The BBC is launching its first augmented reality app. It will enable people to explore historical artefacts from UK museums in virtual exhibitions. It is a companion to BBC Two’s Civilisations series, which will be broadcast in spring 2018.
Users will be able to view and explore artefacts virtually – for example, looking at a mummy inside a sarcophagus.
Other broadcasters are also experimenting with the technology. Sky ran an AR-based marketing campaign last year to promote its Q TV service, allowing consumers to interact with virtual versions of characters from its shows at a London station.
AMC created a video game to promote the Walking Dead that superimposed zombies over smartphone camera views of the real world.
And during last week’s Super Bowl, NBC featured augmented reality graphical representations of players that it superimposed over views of the US Bank Stadium.
Augmented mummy
The Civilisations AR app is being released on both iOS and Android.
Its interactive features include allowing users to “rub” through layers of history to revive a faded sculpture to what it would have looked like when it was first made.
The app’s exhibits include:
- an Egyptian mummy from the Torquay Museum
- Rodin’s The Kiss from the National Museum of Wales
- the Umbrian Madonna and Child from the National Museum of Scotland
Source: BBC
