samuel stubblefield

What Augmented Reality (AR) Means for Architecture

NBBJ asked me to look at how AR will impact the field of architecture. Here’s my take…

Futuristic projections about Augmented Reality’s ability to fluidly overlay digital information with physical space are exciting and compelling. At the same time, the chatter leaves a blurry concept of how AR will actually change things. I’ve spent some time looking at what this emerging tech might mean for the future, specifically focusing on the field of architecture.

Below are a few points of discovery, but first, a quick definition: AR is a live view of the physical world with a digital content overlay. The content can be graphic information, an interactive graphic user interface, 3D imagery, video, sound, etc. The goal of AR technology is to enhance one’s current perception of reality, not alter it.

A few ways that AR is currently being used:

Design visualization and presentation. Currently, AR is being used give clients a more realistic look at how their project will look in context of a site. One of the most compelling things about AR visualization is that digital models used for design can be published for AR viewing on a smartphone or tablet, skipping the print process, adding portability, and providing a better sense of scale and atmosphere than print or traditional screen viewing.

Wayfinding. Using AR to navigate space could be one of the most compelling uses. There are a few mobile apps out that have moved into this territory. Example “A” is a visual created by our studio, showing how one could navigate a space using an Indoor Positioning System and an AR wayfinding layer. Simply, the app provides an overlay of visual breadcrumbs at decision points along a path. There is also a huge opportunity for creating more navigable spaces for the vision impaired using haptic and audio capabilities of smartphones.

Location based information. AR currently has an active presence in locating information in an urban environment. Apps and services like Junaio and Layar are overlaying data on top of cityscapes, guiding people to destinations, or giving people a look at what goes on inside of a building. Of course, Google Glass is aligned to own this market, provided people are broadly willing to adopt wearable tech in the form of glasses.

Thoughts on what architectural designers can expect out of AR in the not-too-distant future:

AR visualizations and presentations will become a player with a seat right next to print and traditional screen viewing.

Indoor navigation will find a new tool in the toolbox. It won’t replace traditional signage, but, as smartphone adoption increases, signage could be reduced to emergency egress and very basic navigation and identity.

Location-based information will get away from heads-down 2D, and move toward heads-up 3D (less Google Maps, more Google Glass).

Building facades, color palettes, patterns and materials will become canvases for individually-based, user-selected (or user-generated) content, feeding right into Experience Economy-based expectations of hyper customization.

How to start using AR:

Companies like Metaio, Vuforia and Augment let designers jump into AR with little investment. If you work in 3D modelling software like 3D Studio Max or Blender, there are scripts that allow one-click publishing of models via plugin scripts provided by the software makers. I’ve found Paris-based Augment to be the easiest to work with in terms for prepping and publishing a model, but each platform has advantages and disadvantages. To take it a step further, many companies offer an API for mobile devs that are interested in creating their own mobile app. Most of the APIs (some free) allow mobile devs to skirt the AR science knowledge, and simply build an Android or iOS shell for their project. We’ve decided to experiment and will be posting our AR public art app on www.lumit.io and www.digital-physical.com in the near future.

more work with Microsoft Research! the final product is quite futuristicish. thanks to Pol Pla i Conesa (www.polplaiconesa.com) from MIT Fluid Interfaces for being there for the early parts of the project. if you get the chance, sign the NDA and go for a ride in our time machine.

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Experience Prototyping in the middle of the night. on a farm. in france.

ronald jones explains why it is all worth it… http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/are_you_experienced/

we teamed up with olsen kundig and belle & wissell co. to work with microsoft research on the Envisioning Center (opening today!). have a look at the video showing one of the digital-physical points in the space… http://bcove.me/83kuiy94

augmented reality wayfinding prototypes are up and running.

adding heptics for blind/deaf wayfinding assistance in public spaces and clinics.

also looking at didactic layers for schools, exhibits and museums. *exciting times*

prepping a 3D Studio Max file for our new augmented reality public art platform.

interested in submitting public art (sculpture) for the first wave? email: samuel@samuelstubblefield.com

rollin’ out the green screen for a scene in the 18 minute, 5700-pixel-wide abstract film on permanent display at Microsoft. it is part of a 50-foot-long “digital-physical” piece that was commissioned over the summer. we shot with the Red EPIC, which was a blast to work with. downsampling a few segments now and will post them when they’re set, mom.

less at www.samuelstubblefield.com

hanging out at the NASA Ames Research Center, i noticed the architecture, colors, materials and type used on some of the NASA gear. also noticed the fantastic penmanship of the federale that wrote me a ticket for taking photos.  : (

google campus identity:

been spending some time at google’s HQ in mountain view lately. throughout the campus there are stacks of google-colored bikes outside of every building. we love how they identify the campus and send a fun, healthy, eco-lovin’ message. reminds me of Bicing in barcelona, where the identity of the bicycles themselves promote a great way to get around the city.

more on the design of the new Google campus, our work with the Android team, and partnership with NASA Research when i’m allowed to share. (so much mystery!)

recently went down to california with NBBJ and Centric Brand Anthropology to visit an organic farm that is far above standards required for organic certification.

instead of using pesticides, they use carnivorous insects (shown) to take care of the crop-eating insects. the carnivorous insects then naturally migrate north, where they are collected before the next annual crop cycle and brought back back to the farm. hooray!

i ate phở at facebook today (foodnoted). going to try to repay them by doing a beautiful, site-specific work of art for their office. in the meantime… terrible sketch!

we’ve released foodnote today. and we’re excited about it.

foodnote can help you eat healthier without encouraging mentally unhealthy calorie counting and obsessive label reading. v1 is a simple tool to examine what, when and where you eat. v2 will have more tools to keep you eating well. yum. http://www.foodnote.com

Just finished the alpha for Fluid Wall (working title). We’ll be dragging our partners from MIT Fluid Interfaces (http://fluid.media.mit.edu/) into it next week. As sexy as it is, there is no doubt that the Fluid Interfaces team will make it more… well… fluid. 

finally got around to photographing my sugar collection.