Why You Should Read Augmented Human
Augmented Reality is one of the most popular topics in the tech world right now. After years of small-scale developments, the recent release of Apple’s ARKit and Google’s ARCore finally gives developers and creatives a simpler way to produce convincing AR experiences for hundreds of millions of potential users.
Yet, what lacks the most during a hype of this type is: PERSPECTIVE.
This is precisely why I am grateful for Dr. Helen Papagiannis’ Augmented Human.
A Broader Look On AR
Whatever the topic, I always want to have some historical background on it. It gives me a better understanding of the evolution of the main challenges, and how and when they surfaced. For example, I knew that there were significant investments in the military sector for cockpits and helmets with digital content added to the pilots’ field of view, yet I never imagined that this work started in the 1960s!
Also, as Dr. Papagiannis puts it, in AR,
“You see and experience the real world around you with all of your senses, it just now becomes digitally enhanced and alterable.”
The key words you do not want to miss in that phrase are, “with all of your senses”. AR is not just about funny, animated 3D models appearing on a table. That’s definitely cool, and I play around with that a lot. However, it is merely a glimpse into what AR really encapsulates. The effects of sounds, touch (via haptics), and even taste… it is by enriching our senses that AR will truly shine.
Identifying Who To Follow
Dr. Papagiannis’ book is very well documented, allowing me to identify several experts whose work I will follow to stay up to date on developments in this domain. For instance, take the works of Adrian David Cheok, Professor of Pervasive Computing at City University of London. He is at the forefront of developing devices that allow for digital taste and smell. It is a domain I knew very little of and that I am now very excited about.
Considering the reputations of the leaders identified in the other fields, I was all the more honored to be cited as an innovator in the section that Dr. Papagiannis wrote about avatars and their impact on augmented experiences.
One of our key realizations early on what that, yes, it is fun to play a video game with an avatar who looks just like you. But it goes far beyond that. Seeing yourself as the main character in a story completely changes the way the story impacts you. That is the case on a screen, and even more-so if this story is delivered via an augmented experience.
I’ve had fascinating exchanges with Dr. Papagiannis, and among the things she identified as being the most relevant for the book, I love the fact that she chose this quote:
“Instead of interacting with a NPC [non-playing character], what if your partner for a game were a close friend? What if the villain of the story were a family member? When you see these life-like characters, people you know in real life, will you have the same behavior as with random computer-generated characters?”
This comment I made on gaming resonates even more since we shifted our focus to creating movie-like animations with the avatars. The traditional rules of storytelling go out the window if you already have a deep connection to the characters you see.
For just a second, imagine watching the horror film Paranormal Activity, but this time, it’s your best friends being chased. Intriguing, isn’t it?
I will discuss this further in a future post.
Final Note: Just Read It Already :)
As you can guess, I immensely enjoyed reading Dr. Papagiannis’ Augmented Human. So, if you are serious about AR, VR or any other mixed reality medium, this book should sit at the top of your reading list.
