Register & Receive Free Augmented Reality Manipulatives
This is a continuation of my first post, How to Integrate Google Sketchup and Augmented Reality.
I recently asked teachers and others on Twitter what augmented reality manipulatives they could use in their classrooms. I received responses relating to anatomy, geography, and sports. I took those responses, downloaded relevant Sketchup creations from the Google Sketchup Warehouse, and exported them to ARSights.
In less than 5 minutes, I downloaded and demonstrated models of the Earth, a human ear, and the Dallas Cowboys stadium. Rather than waiting for the shipment of these manipulatives and paying a third-party vendor for them, I accessed them instantly and for free from the Google Sketchup community.
Below are my demonstrations. The video quality isn’t the best because I used two cameras to prove that this wasn’t some sort of magic trick. : )
AR Demo 1: Human Ear
AR Demo 2: The Earth
AR Demo 3: Dallas Cowboys Stadium
In order to do this, I splurged and bought the Professional License from ARSights that will allow me to publish my own files in the ARSights file format. With this license, you can export files from Google Sketchup to work natively with ARSights without the use of the Google Sketchup plugin for ARSights, which requires a paid-for license that isn’t cheap. You can certainly do that, and that option will give you the freedom and flexibility to do what you’d like.
You aren’t required to have the professional license – you can use the student and teacher versions just as well, which are much cheaper per license. However, the professional license allows you to export Google Sketchup files to the ARSights format, which is free for anyone to access. It comes down to a matter of what your intent for using the software is. If you’re using it exclusively for yourself, then go with the teacher license. However, if you want your kids to access these manipulatives from home or school and give other educators access to your manipulatives, the professional license is undoubtedly the way to go since this license will allow you to export your creations to a format that is freely accessible by anyone.
Regardless – why pay for it when I already have? Leverage my license towards your advantage.
Make a free request to have me create a model for you, which adheres to the terms of my license agreement since I’m not selling it.
Do you have an augmented reality manipulative you’d like to use in your classroom – for free? Here’s how:
- You must be a K-12 student, teacher, or administrator
- Access this page to see and download augmented reality manipulatives already available.
- If you’d like to request a manipulative, it must be something I can find in the Google Sketchup Warehouse
Getting started is simple – all you need for this to work is:
- A webcam
- ARMedia Player, and
- the printable marker from ARSights.
Go ahead and browse through Augmented Reality Manipulative for Educators. The selection is limited now, so if there’s something else you’d like, check out the Google Sketchup Warehouse and make a request.
If you do make a request, please be patient – I don’t get paid to do this, and I also work full time. However, I have a passion for what I do and will do my best to get your manipulative back to you as soon as possible.
Downloads, requests, and comments may be placed on this page.
