Recently I’ve been researching “Augmented Reality” techniques and how they can be applied to support educational / instructional applications. For those of you who don’t know what Augmented Reality (AR) is, it’s a way in which we can “superimpose” a layer of additional information onto the “real world” through the use of various types of technologies. It’s actually easier to show than to describe! Here are a few demos of me showing off my newest AR creations:
In each of these demos you can see that I’m using my webcam to detect a special symbol – this symbol, when recognized, tells the computer to overlay the incoming video stream with a 3D object or animation. The orientation of the symbol gives the system the ability to determine its location in space as well as rotation and tilt.
I’m hoping that I will be able to expand my research into creating interactive tools that be used by teachers to explain difficult concepts to their students. I’m also working on developing a streamlined display system that may include head-mounted glasses that allows a person to walk freely around a space and experience any AR content that may be present. Stay tuned!
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February 23rd, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Oh my God! That’s SO cool!!! I’m going to show my second-graders your Earth/moon, since the solar system is our first science unit.
March 3rd, 2009 at 9:44 am
This is indeed very cool. MS and HS students can use AR as a presentation format to demonstrate their understanding for a variety of concepts! This would be a fun assignment. It is time to move beyond power point presentations as a product of choice. Thanks!