Miscellaneous thoughts on Craig & Costello

Reading Response Week of 10/8-10/10

Craig, Understanding Augmented Reality (Chapter 5 – Content is Key! — Augmented Reality Content) and Costello, Multimedia Foundations (Chapter 5  – Multimedia Page Design)

I found some other interesting thoughts in both readings for this week. As these thoughts/ideas are somewhat unrelated and unorganized, I decided to comment on those in separate post here.

Thoughts from Craig:

·        On page 157, Craig writes the following: “Try as we may, an AR application (today) cannot allow the participant to break the real-world laws of physics. This precludes the AR content creator from doing certain things he or she might like to do, such as remove the law of gravity, teleport a (real) object from place to place, or allow the participant to really fly by” (Craig, 2012, p. 157)

This screams Hollywood’s film and TV industry. As we’ve mentioned (and viewed) in class, films take on a whole new approach to augmented reality, provided us with concepts, visions that do not exist in today’s world. It’s all about high-tech, futuristic innovation. For example, in both the 1971 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory staring Gene Wilder and the 2005 Charlie & the Chocolate Factory staring Johnny Depp, viewers experience teleporting. Of course, TV can allow the creator to break the laws of physics.

·        On page 165, Craig discusses overlaying information. He writes: “If one is using AR to help someone find a location, the AR application could make it appear as though there are lines on the ground that you can follow to your location. In the real world, an example of this is a stripe on the floor that you follow to get to the appropriate room. Usually there is a different color stripe for each destination and you follow the appropriate color” (Craig, 2013, p. 165).

This passage reminded me of shopping, specifically during the back-to-school season or the holidays. In the real world, major stores (e.g., Target, Wal-Mart, drugstores, etc.) often include colorful lines on the floor that code to various departments. The lines take the shopper directly to the area he wishes to visit. Typically, the store will also hang a sign from the ceiling that tells the shopper something like, “Back-to-school – Go this way,” or provides additional instruction. I’ve also seen this done on Black Friday (with the addition of store layout handouts, maps, etc.). Some say this makes the shopping experience easier because it filters the store into sections — the shopper need not wander in search of a particular section; rather, he can find his way via the mapped lines.

Clemson University’s app (pictured here) does a similar thing, but truly uses AR. The “Maps” function uses AR and allows the user to see where he is on campus. The user can see in what direction he needs to walk to get to another building, and at all times can find where he is in relationship to campus landmarks. The triangle at the bottom left allows the user to enter this AR feature of the map. Otherwise, the map can be viewed as is.

 

Another example (and probably an overused one) is the famous Marauder’s Map from Harry Potter. The map tells Harry where everyone at Hogwarts is at any point in time. With a secret phase, he can follow virtual footsteps and be led anywhere, to anyone. This film, as well as the film genre, calls for viewers to suspend their disbelief, as Craig mentions in the text.

Thoughts from Costello:

I’m familiar with the concept of “breaking out of the box,” as Costello puts it. I thought I’d label some of my frequently visited websites as either displayed with the F-layout or Z-layout frame.

• ESPN is displayed in the Z-layout frame. 
• Facebook and Twitter are both displayed in the F-layout frame.
• Foodgawker is displayed in the Z-layout frame.
• HokieSports is a tricky one. I can see characteristics of both displays, depending upon where I glance across the homepage.

Sources:

Costello, V. (2012). Multimedia page design. Multimedia foundations: Core concepts for digital design (127-152). Boston: Elsevier. 

Craig, A. B. (2013). Content is key! — Augmented reality content. Understanding augmented reality: Concepts and applications (151-183). New York: Elsevier. 

“Harry Potter & the Weasley Twins Marauders Map.” 3 December 2009. YouTube. Accessed on 3 October 2013. Web. 
 “What Else Can You Teleport from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).” 2013. Dailymotion. Accessed on 3 October 2013. Web.

“WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY 40^TH ANNIVERSARY – WONKA VISION.” 30 September 2011. YouTube. Accessed on 3 October 2013. Web.

Images from Google Images