I was sitting at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf next to Olympia Medical Center last week, enjoying a nice decaf ice coffee, when a smartly dressed fellow in a business suit walked in.
Nothing unusual there - you see that all the time at these coffee shops.
After reading the article, I just had to try this so, a one minute download later, I had the Entiti creator running and within 20 minutes, I had my very own first AR program running! It was soooo easy to use and yet so powerful!
Oh, did I mention that he had his eyes glued to his smart phone?
Nothing new there either - modern society and all that... always checking email and texting...
What was strange to me was that he was scanning the coffee shop with his smart phone, like he was looking for something. It reminded me of the cartoon character Inspector Gadget.
I asked the fellow what he was doing. He looked a bit sheepish and said that he was looking for Pokemon.
WHAAAATTT?!!
It seems that for most of last week, I had been living under a rock and had no idea about the latest craze going on across the world.... Pokemon GO
Using any smart device with an active Internet connection, you can go hunt for those elusive little critters with the help of Augmented Reality(AR). People are just going crazy doing this!
This supports what I have been saying for the last two years (I will let you scan my blog archive for my previous posts on AR/VR) about how Augmented Reality (and Virtual Reality) is here to stay. The question now becomes, how do we leverage this in our classroom to enhance the learning experience?
While I have given examples before (here and here) and with even newer technology, you can create Augmented Reality scavenger hunts that can include school landmarks. Imagine, the graduating class creates digital historical content to leave as a legacy to incoming freshmen via totally engrossing AR. When those freshmen graduate, they do the same thing. This could become a link and generational connection that creates continuity to alumni! (Are you listening Development Directors?? Imagine the possibilities!!)
Think about creating a connection between your classroom and the community. Create tours of local landmarks (Like Jeff's Gourmet in Pico-Rob, Los Angeles - Hey Jeff, do I get a free hamburger for mentioning you?? :-) that includes video interviews or detailed history... all available with AR.
"Great," you say, "But how can this be done? It must be really difficult."
Well, no... it isn't! Let me explain...
My wife recently forwarded a really cool post (israel21c.org) to me about the Jerusalem Tower of David Museum's first ever hack-a-thon. At this event, the winning team came up with an innovative idea using Augmented/Virtual Reality and gaming to engage museum visitors. Basically, they created an AR/VR game using a great new app from Israel called Waking App.
After reading the article, I just had to try this so, a one minute download later, I had the Entiti creator running and within 20 minutes, I had my very own first AR program running! It was soooo easy to use and yet so powerful!
So, my readers, there is no longer any excuse! The future is here, now!! We CAN do this!!
As always, I solicit your feedback on the blogsite.
Yossie
No comments:
Post a Comment