app which allows tourist to Northern Ireland’s iconic tourist attractions to add new forms of interpretive content enabling the visitor to engage and be immerse in the history of the site in innovative and exciting ways.
To a story from SUNY Canton Southworth Library Learning Commons where they are experimenting with sharing content, resources and video presentations through strategically placed placards and QR codes around the library to enhance visitor experience within the library.

Want to create music with physical objects? Now it is possible by moving an object closer or farther from one another to change the pitch of a sound. Maybe enhance a story which incorporates part story, part game and part educational toy with interactive 4D blocks. All in this site. From this site, I found DAQRI, a company that makes all this happen. Check out their homepage video. It shows all the possibilities with augmented reality.

Other tweets include:

Cath Sheard @KiwiLibrarian
Cath finds it challenging to create actionable activities for augmented reality and it’s overloading her brain from thinking about it.

Anna Williamson @Anna_is_great
Says her 4 year old loves the Star Walk app on her iPad.

Lee Rowe @LeeRowe
Lee tried the Junaio app and loved it.

While bloggers such as:

Cathy Kelso @ironshush
Talks about her experimental session with a few augmented reality apps with colleagues. They played with Wikitude, Floodlines, Anatomy 4D, Augment and String. Although at first she thought the concept was gimicky, she became a convert when she had a chance to play with it.

Renee Stokes @stokesrenee
Renee shares her experience with a free augmented reality app from an Apple app store where it allows her to choose a furniture, move it around and see how it’ll look in her living room before she decides to purchase it. She also had Lara from Tomb Raider checking out where her TV is.

Final Thoughts
I believe augmented reality has huge potential and we are only scraping the tip of the ice berg. As the technology matures and start-ups become more experienced with creating applications for its use, we will see potentials only imagined in science fiction.

I think this area is still in its early stages and those who can successfully experiment and utilise this tool successfully will be seen as innovators and pioneers. Therefore if your institution is keen to be seen as an innovative organisation, augmented reality could be something you could try.

If I’ve missed mentioning anyone else who have contributed in last weeks discussions or posts about augmented reality, I’d like to apologies again as this was quite a rush wrap-up. I’ll ensure to be better prepared for my next wrap-up.

Signing off – Mark @E_venturer

From Abigail and Kate: Thanks for that wrap-up post Mark – that was great! 🙂

Thing 11 : Augmented reality

This week we are giving you Mylees’s post from23mobilethings.net.  Don’t forget to go to their site for more great information on all the things!

Abbreviated as AR,  augmented reality is the use of technology to overlay digital information on an image of something being viewed through a device (eg. through a smartphone camera).

This video gives you a quick introduction to some of its potential.

Perhaps you’ve heard about a recent example,  Google Glasses  are location aware, computerised eyeglasses  that will display information to the side of what you’re viewing.  There are quite a few AR applications that could be employed in library environments and in this Thing we’d like you to explore some of the possibilities:

DISCOVER:

• A video giving you an overview of five augmented reality apps  including Word Lens for on the spot translations [iOS version and Android version available].
• Some collection materials may include AR features (eg. customer uses an AR app to access the digital content in Applied Arts Magazine)  while GUP, the Guide to Unique Photography, has also enhanced an issue with Layar
• Most augmented reality apps use GPS to locate themselves in specific environments.  Some examples:
  • New York, USA: points of interest in Pittsburgh and New York City detailing theart, life and death of Andy Warhol
  • Victoria, Australia: Find craft collections
  • Singapore: the Singapore Tourism AR app will help you find the nearest ATM bank machine as well as the train and tram stops

EXPLORE: 

• How to use Aurasma by Gideon Williams
• The AR features of the LibraryThing Local app which uses Layar  and a blog postabout it.
• What can libraries do with AR? There are two technologies in use in a number of locations: Layar and Aurasma.  Here are some ideas for using Aurasma in libraries from Anthony Humphries.
• Find more links on our Pinterest board

THINKING POINTS: 

• Could the wayfinding in your library environment be improved with AR? Would an information literacy guided tour of your library be improved by including AR technology?
• Could you use an AR app like Lookator to make it easy for students to find the wifi hotspots on campus?
• Is there complex equipment in your library? Perhaps a video demonstration could provide assistance to customers if it were available at the point of need via AR?
• Do you serve clients from different language backgrounds?  Could you create an AR guide in their preferred language to help them orient to the library environment and services?
• Are you engaging with your community to plan a new library space?  Could you let them move the furniture around using an AR app like Augment [iOS version andAndroid  version]?
• Could you overlay local history film and audio clips into your local environment using an AR app?
• What would your summer reading club be like if you incorporated AR features?