A startup company is helping to make learning more exciting and fun for children.
A Toronto, Canada, startup is using augmented reality technology to help to overcome the tedium and boredom that is often associated with geography classes and make the subject more exciting for children.
The strategy uses maps in a unique and interactive way to help Canadian children to learn about the world.
The augmented reality program is called Fun Maps for Kids, and it applies interactivity to digitized maps in order to help to make them more interesting to child learners. This startup was created by a family in Toronto who had returned from a trip with their son – three years old – which took them around the globe.
Worldwide travel helped to inspire the development of this augmented reality learning tool.
The founders of the company are Martin Pietrazak and Natasza Cieplik, who created it in 2012. Their initial purpose had been to help to teach their son about different places around the world. However, the idea soon proved to be too interesting for them to keep within the family, so they expanded it to be able to provide this augmented reality learning experience to other children, as well.
Though it is based on print maps, they offer students a great deal more than the traditional atlas. Instead, the creators made sure that their maps would have an interactive feature that would bring them to life for students. They used the patented Layar app in order to take advantage of its ability to add digital content to printed pages using augmented reality.
This experience starts off with nothing more than a map that is mounted on the wall, which is a common sight in geography classrooms. However, when the students in those classes use an iPad on which the Layar app has been opened, the map soon provides additional images, animations, and audio clips that can all be accessed through the use of the touch screen.
The company’s website claims that the augmented reality maps offer students a “window to the world” which would not be available to them through traditional printed images and drawings.
Golden-i has just released an AR tech device that is designed specifically for police officers.
As augmented reality glasses are designed and redesigned for release for a broadening range of different purposes, Golden-i has just unveiled a new option that is meant for police officers in the U.K. to use in order to help to save lives, fight crime, and simplify their jobs, overall.
The technology can provide a range of different features and opportunities for police to use.
Some of the features include data connectivity, an onboard camera, GPS, a microphone, and a micro display. The Golden-i product is goggles that can be worn by police and other peace officers to be able to provide them with real-time data that can help them to safely capture the criminal regardless of the situation.
The data that the augmented reality can provide can be invaluable to ensuring the safety and success of an effort.
The data can be instantly received through the use of a biometric and visual object scanner. It can also give them the ability to see in the dark and to use an infrared sensor to track criminals. Police can communicate with coworkers who can send them with a location’s floor plan, which can be projected through augmented reality into the vision field of the cop, in order to better understand the location. They can also view the positions of their coworkers through the use of the GPS features, helping them to stay in touch and always know where the team is located – eliminating the need to guess.
The Golden-i augmented reality goggles are the invention of an American company called Kopin Corporation. However, they have also incorporated additional software that has been specifically customized to the needs of firefighters, paramedics, and police officers. That software was developed by Ikanos Consulting, based in Nottinghamshire. This software allows other emergency responders to benefit from the AR technology, as well.
Golden-i has announced its intention to launch an SDK, which would allow others – including office workers – to be able to take advantage of the many features associated with augmented reality glasses and goggles.
A startup company is helping to make learning more exciting and fun for children.