Everyday Animation

There is potential for animation everywhere we look--we just have to use some creativity to see it sometimes. That spark of imagination is how animator Marty Cooper started his animated shorts called "Aug(de)mented Reality". In these shorts, Cooper animates hand-drawn characters interacting with mundane and ordinary objects. He uses just a clear cell/sheet, an iPhone, and his surroundings to generate quirky and fun stop-animations. 

As you can see in the video, Cooper comes up with zany characters that move around dumpsters, destroy pillows and even dig in the dirt. His use of animation in the real world is both unconventional and creative. He is able to both capture the characters with all of their motions and capture the background and make changes to the physical objects as if his animations were moving the objects. This video makes me think of all of the different capabilities of animation. The possibilities are really endless, all it takes is a little bit of creativity and a lot of patience. 

Augmented Reality

So in researching a project for another class I came across this new technology being developed by Qualcomm called Vuforia. It is an augmented reality interface that allows you to use a camera on your phone or another device to look at an object and get real time instruction on how to use said object. One of the employees likened it to Google Maps turn by turn directions but for real life applications. The applications of this technology would be endless. It could be used to give after effects tutorials as one example. I am definitely interested in the interface though. In the video they point the phone at a desk phone and get taught how to make a conference call. The software recognizes the phone and highlights the buttons you need to press in order for it to work. This could be produced for larger scale things in the future and the possibilities are endless.