Using augmented reality to enhance university campus tours
Posted on October 26, 2009 by tracyplayle in UncategorizedIt was only going to be a matter of time before some bright spark came up with a decent iPhone app to enhance university campus tours. uTourX does just that – for US-based universities at the moment, but it’s the potential of the technology that makes it useful for us Europeans too. Check out this video:
I’d like to see it go one step further and integrate video clips, perhaps students talking about their campus, alumni sharing their memories, or even virtual fly-throughs of the inside of buildings when you use your camera to ‘point’ at them. Wouldn’t it be great also (and I know it can be done), for example, if when someone touring your campus in winter hovers over an open green space, they are greeted with an image of that space busy and bustling in the glory of a beautiful summer day – we need never worry about those horrid drizzly autumn/winter campus tours again! And think of the commercial application if when a visitor to your campus points the camera at one of your food outlets, they are greeted by the menu of the day and a full price list, including details of special offers. The potential is incredible.
Potential for some interesting pedagogical uses, given the right infrastructure.
I’m going to try out something like this for our Open Space Learning project. I’ll tell you more when I get onto the out-doorsy part of it.