Indoor augmented reality

I have been using outdoor augmented reality Apps for a while, ones that rely on a decent GPS signal in order to work.

Was led to this video by Mark Power on Junaio, an indoor augmented reality App.

The KIOSK EUROPE EXPO 2010 Channel is the first real life implementation of junaio®’s advanced indoor navigation capabilities on your smartphone, presenting an interactive mobile guide to the world’s largest trade fair on electronic self-service and innovative retail solutions. junaio® is the first augmented reality platform to overcome the accuracy limitations of GPS navigation, offering pinpoint indoor navigation services. Point, click and view information on individual exhibits or find directions to interesting events and locations. Available for iPhone and Android.

Certainly looks like it could be a useful idea for educational institutions.

BIG QR Codes

I have been interested and using QR Codes for a while now. I mentioned them on this blog nearly three years ago.

You then take a photograph of the barcode, and with special reader software you are able to convert the barcode into information, which could be a link to a website or just plain information.

Since then I have used them myself a fair few times. I used them at ALT-C 2009 to allow people to more easily vote for my poster (didn’t win by the way).

In presentations I have used them for titles or to share my contact details (though to be honest in the main to show people the potential of them).

We are using them in the Library at our Gloucester Campus to allow learners to access more information, links and further resources.

With the advent of Augemented Reality (AR) with Apps like Layar on the iPhone and Android, I have been wondering if there is a real future for mobile phone 3D barcodes.

There seemed to be very little use of them made in the mainstream public environment. Though interestingly Mashable reports today on how the City of New York has “outfitted Times Square with giant QR codes”.

[img credits: NYC Media]

To celebrate Internet Week 2010, the City of New York outfitted Times Square with giant QR codes earlier today. It’s called “The City at Your Fingerprints” and eleven New York agencies participated in the interactive billboard initiative.

Times Square denizens could use their smartphone barcode scanning app to scan the QR codes — which were featured in an animated sequence on the Thomson Reuters building in Times Square from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET — and pull up information relating to specific agencies being featured.

Some mobile phones come with a reader built in, I think my Nexus One did, and the Nokia N95 certainly did. Other phones don’t and need to have an app downloaded, I use Optiscan on my iPhone for example.

So where are we with QR Codes?

The University of Bath have been doing some extensive work on using QR Codes in education and their blog is well worth a read.

They are not mainstream and I know if I show them outside the mobile learning community and geekdom that most people have no idea what they are.

Are we at a point where they will take off?

Probably not.

I am sure AR will mature more and will be more useful.

Learning with AR

Learning with Augmented Reality.

LearnAR is a new learning tool that brings investigative, interactive and independent learning to life using Augmented Reality. It is a pack of ten curriculum resources for teachers and students to explore by combining the real world with virtual content using a web cam. The resource pack consists of interactive learning activities across English, maths, science, RE, physical education and languages that bring a wow-factor to the curriculum.

As noted on my Twitter community of practice some of these things work and some less so.

eLearning with AR. Hmm…I think the anatomy elements have potential but not convinced by the multi-choice quizzes as surely it would be much simpler to set that up in a browser and engage with it through a more traditional ICT way…?

I have to agree, some of the concepts need a little more work to be innovative, some are too much like replicating pen and paper!

What do you think? Does this have potential?

Future of Books and other stuff…

This really nice video shows the power of augmented reality in terms of reading books and other ways in which learners learn (as well as other things as well).

Shown in part at Plymouth e-Learning Conference.

Augmented Reality Explained by Common Craft

Common Craft have released another of their excellent videos, this one on Augmented Reality.

This video is an introduction to augmented reality – a new and growing way to use smartphones to learn about the world around you. This video introduces the technology and covers the basic applications. It includes:

• A high level introduction to the big idea
• Using it to find a restaurant
• Using it to compare products, be entertained
  
• A look at future possibilities of augmented reality

Making a cup of AR tea

Making tea…

Will AR one day be like this?

Augmented Reality

Today at the MIMAS Mobile Learning event, Gary Priestnall – Associate Professor within the Geographical Information Science research group, School of Geography, University of Nottingham, and manager of the Nottingham arm of SPLINT (SPatial Literacy IN Teaching) gave a really interesting presentstion on his work on augemented reality.

I do think that augemented reality has huge potential for learning and for providing information to learners, not just in an interactive engaging way, but in an accurate way as well.

TAT has been doing some work on augemented reality.

When someone views you through their handset’s camera, pre-selected info and social networking links appear to hover around you, letting your new found friend in on more than just your pretty smile.

So is this creepy or no different to putting your Twitter name on the final slide of your conference presentation?

via Engadget