Author: Efstratios Geronikolakis

Augmented reality (AR) technology is one of the most exciting advancements of our time. It can generate empathy and new perspectives by transporting people, sometimes literally, into the shoes of another person with no barriers in time or space. Not surprisingly, many industries are considering the technology’s potential to improve customer experience.   Using Technology to Enhance Customer Experience   The museum industry is among the pioneers who are embracing this opportunity. Museums are currently facing a period of financial stagnation, with costs and insurance premiums rising and government funds dwindling. Many are forced to delay projects, downsize exhibitions,...

Researchers from Queen Mary University have helped create the Xingu Village installation taking visitors to the heart of Brazil’s native communities. The university’s People’s Palace Projects at Mile End has teamed up with the Horniman Museum in south London for an installation this weekend that gives visitors access to the Kuikuro community in the Amazon. Visitors go on a virtual journey to Ipatse village to see the day to day life, environment and cultural practices of the Kuikuro’s 800 people living in the Xingu protected area, which is home to 16 indigenous tribes. “We learn From the Xingu how...

A new 3D augmented reality app that allows users to visualize and create virtual Appalachian gardens has launched and its developers hope it will both educate and inspire nature lovers. Maria Harrington, an assistant professor of digital media, along with Zack Bledsoe ’18, Chris Jones ’18, and Alexandra Guffey, created The AR Perpetual Garden App in collaboration with John Wenzel, director of Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s Powdermill Nature Reserve and Markus Tatzgern, a professor with the Multi Media Technology program of the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences. The app enables users to visualize botanically correct 3D plant models...

In virtual reality (VR) there are plenty of ways to enjoy art, with apps and experiences like the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s (SAAM) No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man on VR social platform Sansar, or how about Dreams of Dali for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Augmented reality (AR) on the other hand has been slow to catch up. Google is changing that this week with a new AR feature for its Arts & Culture app.   To mark the launch of its AR feature Pocket Gallery on the app Google and the Mauritshuis museum have curated all 36 of Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer’s works in one...