July 14th, 12 – 1pm, B20 and (MAYBE) other locations
Augmented reality! yayyy! wait, what is it?It is definitely being buzzed about on the interwebs….
“As a quick review, augmented reality is a context-aware UI layer rendered over a camera stream or other transparent interface. This is typically mediated by geo-location, orientation, physical markers (those funky UPC-like symbols), and visual recognition. In this manner AR is able to reveal visually the hidden data shadow of our world, like showing you the nearest coffee shops or details about the air quality in your city. The mobile device gets info about where you are and what direction you’re facing, goes to the cloud to look up data appropriate for the vicinity, then renders it over the camera stream in a way that updates as you move.” -Chris Arkenberg viaboingboing
okaaaaaaaaay. Here is a TED talk of augmented reality actually in action.
Augmented Reality (AR) basically mashes-up bits of data that were previously disparate to create a more compelling interactive experience…the implication for teaching history , travel, energy consumption, emergency responders, mapping AND SO ON is exciting…
For this workshop, your ‘things’ are:
Pre-workshop.
- Augmented Reality (AR) has applications for desktop computing, but some of the most interesting stuff requires a hand-held device/smart-phone.
- Do you have a smart-phone? It is not required for the workshop, but if you have one, and are willing to be in a pair up (or group up) with participants who do not have a smart-phone, PLEASE BRING IT TO THE SESSION. If you have t-Mobile, it should work in the basement, anyone on on another plan will need to enable their wireless.
During-workshop.
- GO TO FOURSQUARE. Gogogogogogo. Okay, we can do this during the workshop or you can go ahead and play around with it ahead of time. What I am going to request is that you sign up for an account (if you already have one, awesome! Please pass Go & Collect $200)
- On the home page, you can see that there are foursquare apps for the iPhone, the Android and the Blackberry. Please download the appropriate app to your smart-phone.
- Check in at the UT Arlington Central Library (who is the current Mayor of the library?)
- TBA : based on the weather and workshop consensus. Do we want to venture out INTO THE REAL WORLD and play around with another AR app? Perhaps Layer?
Post-Workshop.
- Add a Tip to the UT Arlington Central Library location.
- Check-in at a venue OTHER then the UT Arlington Central Library.
- Let us know you’ve completed them by posting a comment to this entry reflecting on your experiences accomplishing these tasks.
Bonus points (metaphorically speaking, there are no actual points)
- Create a new venue (perhaps somewhere else on campus? One of the other libraries perhaps?)
- Use another augmented reality app and describe in the comments below.
OTHER AR Apps
LAYER! (for Android and IPhone) See how it works……
wikitude
AroundMe
25 more AR examples
Gizmodo (a tech blog) coverage of Augmented Reality
Gizmodo list of their top 10 iPhone AR apps.
Shopping discounts!
Did I miss anything? Let me know and I will edit to add!
Science fiction bonus! I added these because I could. Live Long and Prosper!
Experience the Enterprise IN 3-D with an AR app.
Spook Country by William Gibson: set in a “post geographic” future, an interesting novel on how AR might affect society. (We do not have this book, but a lot of the local public libraries do)
P.S. Wordpress makes it VERY DIFFICULT to embed videos. Does anyone know how?
