Augmented Reality with Olympus Pen camera

Did a bit of a catch up on Augmented Reality (AR) as a follow up to Andy Goff’s presentation at mlearn2010.  Looked at one of the examples provided, which was the AR demonstration for the new Olympus PEN camera. Downloaded the plugin to run the simulation which included downloading a 'marker' (2d image of the camera). Also need to have vidcam running. A youtube video shows how it should run as it does take a bit of time to get used to running the camera on the screen while you are also holding the marker to bring up the 3D image.

Other examples of augmented reality are available on the wiki for AR and an article from the Guardian with an iphone app. Educational perspective provided by Educause guide with usual recommendations and caveats.

I can see great possibilities but development will be time and money intensive.  Also the simulation will generally have a specialised use and nothing beats coming up f2f with the real thing! The AR will provide the 3D visual but not the smell and tactile feel. However, for mobile access where there is little other choice (e.g. under-resourced classroom / lab / workshop with limited access to situated learning) AR would enhance learning opportunities.