‘Augmented reality’ – Experiencing future places… live
Many of us walk down a street with a vision for what it could be in the future – a congested street of noisy cars replaced by a pedestrian walk filled with outdoor diners, an abandoned warehouse transformed into shops and lofts; a parking lot as a green building…
Thanks to the field of augmented reality, others can experience that vision too. Augmented reality is best explained by watching the video above, or this one here – it essentially projects computer generated images onto live video imagery in real time. Think of the first down line in football, then apply it to everyday life, even as a pair of glasses you wear when walking down the street.
It used to be that there were only a few people – visionaries – who could see the potential of a derelict building or neglected neighborhood as the collective vision of many who could only describe in sound bites what would inspire them. Now others can experience that too.
Thanks to Kennedy Smith of The Clue Group for the reference, who is working on applications for urban design and historic preservation.
Augmented reality is cool, but his graphics kinda suck.
Such a cool idea. The world is getting smaller.