VR/AR Tool - Civilisations AR
Civilisations AR
Civilisations AR
is an augmented reality app available free from Google Play and Apple’s AppStore. It allows folks to access historical
artifacts and information about these artifacts on their devices. The three-dimensional objects are
displayed in space with the user having the ability to move around the object
or move the object themselves.
Some of the objects available to examine and learn about are Egyptian
mummies and Greek redware pottery.
The app, though a stand-alone product, was created by the BBC and goes
along with the BBC’s Civilisations series. There are numerous videos on YouTube
about how to use the app, but it really is simple to use without any
instructions. All a user has to do
is download the app and launch it.
A globe will come into view and then as the viewer manipulates the globe
in 3D. Dots appear on the globe where historical objects can be explored. The image will then close in on the
object and the viewer can move it, get closer for more detail, place it on a
surface in the real space of the viewer to get a notion of actual size, or even
walk around it. Art teachers will
find this tool amazing because it places visual culture objects in the classroom
in three dimensions. The objects
that the BBC has documented so far are extraordinary, and they are adding more
all the time. In an art history
class this app can be used extensively to look at and discuss art that has
previously only been available through flat pictures or prerecorded videos. I love it!
Our readings this week covered some amazing tools. My very, very, very favorite was Google
Expeditions. I was blown
away. I will use this tool in my
library and make sure teachers know it exists and how to use it. In the article "Using virtual and
augmented reality in the library," Massis states that “VR and AR are not
gimmicks, and must be seen as valid additions to the toolkit that may be used
by libraries to engage its audience, not only with the latest technology but
also with the goal in mind of ensuring a proper approach to teaching
information literacy” (2014, p. 798).
I am completely sold. I
will use the Civilisations AR app and
Google Expeditions to convince
everyone I can that VR is a great and powerful tool.
Massis, B. (2015). Using virtual and augmented reality in
the library. New Library World, 116(11/12),
796 – 799.
Nexus Studios. (2018,
March 1). BBC - Civilisations AR:
Preview [Video File]. Retrieved
from https://vimeo.com/258073035
This sound like a great tool and I definitely want to check it out. This sound like something that as school librarians we could encourage social studies teachers to use. Also, I looked into Google Expeditions this week and it helped me get on board the AR/VR bandwagon. I think these will be great tools, especially for visual learners.
ReplyDeleteBoth the Civilisations AR app and the Google Expeditions app seem really neat and potentially useful in a classroom or library setting. I could definitely see the Civilisations AR app being useful in a history or social studies class in addition to an art history class. It seems valuable because it can give students a perspective that they otherwise would not get from looking at two dimensional pictures or illustrations of history scenes. I thought that Google Expeditions seemed really cool as well and that it can be used with the affordable Google Cardboard is a plus. These are certainly good AR resources and we really should take advantage if we can.
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