“One moment you’re being guided through the basics of evolution by the comforting presence of Sir David Attenborough, the next, a dinosaur prances across the empty space in front of you.
The magic is augmented reality, a technology that blends CGI graphics and a live video stream. The Natural History Museum is claiming it as a first for any museum.
The new interactive film Who Do You Think You Really Are? opens to the public today and takes the audience on a journey back through their evolutionary past. As well as the animated Coelophysis, other stars of the show include Homo erectus strolling along a virtual catwalk, and an intricate tree of life with roots sprawling from the lighting rig to the floor.
Each seat in the Attenborough Studio is fitted with its own handheld touchscreen computer. A specially built kid-proof orange iPad if you like – robust enough to be dropped on the floor several times a day.
These “windows into the past” allow you to rotate a human skull, compare strands of DNA and play with an elephant’s milk tooth. They even take your picture, which is then instantly splashed on the screens around the auditorium. As if that weren’t enough, you can tap in your email address to continue the quest to find out how closely related we are to bananas back at home or in the classroom.
“We wanted to use a whole arsenal of media and technologies,” says Alisa Barry, executive producer of the film, “We have peppered the studio with infra-red. This allows the camera in the handheld computers to track movements and position the animation correctly.”
It’s always a challenge to keep teenagers entertained and focused for 45 minutes, so how did they react to the first screening? “They loved it,” says Barry. “They laughed in the right places, but were also very quiet, even telling each other to shhhhhh at some points. I’m very relieved!”
Sir David may the best science teacher you could ever hope to have, but even he can’t stop teenagers bursting into fits of giggles at the mere mention of Homo erectus.”
Read more at The Guardian
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