H_Evidence_1

Melissa Townsend-Crow

LIBR 204 Managing Technology

The task: 

·         Select one topic found in the Horizon Report to explore. In 250 words or less, explain

·         The significance of the technology

·         Why you picked it

·         Does it have particular significance to your work or interests?

·         Use Evans & Ward text or other scholarly material to justify your analysis.

I chose to explore augmented reality just because the name intrigued me. The definition in the Horizon Report is "the layering of information over a view or representation of the normal world, offering users the ability to access place-based information in ways that are compellingly intuitive." The fact that it can also be used to enhance the experience of reading print materials also intrigued me as I tried to imagine how this could be done. "AR" seems to be an emerging technology with newer uses being discovered all the time. The explanation of AR as a "marker based system" does not clarify for me how it works, so the next section on application and use of the technology is an important one. I don't necessarily need to know how something works, just how to use it and in what context. 

I think the interactive quality of AR makes it valuable as learning tool. People tend to retain more information if they have actively participated in gathering it in such a way as to be part of the information itself and that is what AR seems to offer. I see real potential in Augmented Reality the area of literacy in particular. For example, when my children watch television, I make sure the caption function is engaged so each program functions as a read along. I have lost myself in virtual tours of archaeological sites, not only the views of the digging, but also renderings of what the places looked like before time covered them.

Over all, Augmented Reality seems to have the capability to capture the imagination and transport the user into a sort of über reality that, in small doses, can create a positive and effective learning or information gathering experience

References:

New Media Consortium. (2011). The horizon report: 2011 ed. Austin, TX: The New Media Consortium. Retrieved from http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/HR2011.pdf.