As the coolest gadget around, the iphone is raising a lot of interest in the augmented reality community. This was once again confirmed in an interview with Stéphane Cocquereaumont, President and Lead developer at Int13, a mobile games developer:
“The iPhone is in fact our main target, the next demo we’ll publish will be on this device, this is probably the best device to do mobile AR today, even if its camera is far from perfect.”
Stéphane conversed with me following a post of Int13’s demo on the augmented reality games facebook group titled: “Augmented Reality on mobile devices that just works”
He added:
“Our AR library should work easily on devices such as Intel’s MID [which is coming out this summer – games alfresco]…but we’re more interested in Smartphones…”
Games alfresco: How central do you see augmented reality in your company’s future?
Stéphane: “We plan to continue working on our AR technology and improve it, we’re especially interested in markerless tracking.”
And here is what I really liked in this interview:
“But our main objective is to create cool games and sell them”
Int13 is among the first pure game developers to dive into the AR space.
“if our current AR projects reveal themselves to be commercially successful then AR could become central for us.”
Cautious optimism, always a good trait for a game developer.
Thanks Stéphane and France from Int13 for sharing your experiences and plans!
As the light at the end of the (summer vacation) tunnel is almost insight, let me ask you a reflective question:
Where do kids prefer to be on a summer day:
(a) Museums
(b) Theme parks
(c) Staying at home and playing video games
Any volunteers for (a) ?…
What if you could combine all three into one?
What if you could transform learning about cultures, art, science, history – into a fun experience for kids? What if museums were as much fun as outdoor adventures and video games combined?
This fantasy is becoming a reality thanks to efforts by pioneers around the world.
Here are my picks of the 4 5 best augmented reality tours that are reinventing museums:
1. Lifeplus in Pompei
Pompei Ladies in an afternoon promenade in front of your eyes
Breathing new life into the ruined streets of Pompei
Visitors stroll in the real streets of Pompei, while watching thru their glasses, virtual scenes of city natives living their lives as if it’s 79 AD, minutes before the eruption of Vesuvius.
This EU funded project was lead by MIRALab – university of Geneva in 2004. See more at Lifeplus.
2. DNP-Louvre Museum lab
A behind the scenes look at exhibits
A mobile device with live video, shows on the display virtual objects such as a balloon that guides visitors through the exhibits. The climax of this tour arrives (1:37) when shards of an antique Islamic platter are virtually reconstructed to create the real platter.
Kudos to Metaio who developed the experience for DNP-Louvre Museum Lab in Tokyo, though they should try trimming the bulky device…
3. Mobile Augmented Reality Quest (MARQ) – Expedition Schatzsuche
Treasure hunt in a museum (in Austria)
A team oriented game where museum visitors play the role of investigators required to solve 3d virtual puzzles surrounding exhibits. Successful completion of puzzles reveal further steps of the story.
Beyond the new type of interaction with museum exhibits, MARQ introduces multi user collaboration: collected virtual items can be shared between groups, and “guided tour replays” can be viewed at any time – on the Gizmondo (RIP) gaming device.
This novice approach to experiencing Museum exhibits was developed by the Graz University team in Vienna, led by Daniel Wagner and Dieter Schmalstieg. It was shot at the Kärner Landesmuseum in Klagenfurt/Carinthia.
Rome Reborn is the largest computer simulation of an ancient city. Cool. But what Fraunhofer (Institute for Computer Graphics Research) has done with it is way cool: walk among the ruins of the Roman Forum and point your Vaio UMPC anywhere to see buildings being reconstructed.
Blair MacIntyre and his team at GA Tech have done the impossible: they have turned the Oakland cemetery in Atlanta to a visitor magnet – all thanks to an augmented reality tour which can be experienced on a cell phone. You have to see it to believe it.
Unfortunately, the cemetery was destroyed last year by a hurricane. So the students of subsequent years wont be able to keep playing with it.
6. Science Museum in Paris
Navigate Museums with AirTags
A new implementation by Tonchidot for La Villette Museum in Paris where visitors use AirTags provided by the Museum or by users to enrich their museum experience.
In the creators own words:
Sekai camera turns a museum into a “living” internet environment…The real world becomes “clickable”
7. Digital Binocular Station for Cultural Museums
A stationary Augmented Reality device developed by Mind Space Solutions. Because it is fixed to a single location, it allows the use photorealistic, cinema-quality visuals, and compensate for the lack of parallax by presenting everything in stereoscopic 3D.
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What are the 10 ingredients to augment a museum tour?
A practical augmented reality device (avoid backpacks and bulky displays) with visual tracking software
High quality 3D models of exhibits, and how they looked and behaved in the past (and future?)
A combination of learning and fun with a really really good story
Breath life into inanimate objects
Sprinkle some sound when necessary
Incinerate verbose plaques; say what you have to say in 2 to 5
Indoor tours are great; outdoor tours are even better
Multi user interaction and collaboration
Location based services, including (fun) navigation instructions
Did I mention it has to be fun?
…and don’t forget to send the kids home with a souvenir DVD: “my augmented tour at the museum”
Didn’t make the list…
The following efforts didn’t make the list, mostly because they forgot ingredient #10…
Games Alfresco 