A "Peek" at Augmented Reality by Stephanie Weber

stephanie_weber — 2014-04-30 22:41:59 UTC

Google Goggles is an augmented reality app for smartphones that acts as a search engine. It uses a picture that you take with your camera as input. The program scans the picture and matches the image with relevant results. Google uses a mathematical algorithm to compare features of the image with features in its database. If the picture has texture and recognizable features, possible matches can be found quickly.

stephanie_weber — 2014-04-30 22:46:29 UTC

Educational Strengths

stephanie_weber — 2014-04-30 23:02:33 UTC

--Students can find information easily for projects or reports.

--Students without internet at home often have smartphones, so it is a resource for them.

--It is a free application.

--Google Goggles is user friendly and easy to use.

--Students don't have to worry about picking key words. They just take a picture and let the app do the work.

Educational Weaknesses

stephanie_weber — 2014-04-30 23:10:37 UTC

--Ordinary objects (animals, houses, etc.) don't generally match up well with the database features.

--Matches depend on taking a good picture. A grainy or blurry picture does not always get a relevant match.

--Low income students may not have a smartphone.

Possible Educational Tasks

stephanie_weber — 2014-04-30 23:20:34 UTC

--Google Goggles can be used anytime a student wants to investigate a topic for a project or report

--Students can find additional help with topics they are struggling with by taking a picture of the text they are working with and finding links to assist them.

--Students will be more engaged because they are allowed to use the "forbidden" cell phone in class

Looking Towards the Future

stephanie_weber — 2014-04-30 23:26:42 UTC

--Google developed this program for smartphones. They are working on "Project Glass", which takes the idea of Google Goggles and uses it in wearable, augmented reality glasses. The glasses become your camera and gives you information about the objects you see in front of you. It also shows you new message notifications and calendar reminders.

This video is an animated look at how Google Goggles works.

stephanie_weber — 2014-04-30 23:32:31 UTC

Sources

stephanie_weber — 2014-04-30 23:34:43 UTC

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/other-gadgets/google-goggles3.htm

http://www.mahalo.com/google-goggles/

http://www.pcworld.com/article/202213/google_goggles_android_app.html