Great news! National Geographic Channels International are bringing augmented reality to 3 South African cities! Shoppers, mall rats and inquisitive individuals living in Pretoria, Durban and Johannesburg can look forward to this amazing audio-visual experience.
Some of you might be wondering what augmented reality is? Well, according to Wikipedia it’s a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented (or supplemented) by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer. All this may sound like Greek to most of you, but the concept is quite simple. It’s basically another way for humans to interact with technology and it’s an awesome audio visual experience.
The augmented reality demos that will be showcased at the 3 selected shopping centers will include several mobile apps (developed using the Qualcomm Vuforia software development kit). The software is a product of the Qualcomm Austria Research Center GmbH (a subsidiary of Qualcomm Technologies). National Geographic Channel International is the broadcast arm of the National Geographic Society (one of the world’s largest non-profit scientific and educational organisations).
The aim of these applications is to inform, educate and entertain audiences about our world and the environment that we live in. Audiences can expect a fun and educational experience featuring wildlife, science, technology, history, natural history and culture from the National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD.
Audiences will have a chance to interact with various animations featuring weather systems, walking on the moon, interacting with dolphins, a large T-Rex dinosaur and leopards and will have the opportunity to share video, images and live feeds directly on their Facebook, Twitter and other social media profiles. This 360 degree experience is unmatched in South Africa. To get an idea of what to expect, check out the video below:
Sounds interesting, right? If you live in Pretoria, make sure you make your way to Menlyn Park. The exhibition started on the 20th of August 2013 already and ends today (the 26th of August 2013). If you are unable to make it, catch the exhibition at Eastgate Mall in Johannesburg from the 3rd of September to the 8th of September 2013 or the exhibition at the Gateway Shopping Center in Durban from the 17th to the 23rd of September 2013. For more information, check out the National Geographic Africa Facebook page or follow @natgeoafrica on Twitter. The official Twitter hashtag is #NatGeoIRL.
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