Ever since I was sent to the General Electric Augmented Reality website a while back, and saw for myself what can be achieved with a small printed out square and a webcam, I have been fascinated by Augmented Reality. I've been wondering just how this technology could be used in the classroom.
Whilst I've been off work I have had the time to look into AR in more detail - I've even been reading the developers side of AR and seeing what I would need to install (and understand) to create my own AR models; for those interested, I'd need to create a model using google sketchup for example, and then download and use a few pieces of open source software to enable a webcam to recognise my marker and display my model.
However, a much easier way is to use a website like ARSights - it works within google earth as a .kml layer, or on its own through their website. Simply select the model you want to see, download and print the ARsights marker and you have a static model showing on your webcam. Rotating your marker around allows you to see the model from all sounds. Great for a short time of viewing - but very tiring after a long time, and inpractical within the classroom as you would not be able to stand in front of the webcam for a whole lesson.
The solution? A cheap rotating display stand - the sort used for collectible models with the marker placed on top...
It creates a continuous rotating model effect that can be left on screen throughout the lesson as shown below;
Oh, and you might want to see the AR Star Trek website too. It's worth it.
