Marina Square’s novel Augmented Reality Winter Wonderland brings Santa and his reindeers to life.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MARINA SQUARE.
Marina Square takes Christmas décor to the next level with an Augmented Reality (AR) Winter Wonderland at the mall’s main atrium this year.
It differs from virtual reality, which replaces the real world with a simulated one, in that it is “viewed in real-time, and information and activities can be overlaid on the real world.”
How it works: there are four “stations” displaying various AR markers that can be scanned on your smartphone, unlocking surprise animations overlaid on the real-life objects that will make for a good Christmas selfie.
There’s the Christmas Tree station, Santa’s Hut, the Toy House and Santa’s Sleigh, each of which conceal different experiences—sit on the sleigh for a picture with a moving Santa and his posse of reindeers or strike a palms-up pose of exaggerated awe with falling snow in a classic red telephone booth (we will stop here and not spoil any more surprises for you). There’s also an “iceberg marker” that lets you “frolic” with polar bears on floating ice glaciers, made possible with a large screen TV.
“In the expanding and exciting arena of advanced personal technology, where practically everyone owns and actively uses smartphones, it only makes sense for us to offer customers and visitors a more interactive playground this Christmas. Integrating AR programs with our beautiful 3D Winter Wonderland, we hope to create and capture memories on their devices that are uniquely their own,” states Chan Yien Mei, general manager of Marina Square Shopping Mall.
The Marina Square AR Christmas app is currently downloadable for free on iOS (6.1 and above) and Android (4.2) phones and tablets.
There is also a Kids Fun Zone which allows children to see Christmas Cards come alive (a la those Harry Potter photographs) using the same AR technology. They can also get glitter tattoos for S$5 a piece.
Not a bad way to enjoy some white Christmas cheer while waiting for the missus to finish her shopping.
The AR Winter Wonderland is open at Marina Square’s main atrium from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., Nov. 22 till Dec. 25, 2013.
