Augmented Reality Makes An Appearance At The Fargo AirSho

The Fargo AirSho has always been a place to see some amazing products of aviation technology. But this year the National Guard bought a different kind of cutting edge tech. At the National Guard Uniform Experience tent, show attendees could use Augmented Reality to put themselves in uniform…

Augmented reality (AR) refers to creating a live view of the real world, and then augmenting certain elements of the environment through computers.

The tech was simple enough. Participants would stand in front of a green screen facing a large television monitor with a web cam on top.  The National Guard personnel would type in some personal information (name and state), and place a large AR Tag in front of the eager volunteer.  And voila! The participant appeared in the monitor in full battle dress uniform.  Hold still for three seconds, and kids everywhere were running off to show their friends and family a picture of them in uniform (my kids both had a helicopter in the background, with a fan blowing their hair for added effect).  As an added touch, name and state information was worked into both the headline on the picture and the name tag on the uniform.

Is this the first time you’ve seen or heard of augmented reality? Well, it won’t be the last.  The technology is quickly becoming popular in marketing circles, as brands strive to engage consumers in a new way that still has that “wow” factor.  With nearly every mobile device having a camera, and most laptops now coming equipped with a web cam, most consumers are or will soon be able to view AR campaigns.

If you missed the National Guard tent at the AirSho, dont worry.  If you have a laptop with a web cam, you can experience it here!