Augmented Reality (AR) continues to get better. Matt Mills: Image recognition that triggers augmented reality on Ted.Com describes his AR development with mobile devices. URL: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/matt_mills_image_recognition_that_triggers_augmented_reality.html



Matt Mills provides a fascinating presentation about the current technology of augmented reality (AR). His http://www.aurasma.com/ site offers a free download of SW to produce AR on mobile technology, i.e. cell, tablets, etc. The application possibilities are many, for education,business commercial use etc. We started with SW like Visual Basic with buttons and mouse clicks that brought up images and text to add to the basic document. As innovators can look at a need that can look at today's technology and brainstorm 'what if'' and 'why not'! Our collective experiences can offer a potential endless number of possibilities.

Augmented Reality has spread into both commercial, home, and academic research. Many researchers provide financial strength to stretch AR from the beginnings of QR codes to spatial and projected AR, and interactive AR. Social enhancement from describing locations, directions, and information to depicting new architecture in potential sites, as well as how clothing looks on before you buy!

AR GIS Maps

Business Cards

BMW Auto Maintenance

Kweekies Game

 Educational forces see an added support and motivation to student from preschool to college subjects. AR is a plus to museum with information and comparisons to other artist possibilities. Students can look at a map and learn about sites at a location, or see buildings the way they looked years before. The possibilities are endless!




For those interested in tinkering with AR, try ARToolKit.

Augmented Reality (AR) has a strong future built on academic research and commercial development. Research in AR continues to broaden the the possibilities in large scale projections, and interactive AR. The future may hold holographic like imaging with real-time object interaction. The educational world embraces AR at every grade level exciting the children and fascinating the adult learners. The social aspect adds apps on cell phones from games to assistants for travel and information about present and past.

The limiting forces have more to do with the financial aspect. Projections currently for large scale require equipment more expansive and prior setup to support. Yet, projects like the "Sixth Sense" show promise.


And the data aspect for any AR requires prior retrieval and set up. The Internet continues to grow exponentially in this data available to anyone with connectivity and access. How far AR can go may depend on how easy AR objects can be created?

Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry demo SixthSense

http://www.ted.com/talks/pattie_maes_demos_the_sixth_sense.html

Game-based Learning

Game-based learning is a major area of research. Academic and commercial organizations are creating different games for learning across the spectrum of school subjects. Major attributes of game design important to learning are incorporated into successful games, such as feedback, problem solving, and motivation to attain the goals of each game. The challenge is to incorporate current educational content developed as part of the traditional educational system. A key factor in developing games for the classroom is designing games to produce the projected outcomes of existing course (Horizon Report)

Figure 1 Moessinger, S. (2012). Education – anything but a game

Sylvia’s Blog (2012) Emerging technology continues to evolve and merge older technologies and crated new technologies. What seems like an infinite resource of data and the rapid access to people everywhere at an instant notice changed people’s perceptions of the world, and their expectations of immediate return. Traditional classroom incorporation of game-based learning can provide faster feedback as well as potential motivation encouragement. Perhaps there is a question not asked? Traditional education expects the existing content of curriculum to blend into the game design (Horizon Report). Considering the change to an information society, should the content of today’s curriculum change? The Horizon Report applies a modified Delphi approach to presenting future technology in education. Rather than face to face, the process takes place online. The advisory boards gather a variety of members from various backgrounds. There is a one third turnaround of the members. While a base set of materials is given to the members their perspectives on teaching and learning add new perspectives to the materials to be considered and prioritized. This inclusion of experience and knowledge to the basic material, shared by all the members of the advisory board can provide an otherwise limited outcome. While changes in forces affecting these potential trends may at time be quite volatile, the process is repeated each year to update and re-direct based on trends changing due to those force changes. Horizon Report. (2012). New Media Corporation.

Figure 1 Moessinger, S. (2012). Education – anything but a game?[Blog]
https://sylviamoessinger.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/education-anything-but-a-game/

NMC Horizon Report - 2012

http://www.nmc.org/publications/horizon-report-2012-higher-ed-edition

If we can only see tomorrow ...

If we can only see tomorrow ... what fascinating changes might we behold? Portals is a blog about what may be, based on things we see and hear today, perhaps images and knowledge of past events, something covered in dust long forgotten, or may be the dreams of what may be! Did we ever give some thought about past dreams? Is it possible to see the potential of things to come by looking at the past. Perhaps hindsight is always better the foresight? Sometime the creative minds of the past just needed the right technology and the right forces at work to make possibilities of past dreams! A brief look at how someone's creative mind thought a moon shot (Silent Film "Trip to the Moon") could happen ...



Compare to an actual trip to the moon (Launch of First Apollo Moon Landing) on July 16, 1969 ...




Still 'Shot' into the air! Yet, the moon looks a little different ... for real!

Virtual environments (VE) provide new possibilities to the future.  VE offer the creative mind a chance to design and build new and old ideas without risk. One area with great potential is organizational conferences. Today, each attendee is represented by an avatar. One day, each avatar in the conference may have a real time animation of their facial and body motions in place of specified actions pre-stored in the avatar. There are some real-time animations with elaborate equipment not readily available. This systems base on a base human head then mapping onto the base the face. The facial expression are based on a code book of possible expressions.

The technological force is a major factor. Bandwidth is limiting for the stream of data, and multi-player interaction. Perhaps, social, some people like their anonymity, some interact better without their real face showing! Yet, take a look at some of graphics of today's online games. Some of the avatars look very life-like!

Take a look at some of the work in CG technology from "20100701 Photorealistic Facial Animation", University of Southern California, Institute for Creative Technologies (http://ict.usc.edu/) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z72U7Z75ww



Can we see real time animation in the future?

Technology continues to evolve. Algorithmic and compression routines along with multiprocessing technology add to the real-time virtual animation of human faces. The bandwidth is still a limiting factor with massively multiplayer online systems. The information era continues to grow in numbers of individual and corporate use of online interfaces. While the cultural aspect of increase use of the Internet shoes changes in the way people do business, there still remains the positive nature of existing virtual world technology anonymity offered to individuals that is removed by real-time facial rendering. Perhaps, time is the changer of acceptance of seeing oneself online? After all, preschoolers are already becoming literate with computers and the Internet!