Do the Augmented Reality trick in just 3 steps:

1. Check if you meet the minimum requirements
   You need a Windows XP or Vista PC that is not older then two years (dual core CPU with 1,6 GHz, graphical card with 128 Mb dedicated memory), a webcam and the Me The Media book.
2. Install the free software
   Download the software via www.beyondreality.nl/sogeti/sogeti.exe
   and follow the instructions on the screen.
3. Start the program
   If you have started the program, you can select your webcam in the menu located in the upper left corner. In the middle of the screen you can see yourself. Just show the indicated pages of the Me The Media book and experience the magic.

Everyone knows about the transparent heads-up displays (HUD) that provide fighter pilots with additional information without impairing their vision. This augmented-reality technology, which has been available to the military for years, is increasingly making its way into civilian life. In the near future, extra information about the world around us will be provided via glasses and mobile phones. The data can be provided on the basis of GPS and direction-sensitive sensors. Because augmented reality is expected to undergo a breakthrough in the near future, we will discuss this phenomenon in detail in Chapter 9 of the book.

Key to augmented reality is therefore the serious digital embellishment and enrichment of the real world. Our reality is supplemented by additional topic and location-specific information. A further example involves receiving extra information on our mobile phones about composer, orchestra and conductor while listening to a classical music performance in a concert hall. The transmission of location coordinates makes it possible to receive such location-specific data. Time and location are linked to the concert hall’s performance calendar, which is also made available as a menu item. Such scenarios are conceivable for a given site or event.

The origin of all this computer virtuality was a virtual reality in which real experience was the focal point without necessarily being linked to location and time.
Consider books, for example. In the future, it will not only be possible to read them but also to use them to access a complete virtual world. Entire battles could be played back before the reader’s eyes, creating the sense of participating in the actual reality.
Multimedia experiences are becoming increasingly more important. We did not previously have the resources to turn reading into a multimedia experience, but it has now become possible. The weather can now be observed in real time, as well as the beginning of forest fires in Greece, the effect of an earthquake or the destruction of Pompeii, et cetera.

E-readers may in the future be the keys with which these worlds are unlocked. However, this development will have to wait for a few years yet. At present, e-readers are just used as replacements for the weighty back-packs full of books slung low from the backs of schoolchildren in accordance with contemporary fashion. We can already make notes on e-readers, but in a few years they will replace laptops and be used to create virtual 3D experiences.

Augmented Reality in Marketing

• Web AR for displaying 3D products in your customer’s real-world environment. 3D objects are integrated interactively into a photo or video stream of the customer’s own environment, perfectly scaled and correctly positioned.
• AR Experience lets you set the scene for your products in a refreshingly new way. Create amazing experiences that your customers won’t be able to forget and get your message across in a truly distinctive fashion. AR lets your products come to life and be truly “handled” interactively - to the amazement of your customers!
• AR Publishing integrates interactive 3D information into traditional print media. Using the AR, it is now possible for the very first time to enhance print content directly with a virtual, digital dimension. While utilizing standard technologies such as a web cam and a Windows PC, “standard” print content can be transformed into an enthrallingly new and interactive medium.
• AR Gaming is the missing link between classic board games and PC/video games. Using the own environment of the player and real-time interaction of the player creates a new playing experience. By changing the 3D content, you can easily rebrand the AR game.

Augmented Reality in Industry

• With AR visualization, industrial products can be visualized locally on customer premises, perfectly to scale, with high precision and full animation. Using AR to display products, machinery or draft versions of possible manufacturing plant rooms, is as innovative as it is visually compelling. In doing so, potential customers can use AR to get the best possible impression of the final scenario: their own.
• AR planning software enables 3D CAD planning data to be rendered directly into the existing manufacturing setup. A 3D model of a new product can be superimposed onto a digital photo of the actual factory environment. 3D content is integrated perfectly to scale and rendered to high levels of ISO precision.
• AR Prototyping simplifies and accelerates your workflows in the area of prototype design and construction. At this interface between virtual product development/design and initial real-world implementation (prototyping), critically-important decisions can be made at an early stage. The visual superposition of real prototypes onto 3D construction data simplifies the consultation process among all of the project stakeholders. The added depth of detail so acquired also increases the quality of planning forecasts.