AR Reflection
For the first spot I augmented, I chose the outside of Memorial Hall. The building is very distinctive and many see it every day. For my overlay, I provided a photo of Memorial just after being built. It’s so different to see when it stands entirely alone, no other buildings in sight of the picture. The photo also provides a brief description of the funding and construction of Memorial which began as the university’s library.
For my next augmentation, I chose Memorial’s advisement center, specifically outside Susan Donley’s office. This is an important spot for every English major. I have been there twice a year for scheduling advice, though I was nervous to go the first time. You never know what type of person you will be dealing with and I’m rather easily intimidated. I chose a picture of Ms. Donley for the overlay to make the center seem more inviting. In the picture, she is speaking to a student. It is actually a screenshot from my group video on Memorial Hall. I thought it was a good idea to give a face to the plaque outside of her office. The smiling advisement screenshot could encourage students to sit down for advisement.
I didn’t have any challenges with this augmentation as HP Reveal proved rather easy to use. At first I thought that it wasn’t working, but it turned out that my phone just wasn’t responding. So I did get a late start to figuring it out, but it didn’t proof difficult. My only discomfort was of taking obvious pictures in public, which made me feel like people were staring at me. Personal anxieties aside, I think there is a strong future for augmented reality. Its a useful tool for education in many forms. Whether it be around campus or in a museum. It takes public information to a deeper level and I feel like people are really interested in it.
Augmented reality could truly change the world around us. If it were used globally and frequently, it could be that much easier to discover new information about your surroundings. Something that comes to mind for me is traveling to unknown destinations. This could mean going cross country and used augmented reality on national monuments. It could also mean going somewhere with a language barrier and using augmented reality to help understand landmarks, museums, or shops.
I think using augmented reality could also change the way classes are taught in schools or universities. It could add a degree of discovery — of fun. If this entire campus was augmented, students could discover for themselves the purpose of the writing center, or the career center, or maybe even the best places to study on campus. I enjoyed learning about augmented reality in this class and I am excited to see what and how my classmates have augmented Memorial Hall. I believe that augmented reality is up and coming, that this is just the start.
