Augmented Reality Fair In Amsterdam
When attending a public event like a city or state fair, you normally expect to see the same types of attractions for local residents and out-of-town tourists. These attractions usually include carnival-style thrill rides, hand-made craft booths, art exhibits, musical concerts, theater performances and carnival-style games. But what about virtual, human sculptures made possible through the use of augmented reality technology? That’s how they do it in Amsterdam!
This past Saturday, a public fair known as a “flashmob” was held in Dam Square, Amsterdam. Apparently, there is a rising trend called “the human statue” concept. People can have their pictures taken with a virtual, human sculpture, which can also be downloadable as content if you have a smartphone such as the Android or iPhone. Furthermore, these virtual sculptures are brought to life with augmented reality through an application installed on your smartphone. At this “flashmob” on April the 24th, popular characters of film, television and comic books made appearances in Dam Square. These characters include Spider-Man, Darth Vader and Superman.
In order to create your virtual, human sculpture, you must first install the “Layar” application on your smartphone. If you’re an iPhone user, you can download the Layar app. and activate its flashmob AR view feature. Human sculpture models are downloadable with a SD card if you have an Android phone and using QR codes is also required. Then, you have to bring your own 3D model to the event and create obj/mtl files if you’re using an Android. The AndAR application is required for this process to work and it was made available for participants on the 23th of April. Finally, AR tags were provided at Dam Square as markers on the ground where your virtual model would appear and these tags are linked to your obj/mtl files.
Judging from the pictures I saw, this concept of the virtual, human statue looks quite amazing. Virtual characters are actually created to exist in the same location with real people and they can be seen in a photo or as downloadable content on your smartphone. It seems that Amsterdam has taken a more technological approach with the help of augmented reality in order to attract locals and tourists to public events.
