A still from the Casa Batlló AR experience. Source:
Casa Batlló.
How can augmented reality (AR) work for your cultural institution?
With emerging digital technologies becoming available within our everyday lives on seemingly daily basis, there is a temptation to use the new technologies by any means possible in order to “stay relevant”. One of those new technologies is that of Augmented Reality. But what does this mean for cultural institutions, like yours, that might have limited resources or have to prove the return on investment in order to acquire such technologies? What is the benefit for introducing this technology to your organization? We have gathered resources that showcase the potential of AR’s application within the context of cultural institutions in conventional ways like entertainment and education and not so conventional ways like exhibition layout assistance and research activities.
But first, let’s get back to basics, what is AR?
Definition: "Augmented reality in computer programming, a process of combining or “augmenting” video or photographic displays by overlaying the images with useful computer-generated data.”
Brief background: The term first hit our world in the 1990s, but the idea has been around since the early days of computing. When the technology started to evolve in the early twenty first century, many of the applications were for entertainment purposes.
Some clarification: In some cases there is some confusion with regards to the meaning of augmented reality and virtual reality. An article in MuseumNext aptly describes the “difference between augmented reality and virtual reality...Virtual Reality offers total immersion in a different reality. However, AR shows reality and an altered version side by side. VR replaces what the user sees with an alternate reality. AR adds to what the user can already see. This means it can be useful for annotating scenes and providing extra information. It is also used to put scenes into context and highlight contrasts with the current reality. VR requires specialist technology, such as headsets, controllers and sensors. AR experiences only need a smartphone or tablet and are downloadable as apps.”
There has been a considerable increase in Augmented Reality (AR) adoption in informal learning environments, such as: museums, art galleries, etc. These institutions can be used to improve the visitors’ engagement as well as to enhance the immersive visitor experience.(Ulukuz & Whitworth, 2016)
This website serves as a one stop shop for the various roles within a cultural institution: Leaders/ directors, administrators, information specialists, educators, curators, archivists, and visitor experience facilitators. It is by no means exhaustive, but just an introduction to the possibilities that AR could offer your institution both externally facing to the public and internally to the operational functions behind the scenes.
KEY DEFINITIONS and TECHNICAL INFO:
Categories included within the SDKcould include: