Augmented Reality is the next audio-guide
Museums and other cultural locations have relied on different technologies to improve the experience of their visitors for years. What started as a text sign explaining a piece or its historical context, soon evolved into interactive screens with videos, games and even quizzes that create an even more engaging experience and attract more visitors. Similarly, while audio-guides provided basic information and context, nowadays voice actors and other performances bring the experience to a more engaging level. With augmented reality (AR) at our doorstep and the number of AR-enabled devices increasing every day, it is only a matter of time before we start seeing exciting AR experiences in museums. Wired magazine wrote a very interesting article exactly about this.
For example, we captured actor Neill Fleming who played Sir Frederick Hamilton, a Scottish nobleman and soldier who built Manorhamilton Castle in Leitrim, Ireland. The resulting vologram can be easily experienced either using an AR headset or any AR-enabled mobile device. This character is being used for a Tourism AR app for the castle and is produced by Virtual Reality Ireland’s Terry Madigan, Camille Donegan and written by Sorcha Hegarty. The Virtual Reality Ireland team are convinced that volumetric capture of actors is, and will continue to be, a key component in storytelling for VR and AR.
We also worked in a very interesting project (lead by V-SENSE and the Library of Trinity College Dublin) for the 350th birthday of Jonathan Swift, a famous Irish author and Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. In the project, we were inspired to create a brief narrative and concept that would augment the visitor experience through an AR or a VR application. The user is guided through the Long Room by a friendly vologram of the great Jonathan Swift. For the VR version, we captured a section of Trinity’s Library where the bust of Jonathan Swift is located, and augmented it with the vologram. In the AR app, you can walk through the Library and see Jonathan Swift appearing next to his own statue.
These cultural experiences are among our favourite applications of augmented reality, as they have huge impact and potential. If you are interested in bringing volograms to your museum, cultural site or exhibition, get in touch with us! We will be happy to help!
The Volograms Team
