The San Jose School in Valladolid, Spain is using Augmented Reality and the Layar Creator to help teach young students a multitude of important skills.

Nacho Herrero, ICT Coordinator for Primary Education at the school, recently made use of Layar to help engage kids in an education activity based around the various systems of the human body. The students, ages 9 to 10, created hand-crafted posters illustrating the functions of the systems with information gathered from searching the Internet.

They then used the Layar Creator to connect the information they found online – videos, photos, links, voice recordings, etc. – to the physical posters. By scanning the various posters from their class and others with the Layar App, they could discover more about the systems through AR and the Internet.

To see what the students created, try scanning some of the posters yourself. You can also read more about this project (in Spanish) at Nacho’s blog.

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!

Over the years, one of the most common uses of Layar and Augmented Reality has been to look into the past with location-specific photographs or 3D models. Whether it’s the Berlin Wall, earthquake-damaged buildings in San Francisco or just a small town in a simpler time, AR is a great way to instantly travel back in time.

It’s in this same vein that the recently created ERA Girona experience was published as a Geo Layer on the Layar App. Those visiting Girona in Spain’s Catalonia region can use the layer to take a look into the city’s past by browsing for nearby historic photos.

The layer is part of the International Augmented Med program started by geographer Laura Olivas. It is funded in part by the European Union and by the Catalan government, and the city council of Girona agreed to allow the use of the photos. The name “ERA” is actually a clever play on words, as “era” means both a period of time in English, Spanish and Catalan, as well as “it was” in Spanish and Catalan. And of course, “RA” is the abbreviation for “Realitat Augmentada.”

More than 50 photos from the turn of the 20th century display Girona’s cultural heritage, including monuments, historical buildings and daily life. Users can search for “ERA Girona” in the Layar App to launch the layer. They only need to look around them with their phone or tablet to discover and view the nearby photographs.

Mouse over this image for an example.

“Every inch of Girona’s stones has plenty of history: the old town, the jewish quarter, the walls, the cathedral, etc,” the project says. “You don’t need Augmented Reality to feel the heritage of such a historical spot. But with ERA Girona, we have collected a series of old photographs, conveniently located along the city through points of interest, enriching your visitor experience letting you compare old photographs with the current status of the same spot.”

Mouse over this image for an example.

The project has gained the attention of the local media, inspiring a segment on a local TV news show and an article in a Catalan newspaper.

It’s no secret that interactive print is exploding across the globe.

From real estate agencies in Australia, to big brands and publishers in Canada and the United States, to the biggest publications in France and the Netherlands, and even a boom in downloads of the Layar App in Saudi Arabia – Layar is a truly worldwide company. We’ve even taken it upon ourselves to make sure content is distributed across dozens of servers worldwide for greater speed.

As the international market for interactive print emerges, it’s time for us to take the next step in providing the best possible user experience to as many people as possible. Available today for iOS and Android, version 7.2.2 of the Layar App  includes support for the following languages:

Combined with English, these languages make up a large portion of Layar users around the globe, but this just the beginning. To provide the best experience to more users, we will add more languages based on usage and demand over time.

The inclusion of native language support within the Layar App makes it easier for publishers to create seamless and engaging experiences for their readers. Publishers could already tailor their interactive print content into the language of their choice, and now the Layar App itself follows suit to provide an immersive experience in a user’s native language. It’s simply a better all-around experience for users.

Want your language supported in the Layar App? Let us know in the comments section which one we should do next!

A few months ago we wrote about Spain’s Frikoño 2011 layer and the awesome 3D models of Star Wars spacecrafts therein.

Now developer David Contreras of Spanish technology group ESIDEA has upped his game, adding animation (and lasers!) to simulate battles between the aforementioned Star Wars spacecrafts.

Choose from nine different battle scenes, including the Millennium Falcon vs. a Star Destroyer, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter and more. There’s even a reenactment of the Battle of Hoth, for all you AT-AT Walker fans.

Perhaps the best improvement in the new Frikoño 2.0 layer, however, is that you can view it from anywhere in the world. The layer text is in Spanish, but chances are most Star Wars fans will figure out what a “Halcón Milenario” is.

Read more »