I’ve been surprised how many augmented reality applications essentially forgo interactivity: that is, they overlay some graphics, but there’s nothing beyond that. As a musician or visualist, of course, you can easily think og so-called augmented reality as a different kind of controller – tracking a marker in space with computer vision and applying graphics to it. Indeed, as tracking techniques improves, this really enriches what you can do with cameras as controllers. (The fact that you only have a webcam to throw in your backpack to play – well, that’s just a coincidental bonus.)
Seb of the firm Exposure just did a campaign for Wrigley in France (yes, Wrigley the gum folks). It uses AR markers as controllers for an interactive music mixer. I do quite like some of the potential here, even if the demo video is a little cheesy (in fairness, it’s for people who buy gum, not necessarily superstar DJs).
It’s a first step, but a compelling one. Sure, augmented reality is a buzzword at the moment, but I believe in interactive evolution. The more stuff you throw out there, the more chance something will stick. You know, like gum. (Okay, I’m going to stop for the weekend.)