Nga Whetu o Matariki Awards 2019 - Augmented Reality Experience
One Click to start experience https://www.māoritelevision.com/ar
Māori Television’s Matariki Awards was on June 29 and this year the producers decided to add an extra Augmented Reality experience for event attendees and viewers at home.
The Matariki AR experience uses viewers' smartphones to bring Matariki to life in augmented reality without needing to download an app The Matariki experience shows ideas around Matariki and the 4 founding concepts of Māori Television.
Māori Television partnered with the Jean Swainson Foundation and game studio InGame to create an experience that is a first for NZ.
“I really wanted to do something different for this year's awards, that not only made the event memorable, but also educational,” Matariki awards producer Lanita Ririnui commented. “I am fascinated by how technology can transform traditional media experiences, and after working with Cam from the Jean Swainson Foundation, we came up with this AR experience.”
“To be honest, I was fearful that we may not be able to pull off the ideas she had in mind” Cam, founder of the Jean Swainson Foundation, shares openly, “but we found a way to do it, and really excited for New Zealanders to give it a go.”
“Augmented reality involves overlaying images and graphics into the real world in front of you, using cameras on mobile devices” Cam confirms.
“I really like how the second tap on the screen, actually takes you inside the experience, hopefully giving you a sense of being part of it” Lanita comments.
“There were some unique design challenges with this project, especially bringing augmented reality to life without the need for an app. Users can simply use their smartphone web browser.” Stephen Knightly, CEO of Ingame Ltd. “We specialise in educational gaming projects, and we are really excited about the educational potential of this technology. We could use it as an educational platform to bring experiences and scenarios into our classrooms cost effectively.”
The Matariki AR experience uses the worlds first marker less Web AR platform. The experience works directly from many browsers, such as Chrome, Safari and Explorer. No need to visit an app store or download. The devices will need good internet connection and uses data during the experience. The experience does not need a trigger or QR code like many augmented reality experience, it uses surface approximation technology to predict the surface to project the scene onto. The AR experience will work best on newer smartphones and tablets. Older models will not be able to process all the information needed to make the experience work.
“We focus on creating educational resources using augmented reality, virtual reality and gaming to engage and excite learning in New Zealand, the four hidden words inside this experience, are a great example of how this technology can be used to get people moving and learning in a new way” says Cam.
“The four founding pillars of Māori Television, is an important part of what we stand for and what we are trying to achieve in New Zealand. Viewers will have fun, trying to find them inside our pou and enter our competition” Lanita suggests.
“The Matariki AR experience remains live and Māori Television plan to keep using the experience for the rest of the year to showcase upcoming events and programs.” Lanita confirms.
For more information contact cam@jeanswainsonfoundation.com 021 55 80 61 or stephen@ingame.co.nz 0274 438 125