Presentation for the Hamilton-Fairfield Newcomers and Neighbors Club meeting, April 13, 2016.

Email: sheehyc@xavier.edu
Twitter: @christiansheehy

AR is not VR http://www.augment.com/blog/virtual-reality-vs-augmented-reality

Augmented Reality (AR) is technology that supplements a user's view of the environment in real time using either a mobile or wearable device. Like the heads-up displays found in aircraft, AR allows the user to see information about their environment while looking directly at objects of interest. Unlike virtual reality, AR does not immerse the user in a virtual environment, but instead augments their physical environment with practical or entertaining visuals or information.

Google Glass (pictured)
Mobile phones and tablets
HoloLens (upcoming)

Dining apps like Yelp Monocle identify restaurants in an unfamiliar city with accompanying reviews so that a traveler can make better and more informed dining decisions.

Photo by Tunnel Vision, http://www.tunnelvisionapp.com

Formerly Word Lens, Google Translate visually translates the text of other languages on the fly. For example, a native English speaker in Spain could have street signs translated simply by pointing their phone. It can also be used to read the ingredient list on a dessert purchased at the international market.

Apps like Arasma can be configured to provide auditory and directional information, details about artwork or displays, or information designed for a specific class or professor.

Photo by Stacie DaPonte, https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdaponte

Photo by Hagustin.

Photo by WilsonTeresi.

ShelvAR, an AR application developed by Miami University, allows library staff to perform shelf-reading using a phone or tablet. The camera on the staff device reads spine labels on materials while the screen visually shows which items are shelved correctly and which items are out of place. This streamlines the typically tedious task of shelf-reading and frees staff time to focus on other tasks.

Photo by charlotte henard, https://www.flickr.com/photos/charlottehenard

The retailer Ikea recently debuted an AR app for furniture shopping. Using their print catalog as a point of reference for size, a customer can overlay virtual furniture at home to help determine if the piece of furniture they want is the appropriate size and appearance.

Apps like ColAR transform coloring pages into three dimensional characters and scenes that take on the colors and other characteristics of the artist’s work.

Photo by Christian Sheehy

Apps like Ingress "gamify" the world and invite interaction with other players while moving from one physical location to another to complete team-based objectives. Similarly, Zombies, Run! instructs a jogger to speed up as (virtual) zombies get closer to their jogging route, no matter where they are located in the world.

The end user must not only possess a device like a smart phone or tablet, but must also make the effort to install an app that corresponds with the platform selected to use. Although AR is not new technology, as mobiles devices approach saturation, the possibilities of providing a more rich and interactive visit to a location become more manageable.

By Leonard Low from Australia (Concept for augmented reality mobile phone) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

[1] Enis, M. (2014). "Beacon" Technology Deployed by Two Library App Makers. Library Journal. Retrieved January 8, 2016, from
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2014/11/marketing/beacon-technology-
deployed-by-two-library-app-makers

[2] Ireton, D., Pitts, J., & Ward, B. (2013). Library Discovery through Augmented Reality: A Game Plan for Academics. International Journal of Technology, Knowledge & Society, 9(4), 119-128.

[3] Massis, B. (2015). Using virtual and augmented reality in the library. New
Library World, 116(11/12), 796-799. http://doi.org/10.1108/NLW-08-2015-
0054

[4] Shatte, A., Holdsworth, J., & Lee, I. (2014). Mobile augmented reality based
context-aware library management system. Expert Systems with Applications, 41(5), 2174-2185. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2013.09.016

[5] Spina, C. (2011). Keeping Up With... Augmented Reality. Retrieved November 12, 2015, from
http://www.ala.org/acrl/publications/keeping up with/ar

[6] Van Arnhem, J.-P., & Spiller, J. M. (2014). Augmented Reality for Discovery and Instruction. Journal of Web Librarianship, 8(2), 214-230.
http://doi.org/10.1080/19322909.2014.904208

[7] Zak, E. (2014). Do You Believe in Magic? Exploring the Conceptualization
of Augmented Reality and its Implications for the User in the Field of Library
and Information Science. Information Technology & Libraries, 33(4), 23-50.

Thanks for my friends at the Lane Libraries for some inspiration https://prezi.com/pc2jnhciw41z/augmented-reality-talk