Aloha from the big island of Hawaii; Ideas for Augmented Reality; and a Modest Proposal

[Note: these pages were updated 21 March 2014 to fix broken links and a few typos.]

Thinking about Augmented Reality

While on vacation in Hawaii, once I had recovered from travel, I had some time to think. One thing that occurred to me is that there are a ton of opportunities to deploy Augmented Reality in this kind of setting.

I’ve been thinking, studying, and talking about Augmented Reality for many years now. My colleague Alan Craig and I, along with our many collaborators, have mainly been concerned about non-profit sector applications, including science, museums, schools, and so on.

It occurred to me that AR technology works the same in a resort, and many of the applications we’ve envisioned would be quite cool. And—bonus—there is actually a possibility that they could be funded and sustained.

So here is a three part article. Part I reviews Augmented Reality, and gives you some examples.  You really should have a look at the examples, because it is impossible to understand AR without experiencing it. Part II goes through some of the applications for AR that Craig, myself, and our colleagues have been thinking of and trying to create. Many of these are for non-commercial purposes, including museums, science, and educations. Finally, Part III shows that these same ideas fit very nicely into the context of a resort.

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