New Exhibit at Fleet Science Center Uses Augmented Reality Technology to Explore Magnetism in 3D

July 18, 2011 - PRLog -- New Exhibit at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center Uses Qualcomm’s Augmented Reality Technology to Explore Magnetism in 3D

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – July 18, 2011 – The Reuben H. Fleet Science Center today announced a new hands-on exhibit that uses augmented reality to visualize concepts of magnetism for visitors to the museum. “Augmented Reality (AR) Magnet” is currently on display in the Fleet’s exhibit gallery. The new AR exhibit, the first of its kind in a Balboa Park museum, serves as a pilot project to investigate the usefulness of mobile apps as teaching tools to enhance hands-on exhibits in informal science educational institutes like the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. Using Qualcomm’s AR technology, the app has been custom built for the Fleet as part of an interactive exhibit on magnets and magnetism.

To experience the exhibit, visitors lift a mobile phone attached to the exhibit and point the phone’s camera at a magnet on a table. Suddenly the screen displays 3D moving “magnetic field lines” that appear as if they are coming from the magnet. Visitors can move the phone around the magnet to observe the magnetic field lines from various angles, or the image and magnet can be rotated on its turntable.

Through the exhibit, visitors use the latest technology to investigate a scientific concept that is not easily identifiable by the human eye. The unseen becomes visible as the visitor observes that the magnetic force, which encircles the magnet, is stronger nearer the poles where the lines intersect. In a real life example, the orientation of magnetic field lines of the Earth’s magnetic field is very similar.

After introducing the app and the exhibit on the floor, the Fleet Science Center plans to review its effectiveness with the goal of exploring other interactive exhibits in which the app may be utilized to enhance content throughout the Science Center’s exhibit galleries. The exhibit has been made possible by Qualcomm Incorporated, Dawn and Matt Grob, and Peggy and Eric Johnson.