Augmented Reality Line of Sight

Overview

We’ve been experimenting with augmented reality in our lab recently and have developed a mobile experience that overlays content depending on the observer’s perspective. Our goal was to make a simple and clean demonstration of how digital information can augment real world objects. In addition, we wanted to come up with a new way of interacting with mobile devices that steps away from touching a screen or using the inertial motion sensor (accelerometer).

We created an interaction mechanism that we are calling “line-of-sight activation.” As the mobile device viewing angle changes, different content is activated. This type of interaction encourages exploration: once a user realizes that a change in perspective signals a change in what content is revealed to them, they tend to play around more, curious about uncovering something new.

Line-of-sight activation allows for novel ways to tell stories around an object, be it a sculpture in a museum or a product in a store. It’s exciting to see the evolution of augmented reality and the opportunities for storytelling it provides.

Media