Star Tracker - Week 4

Here is another application of augmented reality. Taking the app Star Tracker for iOS or Android, we can point our device's camera towards any direction, After taking in your current location, the app estimates where the stars and planets are according to your current location. The app is another great example into how augmented reality can provide people a unique medium for entertainment and education. While Star Tracker is very nice with displaying stars, planets, constellations, etc., there's also a lot of bells and whistles with ambient music and lights zooming in and out in an ethereal way that makes the application a lot more fun. What other ways can we use this medium in an educating or entertaining way?

While Star Tracker is a view into the "night" sky viewing the solar system, how about a implementation of AR that directly views the sky with a camera? Nowadays, iPads aren't uncommon to see being used in the early school years. It shouldn't be too hard to imagine a future where AR glasses eventually becomes mass produced enough to have in classes to enhance the education experience. An example would be a trip outside for an Elementary class where they can look up at the sky and have the glasses scan what kind of clouds are out. Right afterwords a line will play or a box of text will come up that educates you what type of cloud it is and its attributes. This was just an example but you can imagine it being used for any subject with an added interactive implementation.

Considering when lens' become AR products in the future, just general quality of life products can be used as well. Imagine waking up in the morning, putting on your glasses (Normal glasses like Ray Ban's with tech now) and looking out your window. You move your eyes up into the sky and trigger a weather report for you to ponder. Imagine there's an infrared thermometer on your glasses, cooking has just become instantly easier. If you need a pot of boiling oil for frying at a specific temp, your AR glasses can give you an instant read on where it's at constantly.

On a gaming note, Pokémon GO is an existing app that will transfer perfectly to AR glasses. While not a widely used function of the game, you can use your camera to superimpose the Pokémon into the real world. It senses the surrounding and places them on the floor or table so it's not just a simple superimposition. With AR glasses (and maybe smarter sensing of your surroundings with the future tech) seeing Pokémon on the sidewalk across the street or being in the middle of a catching instance of the Pokémon.

Instant output and results are big things nowadays, so AR glasses seem like something that can be implemented into anyone's daily lives as a phone does now. If we can imagine them in the same capacity, we can download apps to the glasses to assist anyone on their own way. To a more 3D playing of a Trading Card Game or a Zoo having AR exhibits, AR glasses have a lot of potential in the future.