Step up your Next Presentation with Augmented Reality

[#1]

The next time you have to get on stage and talk about your business, here’s a way to capture the attention of your audience.

Augmented Reality, or AR for short, is the result of your physical, real-world environment being augmented by computer-generated sensory input, such as sound or graphics. The first time I ever saw this was back in 2007 when Phil McKinney showed me an AR game called Roku's Revenge. It was awesome, immersive and fun.

Fast forward to 2011 and AR has moved from your game console to live and in front of you on stage. If you are having a hard time imagining it, take a look at the video I shot this week in Shanghai. Make sure to keep an eye on HP’s very own Paul Donovan in the right hand corner – what he is showing in his hand (just a plane white board with a fixed image on it), and what is showing up on the big screen to the left (a thrilling multimedia extravaganza) is a perfect example of how AR can pack a powerful punch into your next presentation. (Or just shock and awe, if that is what you are after.) 

Enjoy!

[#2]

What software did you guys use?

[#3]

It's pretty amazing but can clearly take away from the information itself - know what I mean?  How often have special effects in a movie been great but the movie bad?  Reminds of people using PowerPoint for the first time and throwing all the effects at every slide change.  So, I'd be real cautious of how you use this and integrate with a speaker.  It's like being at a concert and watching everything on the screen instead of the live body.  It's hard to tell what the audience was doing while this was going on.  The reaction of the audience as this was unfolding would be interesting to see.  The reaction to the dry ice and unveiling of the new products didn't seem to be gangbusters.  At any rate, awesome potential for sure.