Augmented Reality technology has been just over the horizon for a while. It was even shown on the Gadget Show a while back so it must now be creeping into mainstream. It’s been interesting to watch it develop and it would be great to see where it will lead educationally. There have been AR applications for various hardware out for a while but imagine the richness of an information source that reads your location and gives corresponding information on your handset about your surroundings. This article outlines some of the ins and outs of presenting data and information through AR. As one developer says, it’s ‘…just like building a website. You have your data source and you’re just trying to parse and present it in a meaningful way…’. The possibilities for businesses are huge if this takes off; conversely, the possibilities for mischief, misuse and hijacking of such a system for personal or commercial gain might also raise huge problems. This could be a good lesson starting point for a discussion on the amounts and types of data that such a system could display on a handheld, where it could be gathered from, who would have access to and compile that data, and where there is a potential for the introducation of bias.
A rich source of AR content can be found at ARSights, where a huge number of 3D models have been built and placed on a Google Earth layer. The models have been built in Sketchup and can be viewed in 3D by using a webcam and the printed marker page.
I’m looking forward to my 3D AR Top Trumps cards arriving soon. 3D Bugs or Ben 10 Alien Force in 3D cannot fail to be awesome. Just for my children, you understand…
