The Museo de la Evolución Humana (Museum of Human Evolution) in Burgos, Spain, has used Layar to create interactive postcards to promote a new temporary exhibit.

The exhibit, “Cambio de Imagen: Una nueva visión de los Neandertales” (Change of Image: A new vision of the Neanderthals) is a temporary showcase that features a new look at Neanderthals, including bones and artist illustrations.

“We want to do more things with these kind of technologies,” said Management and Communication technician Gonzalo de Santiago Salinas. “We think it is a good way to divulge the content of our museum, in our case, Human Evolution. We also want to be a modern museum and want to apply the latest technologies.”

The museum has produced an interactive postcard that it will hand out to visitors, as well as scientists at conferences and press members at events. By scanning the postcard, visitors can see a video in which Juan Luis Arsuaga, scientific director of the museum, explains the content of the exhibition. They can also access the museum’s program and social networks, or contact the booking center.

The interactive postcard has also been promoted on the museum’s social media pages.

The new exhibit has garnered significant press attention in Spain, thanks in no small part to the museum’s use of Augmented Reality to attract visitors. Give it a try yourself by clicking and scanning the image above!

Now in the Layar Creator, you can choose to auto-play audio files when a page or reference image is scanned.

Previously, playing audio files in interactive print campaigns meant having the user tap a button, like the blue “Listen” button in the screenshot above. We received a lot of feedback from users that wanted the option to skip this step and jump straight to playing the audio once the page is recognized. 

It’s our goal to take your feedback and use it to help make the Creator the best tool for AR and interactive print creation there is. So as of today, we’ve added the ability to have audio play automatically.

This functionality is especially handy for audio tours. By adding scannable objects (like a plaque, sign or sticker) to a museum tour, walking tour, etc., you can allow users to scan the object and instantly hear the next step in an audio tour!

Do have a great idea for an audio tour or other auto-played audio experience? You can easily create such an experience with the Layar Creator! Get started today!

Near the end of World War II, the Polish Home Army fought for its capital’s freedom in the 63-day (August 1 - October 2, 1944) battle against Nazi Germany occupation known as the Warsaw Uprising.

The conflict did not end in the Polish Home Army’s favor, however, and it cost many Polish soldiers and civilians their lives. In the aftermath, Nazi soldiers and collaborators orchestrated massive looting efforts and set fire to the capital, leaving Warsaw utterly devastated.

The Warsaw Uprising Museum hosts a comprehensive collection of photographs, film, personal recounts and other historical information from the Uprising, which serves as a memorial to the soldiers and families killed during the conflict.

Starting this week, the 67th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, you can use the Warszawa’44 layer to access historical images and information linking the geographic connections between modern Warsaw and the war-torn capital in 1944.

The Warszawa’44 layer was created by the Warsaw Uprising Museum and Polish Augmented Reality company Adv.pl.

Check out the video they made to show off the layer (it’s in Polish but you still get the idea).

You may have noticed that the Layar blog has gone a bit quiet lately. Don’t worry, we’re still alive, but we’ve been hard at work these days on some new ideas that we think you’re really going to like. In the mean time, we thought we’d take a moment to pass on a few items that have come across our radar in the past week or so.

Personally, I’m a history buff so I would encourage you to check out the WW2Museums.com layer. It takes advantage of a huge database of locations related to World War 2, including museums, monuments, cemeteries and general points of interest from all over Europe and the United States. You can browse the database on their website as well - it may surprise you what you might find right around the corner!

We have a bit of company news to share as well, as we bid farewell to one of our earliest employees, Nanda! You maybe remember our “Meet Layar” profile of Nanda back in February, but in case you need a refresher, she has been Layar’s Office/HR/Management Assistant since nearly the very start. Nanda made sure everything around the office ran smoothly, and we will miss her dearly.

And finally, to leave you with a bit of entertainment and wonderment as we head into another summer weekend, have a look at this impressive AR demo. It’s another in a long line of intriguing hacks of the Xbox Kinect system, and it’s pretty amazing how well the 3D model sticks to the tracker used. And to top it all off, the model features live animation mimicking the motion of the person standing infront of the Kinect.

Enjoy that for now, and don’t worry, we’ll have plenty to share with you in the coming weeks. Just you wait.