Tag: augmented reality news

Augmented reality IllumiRoom from Microsoft will one day bring AR home

| May 4, 2013

Though it is probably coming, it is still likely another five to ten years away.

Having first debuted at CES in 2013,  is the latest Microsoft experiment that brings augmented reality into the living room of a home using a combination of a projector and a Kinect camera.

The purpose would be to enhance the environment in which consumers live every day.

The introduction of the augmented reality technology explained that it was meant to “blur the lines between on-screen content and the environment we live in.” There were a series of different proposed applications for this type of technology and experience. However, the most commonly noted was its potential for integration with gaming in order to generate an exceptionally exciting playing experience.

Augmented reality would allow imagery to be projected around the entire space, not just on the screen.

The result of this augmented reality gaming projection would be an expansion of its boundaries, for an added layer of game playing immersion. This would allow features to be seen all around the individual, not just straight ahead. In theory, this could mean everything from wildlife to projected weather effects.

Microsoft explained that the augmented reality tech would be made possible through one of its “next-generation gaming console” devices. That hints that it could potentially be present in one of the next versions of the Xbox. At the same time, Microsoft has been repeatedly saying that “it’s purely a research project,” so consumers might not want to get their hopes up, quite yet.

Hrvoje Benko, from Microsoft Research, explained that IntelliRoom and the related reference to next generation consoles are not necessarily an “explicit reference” to the company’s Xbox. However, it is more likely to be a statement regarding augmented reality technology that could come available in “five or ten years.”

At the same time, Benko did say that Kinect and Xbox teams have been partnered in a number of different IllumiRoom related projects. He did state that “there’s a dialogue going on continuously there.” Equally, though, he also pointed out that the augmented reality experience still has many issues that need to be resolved before it would come close to being ready for sale to consumers.

Augmented reality is increasingly finding its way into education

| February 14, 2013

Augmented Reality collegeThough the technology is becoming quite popular as a teaching tool, many wonder if it will continue.

Colleges and universities are both beginning to take a look at augmented reality as they discover its potential as a teaching tool, but many wonder whether it is simply a gimmick that will temporarily catch the attention of students, or whether it is a trend that will continue to develop over time.

With the high penetration of smartphone and tablets among college-age students, the technology holds potential.

The latest estimates have said that among students who are between the ages of 16 and 24 years old, 71 percent currently have smartphones. This means that nearly three out of every four students already has the technology that would be required to be able to take advantage of augmented reality learning tools if they were being offered by their schools. It is, however, the professors and the teachers who are slow to embrace the technology as a part of their lessons and lectures.

Only a few trailblazers have worked augmented reality into their classrooms as a teaching tool.

This is leading many to wonder whether a considerable opportunity to help to build significant workplace skills is currently being overlooked. Augmented reality could potentially provide more engaging and interactive lessons that would allow students to develop their skills for facing the real world.

AR technology gives people the ability to add a digital element to print materials, objects, and geographic locations. A smartphone or a tablet are all that is required to use an applicable app and scan the object to which the digital content has been applied.

The University of Manchester presented a considerable and successful example of the use of augmented reality as a learning tool, through its Scarlett Project. This program gave student device users the ability to access rare manuscripts and books in their digital versions through AR technology.

Similarly, City University London also used a number of mobile friendly techniques, for their Creating Augmented Reality in Education (CARE) project for students in the healthcare program, which provided them – among other things – with a number of enhanced “health walks” that combined AR and GPS technologies.