Augmented reality is great for entertainment. It can even make something as bland as running into a binge-worthy storytime!
Check out how musical movies are getting a new dimension with augmented reality, an AR fitness app creates a story around the user's running routes, and AR education goes to social media.
Goo Goo Dolls' aR musical movie premieres on December 12th
The American rock band Goo Goo Dolls has announced an AR musical movie, It's Christmas All Over. The movie, premiering on December 12th, is inspired by the band's holiday album of the same name.
The movie's plot is quite traditional to a Christmas story: the band travels through the past, the present, and the future in search of the lost Spirit of Christmas. During their travels, the band performs both songs from their holiday album and classic holiday tunes.
The movie will be available to watch on FanTracks live streaming platform starting from December 12th.
Magic Leap took on musical theater with an aR experience
This one is from a year ago, but so cool that it has to be featured!
Immersive production company Wilkins Avenue, along with its Pollen Music Group, debuted the first-ever AR musical through the spatial computing lenses of the Magic Leap One at Comic-Con Paris a year ago.
The company uses Magic Leap's spatial computing capabilities to bring the animated world of "Out There" into the audience's physical environment.
For an even more engaging experience, the audience's movements trigger the characters' reactions and props in the story. Every showing of "Out There" is a unique experience and unfolds a live theater mood.
Running Stories makes you the hero of your own story
Running Stories is like Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and your personal trainer had a baby. It casts the users as heroes in their own stories. It uses real-time data to build an augmented audio narrative, integrated with the runner's surroundings as they go.
Titles currently available include The Extraction (an espionage-based adventure), The Runner Without a Past (a psychological thriller), and Runner's Body' (an audio sitcom set inside the user's own body).
The app is currently in beta. The next phase is making the app available as an open-source platform so that writers and creators worldwide can design their own stories.
"Finding the motivation to run can be a challenge, but our intention is to make it a bingeing experience. We can't wait to see what co-collaborators will come up with once we open the platform up", said Joakim Borgstrom, the Creative Lead at Running Stories.
Merge Labs brings AR education to social media
Merge Cube is an easy-access AR platform for educators. It is used by schools in classrooms and remote learning to engage kids in hands-on lessons for science. Different kinds of educational AR content can be explored with a tablet or a smartphone like the objects were on the user's hand.
Merge Labs now brings immersive learning to social media. With the merge Cube and Merge filters on Facebook and Instagram, four types of content appear on the screen: the human body, cells, viruses, and the Solar System.
"Launching a Merge AR filter on Instagram is super easy. Just visit the Merge Instagram on your phone, click the face filter icon you want to check out, hold up your Merge Cube in front of your selfie camera and watch the AR content come to life."
That's all for now. See you next time!
