Altering the unreal really well
Perhaps it is one reason why technology seeks to combine the creative spark with the means to make it happen physically, or at least in augmented-reality. A Belgian University has developed the AlterStation under the European Funded IST programme as an extension of the Art.Live project. The aim was to combine the means to augment reality with the creative imagination, thus providing users with the potential for creating entire worlds in a very unique sense. While the AlterStation combines traditional techniques available to standard multimedia facilities, it enhances them by introducing cutting edge technologies vis-á-vis augmented reality. The merging of the virtual reality with that of augmented reality introduces innovation on an unprecedented level, especially when the content thus created can be transported over the Internet or displayed publicly in real-time displays. Having run for two years as a development trial, the ultimate impact the product made both at road shows and at exhibitions created enough of a stir to warrant exploitation by private and public enterprise. Both sectors were quick to identify the project's innovative parts among which are the facts that it runs on a standard PC architecture and that it allows real-time interaction through gestures. Aside from its interactive attraction for games, museums and other areas of interactivity, AlterStation also acts as a mode of communication. Its inherent approach is both pedagogical and entertaining at the same time, allowing an intuitive and natural exploration of content. Part of the power behind this lies in the fact that real objects captured by video sensors can become part of an augmented reality, allowing users for example to swim through an aquarium or fly through the air. The fact that AlterStation has already made a strong showcase for itself at various entertainment and cultural avenues across Europe promises therefore to alter the nature of storytelling and learning altogether.
