As you can see from the use of Aurasma (on iPhone 4) in the link above, augmented reality can be used creatively to supplement classroom displays. The tech has existed for a while as a marketing tool for use with webcams, the rise-and-rise of the smartphone has seen development further and more practically too. William Gibson’s ‘Spook Country’ (2007) describes ‘locative art’ where a cybernetic mash-up between a welding mask and a computer are used to watch 3d animations in real-world settings. It’s only the hardware and application that have reached us so far; any Android or Apple smartphone can run software such as Aurasma to place 3d animated models in certain locations or placements in 2d magazines. On phones, nearest tube station finders to geo-located travel applications are at the less frivolous end while little monsters emerge from printed symbols at the other.
String on an iPad
With the iPad 2 the hardware for safely mixing realities is finally at a decent scale without being in helmet or visored glasses.
This is a review of an Aiptek PocketCinema V10. If you haven’t seen one before, the Aiptek is one of a range of pocketable (if you have big pockets) LED projectors. In the box are a mini-tripod, neoprene case, a remote control, a software CD, s-video cable, AV cables, USB sync cable and a mains plug. Approx. projector dimensions are 7cm x 4cm x 2cm and it is sold as a ‘pocket cinema’ capable of displaying .mov, .avi and .wmv formats. Product shots on the box include an image of someone displaying what appears to be a PowerPoint slide show. This is somewhat misleading…
The Aiptek V10 is actually a slide show projector more akin to a digital photo frame than a conventional digital projector. Photos can be stored on it’s 1gb internal memory and displayed in a timed sequence with or without an accompanying mp3 music track. The v10 does this fine, no problem. There is no VGA capable link to a laptop – instead a USB cable lets you access the internal drive to drag on images and files. Beware! None of the aforementioned formats work straight away – you need to use the (included) software to convert your video files into a format recognised by the unit. MJPEG4 anyone? No I never heard o it either… That done, you can drag files on successfully and as you can see from the above image the video projection is bright and clear. PowerPoints have to be exported as jpgs and then displayed as slideshows. It beams an image up to 50cm across although at this size brightness suffers a lot. There is no audio out from the unit, so you are stuck with the quality of the internal speakers – not that great unless you have the unit on your knee.
Where the v10 really comes into it’s own and has far more usability is when you hook up the AV connector to some composite cables and an iPod. The iPod 4G (Photo) and the the AV to RCA (white box, right above) means the photo slideshows can be controlled including your choice of music. No video though. The new Composite AV cable (black box, left above) works with iPod 5G, Classic, nano (3 and 4), iTouch (1 and 2) and all versions of the iPhone. Again, you can’t project your homescreen but it works brilliantly with videos, movies, You Tube and your own saved movies on the iPhone 3GS.
The images come through sharp and as you can see from this photo, it is truly a portable way of projecting – the image on the wall being around 30 cm across in a not too dark room.
How would you use one in your classroom? Well maybe take some video on your iPod Nano or iPhone 3GS capturing pupil voice, students in action, video diaries etc and share with a small group pre loading up to your laptop or You Tube account. Maybe, you want to share a way of representing a media genre idea or pop video style – just preload what you want straight on to the v10′s memory. If you have any ideas to contribute post them to this blog and I’ll include below.
Likewise, the v10 has plenty of home entertainment uses too – portability is limited by the battery life though. With video playing I got an hour and a half before it went to one battery bar (the green display glows red when the battery is finally going).
Luckily, the iPod headphones do function when plugged in and the v10′s speakers are silenced.
This is much better for watching movies from the iTouch or iPhone and due to the bigger projection truly makes a pocket cinema.
So there will be a 3G version of the iPhone anytime soon – and by the looks of things a shockingly poor battery too. No surprise or usefullness as either a web surfer, phone or GPS. May be ok as an iPod though I wouldn’t call myself a movie fan if I watched ‘em on tiny-weeny screens.
What a hypocrite I am – I’m desperate to get an iPhone asap. Alright, I won’t use to watch movies. Happy?
A great way to get involved with the new iPhone design is to create your own widget badges for the applications on your Phone. Use this handy tutorial to help:
Posted by damoward 
