The Aryzon augmented reality (AR) headset began life as a Kickstarter project earlier this year that aimed to provide an accessible, low-cost AR device to spread awareness of the technology. The Kickstarter campaign massively exceeded its stated goal, and has now begun to be utilised for educational use, such as at the Thermen Museum in the Netherlands.
Aryzon have revealed that the Aryzon AR headset will be used as part of an exhibit at the Thermen Museum in Heerlen, The Netherlands that will allow visitors to experience Roman history by using the headset to see AR recreations of ancient Roman bathhouses that are currently under excavation.
The Thermen Museum in the Netherlands is built around the remains of a Roman bathhouse, one of the best-preserved examples of such a building in the Netherlands. The museum also features a collection of ancient Roman objects from when Heerlen was the Roman colony of Cariovallum. The Aryzon headset will feature as part of the ALIUNDE event, a visual experiment that lets visitors see what life was like for the Romans as they visited the bathhouse.
The Aryzon headset uses a set of lenses, cardboard and a smartphone camera to create 3D ‘holograms’ that appear as overlays across the real world, working in a similar fashion to the Microsoft Hololens, though in a much less sophisticated way. The Aryzon headset was concieved as being ‘the Google Cardboard of AR’ – a simple, low-cost and easy available AR solution that could be used to discover the potential of AR in a similar way to how Google Cardboard has raised the profile of VR.
The ALUNDE event is due to take place from 22nd to the 26th August, 2017. Further information can be found at the Thermen Museum website.
VRFocus will bring you further information on AR projects and technology as it becomes available.