Let's say your mother can't work out how to use the remote control for her new TV – and you living 2,000 miles away makes your help pretty impossible. If you were there, you would be talking with her and guiding her through the process of pressing each button – explaining it on the way. But, eventually, that feels just as hopeless.
But, Vuforia's new Chalk app gives you the ability to be there in voice and video, and adds the ability to make augmented reality "chalk marks" – like arrows or circles on the remote – over the other person's view of the world through their tablet or smartphone camera!
Chalk supports Apple's ARKit to bring the experience to iDevices running on iOS 11 – an Android version may come later.
What makes the Chalk app quite unique is that most consumer AR thus far has been about gaming and other forms of entertainment. But Chalk might actually be a part of a new wave of purely practical AR apps that fix real problems.
"Vuforia Chalk represents one of the most practical uses of AR technology to date," said Vuforia president Jay Wright in a statement. "It has the potential to improve our personal and professional lives – initially by helping each other."
Another aspect that makes Chalk interesting is that it involves the user creating and placing digital content in real time, rather than just looking at objects that were prebaked by the developers.
Watch the video to find out more about the app and how to use it!
