Augmented Reality and Museums
Can augmented reality stretch farther than the classroom? That's a definite yes.
In the classroom, augmented reality can be utilized in various subjects: biology, chemistry, anatomy, astronomy, math, etc. But once you leave the classroom, augmented reality can be transformed into a teaching tool in other ways. It's been said that you never stop learning. Why should augmented reality stop after school? It doesn't. There are countless possibilities and opportunities for augmented reality. What better way to introduce and combine interactive technology with education and entertainment than to incorporate them into "institutions of informal education", as Maria Roussou states in her article, "Interactive Virtual Reality in the Museum"? Okay, awesome. Moving on. Enough with the telling, more with the showing.
Streetmuseum: Street App of the London Museum
Streetmuseum is an interactive app for the iPhone that uses augmented reality to overlay images onto present day London. This gives an interesting view of then and now, allowing viewers to see the differences between the past and present day. Pretty interesting stuff, right? The idea behind the app is to introduce more people to the museum by bringing the museum to the streets.
Using the London map or the GPS on the iPhone, locations across London are pinpointed. From there users may click on a specific pinpoint and an image will pop up of that street in historical London. Using 3D, a somewhat transparent image will lay over top the present day image. It's like having a superpower to see into the past, or looking through a window into another time (Streetmuseum). |
What are the advantages of an app that shows street views of the past? Why create an app when you could simply pay the museum a visit? Perhaps technology such as Streetmuseum helps to draw in visitors who see images on the street, become aware of the existence of the London Museum, and show up, hungry for more knowledge. Perhaps Streetmuseum gives users a taste of what they're in for, but only a taste. After that, they're hooked.
Think about it. You're walking down the street and you're curious about its history. The ability to have an artificial environment at your fingertips that's created from both reality and computer generated data is not only helpful, but a breakthrough. Using this technology for museums furthers our understanding of a whole whirlwind of things. Augmented reality has an infinite amount of space to expand. And as we exploit this technology, we can expand our knowledge.
I mean, what if we were to transform Streetmuseum and use it not only on the streets of London but all over the world? The app could be transformed into glasses much like the concept shown in the Google Glasses video. What if you could see things from a different time by selecting, say, 1931, and viewing the world in that time period through a pair of glasses? That doesn't exist, but it could. |
See? There's an infinite amount of space to work within. Exploit technology and learn from it.
e x p a n d u p o n it.
e x p a n d u p o n it.
Streetmuseum gives users the ability to view London from a different time period using technology. In this way, our perceptions of reality are altered. But what about certain non-technological surroundings and the way in which we perceive them? Are they considered augmented reality, too? We live in this virtual reality already. Perhaps it could be argued that these 3D chalk drawings by Edgar Mueller are distant cousins of AR. People gather to see chalk drawings of this magnitude, lending to the idea that these drawings are museums in and among themselves.
What's considered "technology" anyway? The chalk that the artist uses to create these drawings can be considered a technology. Although there is no "computer-generated data" involved in this process (besides the photos themselves, taken with a camera and then posted on the Internet), these artists create something that causes us to question what's real and what isn't. |
Check out more of Edgar Mueller's 3D chalk drawings here, along with other chalk artists' work.
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In this way, we can go as far as to question our own reality.
360 Degree Virtual Tour of the Sistine Chapel
Okay, so what happens when you can't physically reach the location you which to see? Take a gander at the 360 degree virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel. Perhaps an image can never fully take the place of the real thing, but augmented reality is getting closer. This 360 degree tour is controlled by you. Its interactive quality allows users to explore the Sistine Chapel (with music!) at a pace that is determined by you.
I mean, really, stop what you're doing and mess around with the virtual tour. Are you doing it yet? Yes? Okay. Zoom in on those paintings. Absorb the fact that you are viewing the Sistine Chapel from all angles as if you are actually there. Now get comfy and snuggle farther under your covers. You're viewing the arts from your BEDROOM, aren't you? It's wild, right? In Roussou's paper, "Interactive Virtual Reality in the Museum", she argues that the ability to use virtual reality in order to visit multiple time periods and places is a valuable learning mechanism. Actively participating in a virtual reality experience allows users to engage themselves deeper than they would if simply reading a textbook. Roussou, while discussing the benefits of virtual and augmented reality in museums, states that "there are two basic advantages offered by virtual reality programs: the immersive experience and interactive capabilities that characterize this medium" (2). Many people excel by learning through interaction. It's beyond cool to think that right now, you're sitting in your bedroom, touring the Sistine Chapel. But do you want to know what else? You're learning from it. |
Can augmented reality take away from the arts?
All of this is all fine and well, but there is an entire other side of the spectrum. There's the idea that technology will make us lazy or stupid, and in relationship to museums, does this mean that augmented reality can have a negative effect on the natural beauty of the arts? Perhaps museums are meant to have this sacred quality about them. But if this is the case, how can they ever hope to grow, expand, and continue to bring in visitors?