Startup Within to Release Augmented Reality App for Children
Los Angeles-based immersive media startup Within plans to release Wonderscope, an augmented reality app for children, later this month. With Wonderscope, mobile AR superimposes characters, scenes and stories onto an iPad camera view of a real-world environment. Within chief executive Chris Milk noted that, with Wonderscope and a smartphone, anyone can have “this new magical ability.” “It’s like a lens for invisible magical things that you couldn’t see with your naked eye,” he added.
Variety reports that “Little Red the Inventor,” a twist on the classic fairy tale, will be one of the first stories to be released. In the updated story, Red is “devoted to science and engineering” and combats a wolf “that Milk describes as a #MeToo-like villain.” She wins the day with the help of the viewer “who communicates with her via speech-recognition technology.”
“Parents love the idea that their kids aren’t sitting there vegged out,” said chief technology officer Aaron Koblin. “They’re actually engaged and moving around, they’re reading out loud. It’s a way more active experience, which we’re really excited about.”
Because AR works in a real world environment, Milk stressed that, “you have to build a story that can work in someone’s kitchen, in someone’s backyard, next to someone’s pool.”
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