Augmented Reality Travel Map
An augmented-reality map of my travels throughout the world
Watercolor map of “central Europe” with pins serving as Augmented Reality targets
IDEA
As my “Passion Project” for Erin Riley’s course Studio in Creative Technologies, I am creating an augmented-reality map of my travels across the world. I’ve collected pins from many of the cities I’ve visited, so I will use these pins to mark the cities on the map. I developed an augmented-reality app in which one may scan each pin to view photos from my trip to the city where it was purchased.
Process
I began with a mind map that developed over a couple of months as I experimented with different technologies such as laser cutting and etching, vinyl cutting, and digital embroidery. Slowly, my concept for AR-enabled maps featuring my collection of pins began to surface.
Digitally-embroidered street map of Seville, Spain
Laser-etched map of "central Europe” with pins serving as AR targets
Screenshot of AR app prototype created in Unity with Vuforia
My initial idea was to digitally embroider each map, but these maps required a level of detail not feasible for the scale of my project. Next, my instructor suggested I laser etch the maps on canvas. While laser etching was efficient for the scale of my maps, I felt it lacked dimension. I turned to this map on Amazon (below, left) for inspiration and chose to vinyl-cut stencils and water color my maps.
Map by Michael Tompsett on Amazon
Initial proof-of-concept using vinyl-cut stencils and water color
Final map of “western Europe”
COMPLETED PROJECT
The completed project consists of two maps and an AR application. The application is open-source and available at github.com/lrbloch/ar_travel_map. The maps are currently hanging on the wall in my living room where guests can interact with them when they visit.
Me with my completed AR maps
Future Work
Future work on this project includes the following five to-do items:
1. Watercolor US map using laser-cut cardstock stencil
2. Addition of US pins and AR elements
3. Manual creation of new pins for cities where I did not purchase them
4. Digital embroidery of travel paths
5. Addition of miniature maps for countries not yet included: Israel, South Africa, Morocco…
Questions, Suggestions, Requests
Please contact me at laura.r.bloch@gmail.com or @laura_bloch
Musings
This week, I worked on creating a QR code that could direct users to download my AR app. I tried a variety of mediums, but none of them created a code clear enough to be scanned by my phone.