- November 23, 2009
- 2:38 pm
- Jamason Chen
Augmented Reality (AR) may revitalize print media
Posted by Jamason Chen
ESQUIRE magazine announced its new issue with an embedded augmented reality feature. In the magazine some feature stories have data coded graphics printed along with the story. When you hold the magazine to your computer visual capture device such as a webcam, the pattern recognition software will recognize the story you are going to read and start a more comprehensive multimedia presentation of the same story online.
Augmented reality (AR) is the term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagery – creating a mixed reality. (read the detail in Wikipedia) The AR technology has been applied by some search engine and online game developers. It has been reported that Google is going to develop a translucent display unit with AR and wireless networking technologies. When the user holds the unit towards the subject the user is looking at, the unit will display the detail information of the subject with an overlapped visual effect through the translucent monitor.
As the layer feature of Flash media structure that provides a possibility of presenting contents with multiple interactive layers on a two-dimensional display surface, the AR technology adds another layer of information to the flat surface presentation and makes content presentation combine virtual reality and real realty together. One day, when we are standing in front of a news spot and point our visual communication device to the subject we will learn all the information about the subject, from its history to current circumstances. When we are reading a newspaper or a book but need to follow up the latest developing story or the character’s further information we may just need to take a translucent display device over the story in print and immediately read latest details through AR technology.
ESQUIRE started this AR interactive feature for their print media. When will other print media follow up? New technology always brings innovation to the industry and inspires us in the educational institution to explore new interdisciplinary programs and research projects. Not only will “old” media not die, but will refresh to a “newest” media through merging with “new” media. Thereafter, through AR telling a story may become a more interactive and comprehensive task.
