NetGenEd 2011

he 2010 Horizon Report includes examples of augmented reality like the Wii under the category Gesture Based Computing. Gesture recognition enables humans to interact with mechanical devices using simple natural gestures. In the future, the use of a keyboard, a mouse or even a touch pad may become a thing of the past with innovations in gesture based computing. See a video slide show of The New Media Consortium/ Educause report Click Gesture-Based Computing : 2010 NMC Horizon Report iPhone geotags. Geotagging and Geolocation Another important part of augmented reality applications is the use of geotagging and geolocation. A Geotag is a GPS coordinate that associates content such as videos, textual information, audio or any user- generated content to a specific location. When photographers use digital cameras, they have the choice to date stamp the video or photo. A Geotag is similar to that type of tag. AR applications draw on specific tags created by companies but will also depend on content that everyday users add through Geotagging. When we go to Google Earth to view a location, we are now able to find pictures and information added by users through these types of tags. Marker vs Markerless Augmented Reality AR Marker QR Code. AR Marker QR Semacode. Currently, many people associate augmented reality with black and white squares that trigger augmented reality elements. These black and white squares are called markers. Markers are also called QR (Quick Response) codes or Semacodes. A QR code is a two dimentional bar code that allows its content to be decoded at high speed. Markerless technology requires no marker to know the position of the object or person. Smartphone browsers that layer information over live locations are often considered in the markerless category, although they still use embedded "marked" information through geolocation and geotagging. The goal is to have augmented reality work much like this HP commercial Jerry Seinfeld for HP

A person who wishes to experience a learning session via augmented reality would don a pair of see-through glasses that also host two tiny video cameras and a pair of earphones. A tiny computer, perhaps worn on the wrist or around the waist, would recognize the geometry and content of the user's immediate environment and overlay that environment with meaningful images and sounds for a specific purpose. From the user’s point of view, he or she would apparently see and hear other people, objects, or events taking place right in front of or around them. These augmented perceptions would appear to be completely real. In technical terms, they would be rendered by the wearable computer with light shading that takes into account both the ambient and directional light sources found in the user's immediate environment. Put simply, the augmented reality system is "projecting" people, objects, environments or other elements onto the environment around you.

Brooklyn Campus of Long Island University is expanding a program it implemented earlier this semester to provide its students with Apple iPads.

The institution's initial iPad pilot program began delivering free iPads to all full-time incoming freshmen and undergraduate transfer students this semester. Preparations for the program included a $100,000 investment in its wireless infrastructure, beefing up the number of access points at six locations in the process. About 3,500 students received iPads during the initial phase of the program.

Now the Brooklyn Campus is expanding that initial pilot to all of its students, though it will not be supplying the devices completely free. The university said it will provide iPads at a discount to full-time students who did not qualify for the initial pilot, charging sophomores, juniors, and seniors $250 for an iPad, underwriting the rest

Augmented reality, a capability that has been around for decades, is shifting from what was once seen as a gimmick to a bonafide game-changer.

Various forms of augmented reality, starting with early head-mounted displays, have been around for more than 30 years. Over that time, increased bandwidth and smart phone adoption, as well as a proliferation of AR browser applications, have helped AR evolve from a family of cool gadgets on the periphery of graphics and visualization technologies to an increasingly central player in the technology landscape.

Augmented reality (AR) refers to the addition of a computer-assisted contextual layer of information over the real world, creating a reality that is enhanced or augmented.

Learning analytics are an important lens through which to view and plan for change at individual learning paths and educational institutions’ courses. Furthermore, in corporate settings, learning analytics can play a role in highlighting the development of employees through their learning. Information flow and social interactions can yield novel insights into organizational effectiveness and capacity to address new challenges or adapt rapidly when unanticipated events arise.

Learning analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of data about learners and their contexts, for purposes of understanding and optimizing learning and the environments in which it occurs.

When integrated, learning and knowledge analytics form the foundation for adaptive and personal learning by providing learners with relevant learning choices to address gaps between existing knowledge and knowledge needed within a field or domain. Through the use of analytics, organizations also stand to gain new insights into how the work of individuals contributes to organizational capacity for change and innovation.

it will enable faculty to more precisely identify student learning needs and tailor instruction appropriately. This has implications not simply for individual student performance, but in how educators perceive teaching, learning, and assessment.

Similarly, Userfly, designed for usability testing, provides the ability to record the behavior of visitors to websites, and then play it back for analysis.

computer science professor Paul Gestwicki and English professor Brian McNely are co-developing software for enhancing collaborative knowledge work. Using current theories of learning, rhetoric, writing, and human-computer interaction, the pair is designing an interactive visualization system with the goal of providing a richer understanding of collaboration and a framework for more effective evaluation of the collaborative process within writing.

For Red Bull, Circ.us created a mobile gaming app for the iPhone that allows people to create their own race track by arranging and photographing Red bull cans.

That arrangement then becomes the shape of the race track in the game.

The work succeeds on two fronts. It offers up a free and customizable mobile game and it gets people to buy Red Bull in order to make the game possible. Fun + Sales = Win.

Augmented books, now just beginning to enter the market, are another interesting application of this technology. The German company Metaio is developing books that include AR elements, such as globes that pop up on the pages. The books are printed normally; after purchase, consumers install special software on their computers and point a webcam at the book to see the visualizations. The technology allows any existing book to be developed into an augmented reality edition after publication; an atlas featuring 3D views of geographic locations is currently in development.