Augmented World

When you hear something about augmented reality you might think it looks cool but that’s it. What’s the purpose of augmented reality? What can augmented reality contribute compared to other mediums? It might be something that you have wondered. Downloading and using an augmented reality app is very easy, if your device is compatible, of course. However, learning how to use augmented reality to make something can take quite some effort. You might think it’s not worth it. With the research I have done, by collecting a database here containing augmented reality projects, I am hoping to show you what augmented reality can contribute to different domains.

Compared to virtual reality, augmented reality is less known. Virtual reality (VR) is the technology where we replace the real world with a virtual one whereas with augmented reality (AR)  we add a layer to the real world. On this blog, you can find multiple applications, games, and other cases where augmented reality is being used. The results they are trying to reach may vary and they might have various reasons to use AR, yet the general reasons to use AR are the same. After all, they mainly want to spread information and/or make things interactive.

We all know that reading a lot of information can be boring at moments. It also is not that surprising if you forget about things more easily. This is because when we read we only use a small part of the brain. Different senses activate different parts of the brain. That is often why a multisensory approach is being used in teaching. Stimulating the different senses activates different parts in the brain making it more likely to remember the information and experiences. Augmented reality makes a nice addition to this. AR enables you to add a layer of information to the real world. This layer can contain both audio and visuals. Not that different yet from looking at an internet page that also plays sounds. Audio and sound only target the sight and hearing senses. We are still missing touch, smell, and taste. However, imagine visiting a museum and you are looking at the skeletons they exhibit. Of course, you are already seeing the skeleton and hearing the sounds in the museum. Now imagine using an AR app that overlays what those skeletons looked and sounded like when they were alive. It already adds a layer of information. Moreover, the museum could add a patch of fabric to the wall that you can touch, targeting touch, so you can experience what the hide of the animal would feel like. Also, they could add insense so you can smell what the animals/their habit smelled like. Much like how it is done in the Dead Men’s Nose project. Of course, also the feelings you have at that moment, standing in that room being surrounded by everything, talking with the people you visit the museum has an impact on how you experience it all. It is most likely much more rememberable as reading about the animal on Wikipedia. You most likely spend longer at the exhibit taking in all the additional information, instead of walking past the skeleton sparing it barely a glance. You use your phone and tablet to compare the animal overlayed on your screen to the skeleton in real life. This brings us to the second main use of augmented reality, interactivity.

Interactivity, the process of two people or things working together and influencing each other, is often another reason augmented reality is used. Let’s take an easy example, an app I assume nearly everyone knows, namely Snapchat. Snapchat overlays a layer, a filter in this case, over the active camera. This already follows your movements and interacts with the way you move your face. Moreover, you also have filters that interact with your facial expression. If you open your mouth using the dog filter a dog tongue will appear to ‘lick the screen’. This way you can interact by using hand or facial gestures or an app can allow you to walk around and change an object. The augmented reality in turn interacts with that change by showing a different part of the image. Interactivity makes it more interested for people to use a product, they feel more like a part of the experience. After all, they influence the experience. It stimulates them to try out and use a product.

Of course, there are other reasons to use augmented reality but the two I mentioned above are generally the main reasons in any project to use AR instead of another medium. I have written more in-depth posts containing reasons to use augmented reality in the other four domains. Officially, we have five domains from school. However, I do not feel like I have to specify the technology domain, seeing as all of it is technology.

“Working with AR is all about adding to your existing skill set and bringing your aesthetic to a new space. It’s about learning a new perspective - the fundamental graphic design principles I’ve developed are still things I draw on everyday.”

Another example from Zappar, showing why augmented reality could be an important skill to have for graphic designers, is that you could make AR picture books. Children need to get bedtime stories. Reading and storytelling with babies and children promotes brain development and imagination, develops language and emotions, and strengthens relationships. It also boosts the amount of words children know. Young children whose parents read them five books a day enter kindergarten having heard about 1.4 million more words than kids who were never read to. So, just reading picture books is already very important. Therefore, adding to that experience might just make it more fun for parent and child.

“It’s all about creativity and experimentation, really - once you see what the technology is capable of, it inspires you to make the most of the platform by learning new creative skills.”

Another interesting way for brands to distinguish themselves from others is by making augmented reality packaging. People will interact more with the product, likely even experience more positive feelings towards to product. It is easier to tell something about the product. Take milk, for example, many companies want to let you know that the treated their cows well. They could make an animation on the packaging, trying to bring their point across.

“Augmented reality has a wealth of design and construction uses beyond visualization, too. It can be used for design analysis to pick out clashes by virtually walking through your completed model.”

We’ve all seen blueprints before. They can be very extensive and contain lots of detailed information. Augmented reality in construction and architecture can be a strong tool. After all, it can give you a 3D model of the drawing, to visualize what it should look like when it’s finished. This is especially helpful for people to who you want to show the blueprint too. It also lets the architect and contractor collaborate on changes that have to happen between design and construction due to constructability issues.  SmartReality from JBknowledge places 3D models on the 2D blueprint or at the site. Users focus on the blueprint, so the app recognizes the design, and the screen overlays what the project will look like when it’s finished

“[...] a mixed reality experience to Kennin-ji’s beautiful and sacred artwork The Folding Screen of Fujin and Raijin (Wind God and Thunder God Screens) by Tawaraya Sotatsu, painted over 400 years ago.”

The Kyoto National Museum, in collaboration with Microsoft, uses mixed reality inside the oldest Zen temple in Japan, the Kenninji. To see this you need to wear the HoloLens glasses. You get a holographic narrative that will tell you about the folding screen made by Sotatsu. All in all the experience takes around ten minutes.

It can contain and visualize lots of information

It does not replace the world like VR does

It stimulates multiple senses

You can still move around

Apps can be targetted for phones/tablets. Which many people already have, so there is no need to buy expensive goggles.

You don’t have to hide between an avatar, so you can still make eye-contact with people and see someone’s body-language

It can save in material costs

It can often still be updated and expanded

The materials often do not take up a lot of physical space

You can allow users to contribute their own objects to the database

“Where Dreams Come True”

I think we all have colored a lot in our youth. I think many of us still do color once in a while, perhaps just not in a coloring book. Disney however used augmented reality to enhance this experience. Their project brings the colorings in the coloring book to live in 3D on your screen, even when you are still coloring them! The project got a lot of positive feedback from their user studies

Anthropology and Physiology, a domain encompassing topics like health nutrition, the brain, psychology, sociology, linguistics, and world religion. 

In this domain augmented reality is used a lot for education. As mentioned before AR is really strong in regards to learning. For example, an AR can contain and visualize a lot of information. You could scan your assignment and make the picture on it appear as a 3D model. You can interact with the model, looking at it from different angles. You could click parts and get additional information. Sounds could be added where needed. All of these promote multisensory learning. Which normally results in making it easier to remember information. 

In two other domains, I also mentioned tourism. The cultural and economical value of tourism. However, there is also a benefit for the tourists themselves. Whether you have a short break and go away in your own country or go visit another country taking a vacation has the potential to enhance the quality of life. Vacations often give us a moment to relax and escape our daily lives for a moment. Since you undergo various experiences and meet new cultures tourism can broaden your way of thinking. It can also provide to be very educational. So, while I mostly found tourism things that fit under culture and it won’t be clustered under the tag anthropology and physiology I still think it’s important to mention it here.

“Real time occlusion makes it appear as if the soldiers are marching through the gate”

Another project that’s part of Dead Men’s Eyes is the build-your-own-fort. For this project, you need to buy the build-your-own-fort cut-outs, quite some time to actually build the fort from the cut-outs, and a device that can run the Dead Men’s Eyes app. Since the cut out is still being sold, I am assuming this does still work. So perhaps a nice remaining lockdown project. 

After you finish ensembling your roman fort you can use the app to ‘bring it life’. You will be able to see soldiers march, you’ll hear sounds befitting a fort, and get information about your fort. You might even get attacked! It’s a nice project and it could be very informative for children to learn about history this way. 

The domain of geopolitics and history is the most difficult domain for me personally. It might be because they contain subjects I have always been bad at. Contained in this domain are among others: world politics, world history, world economics, and current issues.

A large ongoing issue at this moment where augmented is quite used for is climate change. I have already written about this subject in the post over the earth science domain. Another topic I have already written about in the post about the domain of cultural sciences is tourism. However, tourism is also important for the domain of geopolitics and history. It’s very important for countries since there are various benefits tied to it. It boosts the economy, creates more jobs, develops the infrastructures, and causes cultural exchange between foreigners and citizens. In this perspective, tourism can be very beneficial to countries. 

Another economic augmented reality trend that we see more at this moment is the virtual ‘try-before-you-buy’. IKEA released an app called IKEA Place. Users could ‘try out’ IKEA’s furniture in their room by using AR. If you know furniture, or its color, fits in your home you generally are happier with it. It saves costs and effort in returning items. It also can cause people to buy more than they initially planned because they see another nice item in the app. This can result in better sales items for IKEA. If you like the item you can often order it in the same app with one click, making purchasing the item very effortless. Other projects made to boost sales or make your brand name more known are AR displays and business cards. Business cards usually don’t contain a lot of information even though you might want to tell a lot. With AR the cards can be scanned and show up additional information without having to overload someone with paperwork. 

Augmented reality can also be very strong in the history field. Recreating and repairing historical pieces does not only take quite some time but it also costs quite some money. After all, if you recreate a ruined building you want to make sure that it doesn’t deteriorate by constantly maintaining it. In augmented reality, however, this is not a problem. Not only can the ruin remain as it is you can add a layer, or multiple, to it showing the history of the building. For example, as is done with this ruin of a medieval castle. Standing in the actual location we can see parts of our history. There has also been an AR project used to honor historical figures, women with quite some achievements. It is, of course, cheaper to make an AR statue. You don’t have material or maintenance costs. Sure, it might leave less of an impression than seeing an actual statue. Nevertheless, it’s a nice way to honor our ancestors and share bits of history.

“We didn’t expect to get such a perfectly attuned experience to the surgical procedure"

We start to see augmented reality more and more in surgical operations. The surgeons wear goggles that show all kind of digitised numbers and images in front of him. This made it very easy to access the information amidst of the surgery. It can show information where normally an external monitor would be needed to analyse vital information about the patient’s condition. The overlay contains information such as the patients heartrate, blood pressure, temperature and informations, such as imaging, made beforehand. This improves the surgery and makes it easier to monitor a patient.

This is yet another example of how augmented reality can be used in the workfield.