Introducing Augmented Reality to the Architect Map

Anyone who has been following my tweets will know that I have been fascinated by the potential of Augmented Reality. Since I made my first attempt a couple of weeks ago, I have been looking at how to use it and intrigued as to how it can be implemented in the AEC industry. I have decided to try to bring together Architect Map (something which Su Butcher and I created a couple of months ago) and Augmented Reality to see what can be achieved.

The start of a vision….

I would like to think that we are onto something with Architect Map. It still continues to grow (approaching 75,000 views of all the various maps) and is being used around the world by members of our industry to search and connect with peers & colleagues, to begin to develop business opportunities, and even now allows Graduates to connect with professionals in our industry and vice versa through the AEC Graduate Map.

Like many, I am still learning where AR can take us. From my experience, the use of AR for marketing seems to be a bit of a no-brainer, and combining it with Architect Map, which at the moment is all about letting people know where you are and what you do, seems to be a logical progression.

But what use is AR within the Architect Map Portal? Well, take yourself back to your student days. You try to differentiate yourself from the crowd and create a good impression of your capabilities. Typically we do this through CV’s, portfolio’s etc. But has any graduate yet tried to interact with a potential employer personally, through a piece of AR?

How good would it be that simply by searching through the Architect Map, and with your mobile devide to hand, you could have access to another layer of information, just waiting to be connected with.

What about the use of it with potential clients? Aren’t they looking for people in the industry who are a little different, who are up to date with current technologies and innovative?

What about projects, both those being designed and those actually built? Why shouldn’t we be thinking about integrating AR into the design of buildings or linking AR to a building itself? Why shouldn’t we be able to stand on our empty sites, and through geo-tagging in AR be able to walk through the design of your building before a brick has been laid? Here is a great video on the possibilities of this.

All of these things are possible now, but rather than have us all do our own pieces or AR, through our own channels, why shouldn’t we be able to connect and share our great businesses and designs with each other through a single portal?

This is my vision, and so I would like to invite you to take up my challenge.

Taking up the challenge…

If you read my blog post ‘Attempting Augmented Reality’ you may have given AR a try already. Taking this one step further, I put a post on my Twitter and Facebook page, asking for people to step forward and take up the challenge for implementing a piece of AR.

Dave Cornett of Snow Architects has already taken up the challenge and has shown us all what can be done with a good animation and a video camera. He has written a blog piece on his experience here but in essence, Dave has set up a piece of AR which will play when a user holds up a device to his Twitter Avatar. Here is a snapshot of me trying it on Architect Map.

I am looking for more people to come forward to give this a try. It doesn’t have to be flashy or clever, and it is open to everyone, whether you are an individual wanting to tell the world what you do, or whether you are a big practice explaining your services. The key is not the technology itself, the important piece is that we are all sharing and combining this through a single portal or channel, openly accessible to the world.

Want to take part?

If you would like to have some Augmented Reality implemented for yourself or your business, then please follow the steps below:

1. Decide on a ‘Trigger’ image. A ‘Trigger’ is the image that the end user will be required to hold a device up to in order to view the AR expereince.
2. Decide on a ‘Overlay’. The ‘Overlay’ is the animation or image that the user will see when they hold a device over the ‘Trigger’image.
3. If you would like your ‘Overlay’ image to link to something (could be a website, your twitter profile, your blog etc) then please let me know what this is. Only one link is possible per ‘Overlay’ image.
4. Email me at markschuey@me.com with the items required in steps 1, 2 & 3 and I will build your piece of AR and put it into the Augmented Reality Architect Map channel and plaster it all over Twitter and Facebook.

If you would simply like to view AR created by the Architect Map community, then subscribe to the Architect Map channel by following these steps:

1. Install the Aurasma app from the App Store or Android Market.
2. Search for the “ArchitectMap” Channel and Subscribe to it, or subscribe to the Architect Map channel using this link.
3. As soon as the sharing is complete, hold your device up to one of the experiences listed on the Facebook page.
4. You should then see the AR come to life.

I have set up an Augmented Reality tab on the Architect Map Facebook page which is going to be used to list all those members of the community that are taking part in this experiment (you will need to ‘like’ the Facebook page before you can see this). I have also set up a dedicated Architect Map channel in the Aurasma app, and by subscribing to this channel the user will have access to the entire communities AR experiences and content.

As always, any feedback you have is appreciated and always listened to.

Attempting Augmented Reality

Recently I met with Erland Rendall (@erlandr), Davis Langdon’s global leader of Thought Leadership, and was asked if I would be interested in helping us move towards our goal of becoming a Thinking Business. Being part geek this was of course of interest,  but where to begin with such a wide subject? Things such as Social Media, BIM, Apps etc are all great advances but are already underway within our industry and business (which I will be getting involved in). I wondered what else I could bring that is a little different and so the mind cogs creaked and slowly moved into motion.

A sense of reality….

For a few weeks now I have been intrigued by the possibilities of Augmented Reality. I found out about the concept of AR on a local radio station (@dubai92), where the hosts (the ever brilliant @catboy_dubai and @geordiebird_dxb) were discussing the latest gadgets. Of course AR was discussed and was mentioned as being something that could revolutionize the way things are marketed and viewed, bringing to life real world objects through one’s smartphone or similar device.

However, when I mention the words Augmented Reality to most of my friends and colleagues, it is usually followed by a confused look and the words “What?”. This is to be expected I guess, especially in the field of work that I am in – I mean to date AR hasn’t reached the world of Specification Consulting or Design Management, and is only in the early stages within the Architecture field. But I am wondering whether we can do something about that.

Some research….

So I set about investigating this rather cool medium and whether it was being used in the AEC industry. I came across a couple of fantastic videos, which just show the possibilities of this technology.

This looks a bit far fetched, but it’s coming. But what about something which is perhaps easier to get our heads around? Simple uses such as implementing AR onto a business card seems to have its uses, and taking it a step further, what if as a graduate you could make your CV come to life for potential employers to view?

What if we could link this all through things such as ArchitectMap (check out @subutcher‘s blog, Just Practising, for more info on what this is), to compile a complete community which is innovative, informative, and just plain cool? That’s all for later on down the road, but I wondered just what it takes to implement a piece of AR.

We all have to start somewhere….

So, where has this led me? Well, I have made my first attempt at a piece of AR. I wanted to test something which was relatively easy for a first attempt, so am simply going to use an iPhone app which can recognise an image and then display an animation on the device being used.

I have therefore created what is called an ‘Aura’ in the Aurasma App (@aurasma). It’s not clever or flashy, and there are plenty of other people out there doing much cooler stuff, but we all have to start somewhere. If you fancy giving it a go then follow the instructions below. This should work if you have an iPhone, iPad 2 or Android Smartphone.

1. Click here to get the Aura.
2. This experience only works if you are viewing it on your smartphone device. If you are viewing this blog piece on your computer and therefore can not use the link, please open up your browser on your selected device and use this link http://bit.ly/ARTest1.
3. If you don’t have Aurasma installed, the link will take you to the iOS App Store or Android Market; install the app then come back and click the link again.
4. The link will launch Aurasma, and share my Aura with you (which may take a while depending on your network speed).
5. As soon as the sharing is complete, hold your device up to my Twitter profile (pasted below for convenience but will work on Twitter itself).
6. You should then see my first peice of AR come to life.

As this is a test, I would be very interested in getting feedback from you as to whether I have managed to get this to work or not! I would also love to hear from anyone in the AEC industry who is also investigating the AR technology.