Introducing AR into Academic Posters

By Miro Dunham

At Albion College, research posters are not few and far between: they’re virtually everywhere. In most academic buildings, there is at least one research poster demonstrating and promoting the awesome work of our faculty and student body. But what if we could make these more interactive?

That’s where AR comes in. AR stands for Augmented Reality, which is a technology-based feature that alters the way you see the world around you. It doesn’t change the entire world, like Virtual Reality, but it does augment some aspects: for example, you might see the world as it is through your camera, but with a small image popping up in the frame that is entirely computer generated. Apps like Snapchat and Pokemon Go use this technology, and now, it is possible for students and faculty to use it in an educational way.

By using augmented reality, the user can integrate videos, pictures, web links, and even sounds into their poster experience, simply by creating a small trigger image. When the user uses their phone to scan the trigger image, they will see experiences overlaid on the poster, along with the physical poster itself. Having these interactive and supplemental experiences can be extremely helpful in assisting the audience in understanding the topic or the context of the research, and is also just really fun!

For more information on how to create your own AR code, go to zap.works.com and start creating! To try one out now, download the Zappar app on your phone, and scan the code below!