In May the Architecture Foundation will launch a new Augmented Reality (AR) app to bring its keynote lecture series into the studios of architects and students who cannot attend lectures in person due to work commitments.
The service has been created because so many architects need to work late into the evenings to hit important deadlines. Now AF members can watch and engage with lectures while continuing to work.
The technology, which uses six cameras to film lecturers in 3D and compile them into a single moving avatar, is normally used for executive conference calls, but as part of the project is being installed in several of the AF's core lecture venues.
Online audience members will be able to use their phones to see a live 3D version of each AF lecturer in real time as if they were perched on their desk.
Phineas Harper, Deputy Director of the AF who has been leading the project said, "We're aware that many students and young architects feel they cannot leave the studio to attend evening lectures due to deadlines set by their managers and tutors. This AR app enables our members to engage with our lecture series from afar while working on CAD late into the night."
The AF's augmented reality app will be called AFAR and launches in early May.