As interactive as these technologies are becoming, I do not believe that kids would like to interact with the augmented reality figures. Unless in the future there was a way to stimulate the sense of touch and have more personal
interaction with the figure. Many people including me tend to forget about how important these basic senses are that we constantly use (touch, smell, taste, hear, sight). While the AR figures can look very cool and interesting but
without the sense of touch and interaction that is it. No kid will want a toy that they can only see and not touch.
If we can address the lack of touch sense by using some sort of simulated technology, then I believe that this product can become very popular and possibly replace the physical toys and figures. The flexibility that it will allow
one’s imagination to flow is endless. For example, Legos are very popular among kids and even among adults because it allows one to build anything they want with some constraints. The size, color, shape, and cost. Yes, there are
some situations where these do not apply but for the majority of the people, these are unfortunately the typical constraints they face. If we can use these AR technologies (AR Legos?), we can scale the size as big or small, as
colorful as users can imagine, and as much as they can build without worrying about the cost. This is one of the situations that this type of augmented reality figure can address ‘only’ if we can solve this lack of interaction and
touch sense.
After I finished constructing my playset and imported into the life-size version the feeling that they gave me are drastically different. Before I converted the playset into a life-size version, it gave me a feeling of “It’s just
a figure model that I can modify it to what I want”, but when it came to the life-size version, it definitely was not just a figure model. It was very shocking to me; I was so immersed with the life-size playset that I had to make
sure that there was not a person or an object blocking my way. In the video, you could see me subconsciously trying to avoid running into the objects and the “me” in the playset. At the time I did not notice that I was doing that
until I watched the recording. Even though the current technology does not allow you to interact through a sense of touch, I can see this being implemented into movies or maybe even augmented reality game’s cut scenes. This is not
limited to only entertainment industries because imagine having this technology being used to showcase blueprints or prototyping ideas – cars, simulations, or integrating with AI. In general, even if the playset and the life-size
playset are the same, due to the size difference it gives users different a feeling, impression, and usage.
Warping off my two cents. I still strongly believe that these augmented reality figures will not become popular among kids unless the issue of touch is implemented. This does not mean that it is useless to adults or other areas.
I can easily see these being implemented into fields like engineering, astrophysics, and simulation researches that could also involve artificial intelligence.
