King’s alumni in the process of creating augmented reality products

The outbreak of the pandemic changed many lives and will have a long-term impact on everyone. King’s alumni, Sally Morris, is helping by developing augmented reality (AR) products and giving all revenue to the NHS and the UK government. The money would go for services like healthcare, transport education, reconstruction, and others.

Sally Morris graduated from King’s Department of Informatics in 2015. She has been working in the sphere of software development and management and data and business analysis ever since. The outbreak and appaling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic urged her to seek a way to help. Together with three other colleagues from different universities, Sally is currently working on the development and production of AR products. Her team believes these would “enhance learning and social ability experiences at universities” during chaotic times.

AR products can manipulate reality by adding non-existent virtual elements in order to create or enhance experiences. According to the team, such products would illustrate theoretical concepts more clearly and would keep students engaged. Students may also be able to learn skills, essential for their career paths, through simulated experiences. In addition, AR would potentially serve as a good substitute for events that may not be allowed due to social distancing practices.

As the pandemic affects people of all ages and backgrounds, Sally’s team is planning to introduce products tailored for different ages. They aim to work with children, students, graduates, patients, and people with special needs. When focusing on students, the team’s hopes are to sell the products to the universities. Those would then be used during Freshers’ Week and lectures throughout the year. Meanwhile, all revenue would be “distributed between the NHS and UK’s government for medical support and economic recovery from the modern pandemic”.

Sally could not disclose further details regarding the products, as the team is in the process of data gathering. You can contribute to the research here. The team urges people to participate, as they need to gather as much data as possible in order to proceed with their project.