Augmented Reality

So what is Augmented Reality (AR) or more importantly how do we stand to benefit from it i.t.o education? You have probably seen it on television and being used in movies like Minority Report without realizing what it was. For me the simple definition is a real-time interaction with the physical world that is enhanced through the lens of a computer-based application. With the writing of my previous post on QR codes I didn't realize that it was a form of AR triggered by a marker. A while ago a friend posted the following video on his FB profile:

So it appears that there are a number of the applications already available but unfortunately limited to those who can lay their hands on one of the Apple products or a smartphone. I am yet to try one out myself but will give you feedback as soon as I have learnt some more.......and now here I am after some personal investigation into the whole QR code phenomenon. I am pleased to say that it works quite well. I have managed to download a little app called "mobiletag" to my phone which allows my camera to read these "crop circle-like" barcodes. I also secured a personal barcode for use with any item in the physical world that will connect interested individuals to my social networking sites such as FB, Twitter, Linkedin, email and any other online page that you may have. One does have control over which aspects of your personal details you wish to make public.

What does it hold for education though? Well nearly every student that I know has a FB account and more and more students are using smartphones such as the Blackberry's as their communication device of choice. Imagine this: You start your course and place on your PPt a QRcode like the one below. Everyone in that class snaps it with their cellphone which immediately invites them to join the rest of the class on the group that you've created for your class on FB. They join and immediately you have solved a major communication problem of dealing with large classes. SCAN me I dare you!