Augmented Reality Guide – PART IV

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Publ. 07.28.2017

AUGMENTED REALITY Guide -what you need to know- PART IV

AR FOR YOU!

The last part of the article series „Augmented Reality Guide -what you need to know“ gives an introduction about AR options for you as an individual, concerning the own creation of AR content as well as the diverse consume of AR content.

So first of all, HOW CAN I CREATE MY OWN AR CONTENT? – Of course, there are a lot of different apps, softwares and hardware devices which vary in price and quality but if you are a beginner in AR, want to experiment a bit, get a feeling of AR production and do not want to spend a lot of money, favourable apps would be: Zappar, Blippar, EmotionsAR or Aurasma. They are not just free, they are good to understand and easy to use. Aurasma, for example: you just need to login, upload your desired images, add and specify the overlay as well as positioning and after you have finalised all necessary data, you save your project and that’s it!

After covering your AR production, the following is about YOUR AR EXPERIENCE. I was researching for the the most popular and immersive AR apps –of course, just the free ones- and here is a resumé:

If you are into discovering new products, brands or sales you should try Zappar or Layar. Just scan certain product codes or advert and it will begin to move, inform and motivate you for interaction. This kind of marketing is an upcoming trend and is really building up a relationship between the product or brand and the consumer (read more about AR in Marketing in part III).

You want to experience AR in a creative and imaginative way? –Check out:

Ink Hunter: to try different tattoos on preferred places of your body and get a very clear idea of how it would look like.

Amikasa: to design and plan floors or single rooms in 3D. By using furniture and decor from real brands you can incorporate your individual style to create a personal dream interior.

Gabsee: to create your own avatar that is representing you in Augmented Reality. Personalize your avatar with specific clothing, give him a face by taking a selfie and let him do whatever you want.

And for those who want to enjoy AR in a playful way in the frame of a game: Next to the most popular AR gaming App Pokémon Go, there are other variations, too. Their concepts and basic ideas are similar to pokémon go but they vary in figurative content – to make a long story short: there are not pokémons jumping around your environment but rather zombies, dinosaurs or ghosts. Check out Zombies Go, Ghost Snap or Claw Hunter.

Augmented Reality Guide – PART III

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Publ. 07.26.2017

AUGMENTED REALITY Guide -what you need to know- PART III

AR RIGHT NOW!

In the frame of this AR article series, part III is about the current status of AR inside the modern society, as well as the previous (private and) commercial use.

When you are confronted with Augmented Reality, the first buzzwords you are thinking of might be something like „technical innovation“, „complex algorithms“, „future trends“ or „new digital options“. But we have already made our first AR experiences as kids, for example, the children’s books with folding 3D models to learn about different objects and educate dimensions und proportions.

Nowadays big companies like Microsoft, Google or Apple are making demands on „AR“ and put their expensive products to the foreground of proceedings because they have already identified the big potential of AR technologies – In regard of entertainment as well as in information.

Augmented Reality opens us plenty of opportunities! The main categories where AR is being used for right now are not only the children’s 3D books or the animal selfie masks… There are so much more examples and fields, like:

Companies and brands use AR for their MARKETING to create an interactive experience for their customers and speak to their target group in an entertaining and playful way. They even use it in retail and build up whole AR customer service assistances which provide advice to the clients, convoy them during their brand experience and actually generate an active and lively shopping adventure.

But in general, the demand of AR in the field of INFORMATION DESK AND GUIDANCE is increasing and I am not only speaking of virtual signposts at every street corner or navigation assistance; also the tourism, as well as the arts&culture scene take more and more advantage of the new information tool AR. Especially cultural institutions, museums or galleries try to attract the audience with Enhanced Reality to arrange their visits more exiting or communicate their content in a more practical way.

And here we are at the next big field, in which AR is demonstrating its big potential: EDUCATION. With the aid of new AR training programs, technicians can practice their crafts, get ready for „real-life“ -field service or engineering missions. Actually, medicine students and upcoming doctors do benefit from new AR programs & training – they do not only learn in a very active and efficient way, the users also get feelings for inner structures, proportions and have the possibility to exercise postpositive practical cases. The surgical ward is already using AR during real operations or surgical interventions to get a better view of internal organs etc. At the moment, Augmented Reality is also getting more and more introduced in school education, teaching and classes. And of course, it does… Every kind of content can get transmitted in a more dynamic, playful, lifelike and practical way.

In contrast to the more experimental use of AR in education, its use in the GAMING AND ENTERTAINMENT sector seems to be very established; and also the creative heads of the DESIGN AND CREATION INDUSTRY discover all the new opportunities and adopt them into their work – especially in space or product design, AR lend itself to visualise projects, present their ideas or give others an understanding of new plans.

AR enables us to a plenty of creative, entertaining and informative possibilities. It offers chances to get a deeper knowledge and comprehension, to understand things better, to learn easier and to experience more intense!

Here you can see a collage with diverse examples of contemporary use of Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality Guide – PART II

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Publ. 07.25.2017

AUGMENTED REALITY Guide -what you need to know- PART II

HOW DOES AR WORK?

The second article of the „AR“ series covers the question: How does AR work?

In the course of the adoption of smartphones in our society, people are not just informed about new trends or technological innovations, they are even surrounded by them (-if they want or not); One of the first commercial success stories in AR was written by Pokémon Go, which gave the people a first and easily accessible impression of AR with the aid of their smartphones. So everybody is experiencing AR content but nobody really knows how it works.

The more immersive and dynamic AR experience is the one you are doing with a real headset (f.e. HoloLens). In general, AR works in conjunction with digital devices (tablets, smartphones, headsets etc.), that contain software, sensors and projectors which trigger digital displays onto physical objects.

The AR process uses a camera with „scanning mode“ that is able to generate a data base of captured shapes and corners (by pointing the camera in the room and let it analyse their proportions). Then the camera detect trigger objects from its database and let digital objects appear in the position of the scanned -on target- object.

And that is Augmented Reality behind the scenes.

Augmented Reality Guide – PART I

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Publ. 07.24.2017

AUGMENTED REALITY Guide -what you need to know- PART I

WHAT IS AR?

The first blog post of this AR article series is about the definition of Augmented Reality, as well as its differences to Virtual or Mixed Reality.

So, first of all- What is „Augmented Reality“? – Augmented Reality (or Enhanced Reality) is a technology that lays computer-generated images over a user’s view of the real world . In simple terms:

digital elements are added to your common point of view OR

virtual objects are anchored in real space

So AR „upgrades“ the existing reality through a computer based extension and modifies your cognition of reality, as well. The most typical or „most-known/used“ extensions of AR -so far- are little information boards, virtual signposts, videos or 3D objects –like the Pokémons of 2016 hyped game Pokémon Go!

Well, the next question is- What are the differences between „Augmented“, „Mixed“ and „Virtual Reality“? – Usually the poeple think that AR distinguishes from MR but as we see, Augmented Reality is kind of a „Mixed Reality“. In contrast to AR or MR, „Virtual Reality“ leaves out the dependance to actual reality – it is a fully computer generated simulation of new environments and worlds. Furthermore, the aspect of interacting with the animated objects or worlds is completely omitted.

So, let’s summarise:

VR – Virtual Reality – is a fully immersive experience // a computer generated simulation of new surroundings without interaction of the physical world around you

MR / AR – Mixed / Augmented Reality – is the integration of three-dimensional virtual objects, you can interact with, in real space

DUST – VR as a medium for contemporary dance

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Publ. 06.16.2017

I just found a new vvvv made artwork, a virtual reality experience in the sense of contemporary dance, called DUST. It is working on a construction of movable 3D recordings reflecting dance moves or ballet performances.

Through the VR headset the poeple can place themselves into the motion environment of the dancer. DUST-visitors have the possibility to stand next to the performer or they can even step inside them, DUST allows them to explore their flow and their dance moves from any perspective. An unique aspect of the DUST project is the visual transfer of dimensions: the dancer’s body and body movements, as well as thier environment, are reflected as particular particles. By this special visualisation the experience is getting more and more organic and conveys a very natural and human, nearly biological or physical impression and understanding to the audience.

In addition, this unique visual scenario gets complete and perfect by dint of audio effects, sound support and background music, that esecially was created for this presentation.
The inspiration and influence of earth’s consistence and physical structure are also reasons for the naming of this project: DUST.
They say this special experience of contemporary dance is not only building a deep emotional connection to humans’ origin, it sways the sense of time, space and movement, too. I think the following words of the two DUST-creators Mária Júdova and Andrej Boleslavsky express the potential and enrichment of this new „medium for contemporary dance“:

„As an improvisational tool, VR can inspire creative movements; as an educational tool, it can record choreography and encourage public engagement, and, for us, it is a tool for endless artistic expression.”

TILT BRUSH – new ways of creativity

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Publ. 12.13.2016

3d787ef094cb3105907277fd74447f19For some time now Virtual Reality is a big topic inside the tech scene and also gets more and more attention in the life of „common society“. Step by step every kind of branch is recognizing the big potential of this technology and how it could be useful in their field, even in education and training, as well as medicine or psychological research. In my opinion, the biggest effect can be identified inside the creative sector. It even doesn’t completely change the way we’ re watching (or rather experiencing) films and play games, Virtual Reality opens us new worlds of being creative and lets us create art in dimensions, we weren’t able to use yet.

 

It is a creative app developed and published by Google and released for Microsoft Windows in April 2016.

tiltbrush-featured

To me, Tilt Brush is the most impressive construction. 

 

Tilt Brush is a 3D painting tool – your room is your canvas and your painting devices are your own creations. You are able to live out your creative imaginations in three dimensions and construct your own world by endless possibilities. 

But you can not only build up your art work –or better art world-, you can also 

EXPLORE (--->) 

them in a new way. In practice, you can walk inside your own sculptures and study them from every perspective and distance.

vas-home-fbBut now I am asking myself, will artists, designers and good drawers or painters be able to implement their skills inside this 3D world? –Strictly speaking, humans did not sketch something in three dimensions, in a room, we were only composing on paper or any other two-dimensional materials.

Tilt Brush requires a completenew thinking, other skills and movements. Maybe it will work out intuitively but I don’t know because I haven’t tried yet.

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It is certain that Tilt Brush or further VR painting tools have the potential to revolutionize the human’s way of beeing creative and create or explore arts. However, the people have to be aware of the danger, too. I mean, you can be god in your own world, you can create and change it as you like, by endless possibilities. You can plunge into your own virtual reality, that seems more attractive to you than real reality, and loose yourself into it whenever and wherever you like...

In general, I am very excited of the further development in creative VR constructions and curious about experiencing Tilt Brush for the first time. It might be a crazy, as well as awesome tool...

But I am interested,

  • Does anybody heard something of similar tools?
Will technologies like this oust our traditional ways of drawing with pen and paper?
  • And do you think humans first have to learn how to transfer their drawing ideas and movements into three dimensional canvas?

 

...visit the virtual art.chrome experiements website, there you can follow some interactive Tilt brush sessions by six artists showing their first explorations in a 3D virtual environment...

virtual art sessions

or watch some inspiring videos!