Disney Research has developed a new amplified reality application. The app allows coloring books characters jump out from the page and into the child's world.
In this generation, television is considered punishment for kids. One can only imagine that old-fashioned coloring books could be pure torture.
When a little kid, for instance, colors an elephant on a physical coloring book page, a smartphone or tablet running the Disney app displays the drawing. Basically drawing with the little kid, the app fills in shades in real time on an animated three-dimensional version of the elephant.
Robert Sumner, head scientist on interactive graphics and animation and at Disney Research, states that amplified reality embraces exceptional and favorable possibilities to bridge the real-life events and digital practices, letting users to involve their dreams and lift their imagination.
Originally experimented on grownups, researchers found out that most users were more interested to color if they could see their creation come to reality. The grownups conveyed that the application improved their sentiment of bond to the character they colored.
A crew of seven Disney researchers, along with folks from EPFL of Switzerland and ETH Zurich, united with Sumner to generate this new involvement. Working in reverse through dimensions, the scientists generated animated three-dimensional virtual characters, which were then transformed into two-dimensional line-art appearances for the coloring book.
The accompanying Android and iOS apps use the paired device's camera to observe the coloring book. As the little kid gives color to the 3-D drawing, the app does the same with its 3-D character.
The process is much more difficult than it looks. The scientists must take into account the different angles of the copy, and shades on the front face will be different from the head's back.
The research is still in the early junctures. Motivated by the Disney Color and Play application, this technology will be accessible for the iPhone and iPad only.
