Learning from Iron Man and the Terminator:

Bringing Augmented Reality to Libraries

Markus WustNCSU Libraries

TRLN Annual MeetingJuly 13, 2012

What is Augmented Reality?

Common Public Perception: Terminator Iron Man Terminator

What is Augmented Reality?

“... a real-time direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment that has been enhanced / augmented by adding virtual computer-generated information to it.”

Carmigiani et al., Augmented reality technologies, systems and applications (2011)

Augmented Reality: So What?

• We have been augmenting our reality with additional information for a long time…

AR technology has been around for a while, too:

Ivan Sutherland's Head-Mounted Display (1968)

So…

… why is everybody getting interested in it now?

Answer: iPhone / Android / ...

Affordances of New Devices

More processing power

Better/larger displays

Better sensor technology (location, orientation, tilt, movement)

Some Examples of AR Use

AR in Marketing

AR in Entertainment

Example: Pac-Man

AR in Education

New Media Consortium 2010 Horizon Report

Augmented reality offers new modes of learning

Also included in 2011 Report

Instruction

Digital Collections

WolfWalk BeaverTracks PhillyHistory.org

Wayfinding

WolfWalk

PowerCat (Kansas State University)

We have come a long way...

… but there's still work to do

In-Door Location Detection

- GPS does not work in most in-door locations

- Possible solutions:– RFID (Radio Frequency Identification)– Barcodes– Image Recognition

Displays

Either:- cumbersome and immersive

Or:

- small, but only viewport

Possible Solutions

- AR Glasses

- AR contact lenses

Thank You!

mgwust@ncsu.edu