Hello and welcome to Episode Thirty Six of Page Turn: the Largo Public Library Podcast. I’m your host, Hannah!
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The English Language Transcript can be found below
But as always we start with Reader’s Advisory!
The Reader’s Advisory for Episode Thirty Six is Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo. If you like Clap When You Land you should also check out: Turtle Under Ice by Juleah del Rosaio, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez, and Red At the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson.
My personal favorite Goodreads list Clap When You Land is on is Diversify Your Bookshelves.
Happy Reading Everyone
Today’s Library Tidbit comes to us from Hilary and is all about augmented reality.
Augmented reality is a technology that bridges the physical world and the digital world. Unlike virtual reality which completely replaces the users reality, augmented reality changes or enhances only part of the users reality. This is done most often by changing the visual or auditory stimuli that the user is receiving from the world around them, but augmented reality can also be done using haptic perception, scent, and the somatosensory system. Haptic perception is the body’s ability to recognize objects through exploratory touch. The somatosensory system is the body’s conscious perception of touch, pressure, pain, temperature, position, movement, and vibration.
At it’s most basic level augmented reality works by taking in data and then manipulating that data onto a display. There are different set ups, but for every single one an operating system, a computer or a smartphone, takes in data using one or more cameras. The information is then processed through software and the manipulated data is presented back to the user on a display of some sort, typically onto a screen. To make more realistic augmented reality more than just visual data is needed. The operating system must also be able to sense depth, light, motion, and location and to be able to interact and feed that information back to the user. This is why only new generations of smartphones are able to provide augmented reality to users.
There are 3 ways that users can use augmented reality. Through devices, smart phones, tablets, etc, using a PC or connected TV players, or through a head mounted display and glasses. Contact lenses are in the works but are not yet available. Each different system type has it’s advantages and disadvantages. Devices and be cumbersome to continually hold. PC and TV webcameras can be in inconvenient places making it tricky to get the view correct. And head mounted displays can be uncomfortable with long time use. Additionally a common side effect in using augmented reality is nausea or motion sickness.
There are a lot of different applications for augmented reality. The field that most of us will use is entertainment. However, augmented reality has been applied to industrial use, psychiatric use, medical use, technological use, and military use. One of the earliest augmented reality uses was in flight simulators for military training purposes. Recent years have seen the use of augmented reality in therapies for individuals who have suffered neurological injuries. Patients with spinal injuries that received augmented reality therapy show mostly positive outcomes. Medical uses for augmented reality is newer than some other fields of use but the outcome of it is positive.
While Pokemon Go was certainly not the first augmented reality game it was the first to become explosively popular worldwide. This game, and other augmented reality games like it, use your phones cameras and location to allow the player to catch pokemon, battle other users, and gain in game items. Along the same lines a lot of museums, art galleries, and heritage sites are using augmented reality to supplement docent tours. So if you cannot afford the docent tour, if one is not available when you want to visit, or if a docent tour is not accessible for you, you can use augmented reality to learn more about exhibits or sites. Some of these are automated and some rely on the user scanning a QR code to activate it.
Interestingly enough, there is current research looking into what, if any, social norms users expect from augmented reality AIs. Do users want them to be fully present, just a voice, or something in between? Do users expect them to interact with the real world, aka ask for doors to be opened rather than just walk through them, or to not interact with the real world? Some research has shown that people like when their AIs present in a way that they would expect an in-person to interact, but there has not been wide spread enough research into the social aspect of augmented reality AIs to have a firm understanding of what we want from them.
Hilary’s augmented reality program will go over the basics of what augmented reality is. How it is different from virtual reality. And then will demonstrate one application of augmented reality. In the program patrons will be given coloring sheets to fill in. Using the Quiver app patrons will then see their sheets augmented in various ways depending on the sheet they used. The program is part an introduction to a new technology and part time for relaxation and community building. A lot of augmented reality software out there dives users feet first into their interfaces and this program is designed as a more gentle and less jarring introduction. We definitely don’t want to give anyone motion sickness.
There are a lot of different applications for augmented reality with various levels of immersion. As someone who does get headaches and nausea from the more immersive versions available right now, I have enjoyed some of the less immersive games that have come out for smartphones. We hope you enjoy our program and learn something a little new about augment reality.
And now it’s time for Book Traveler, with Victor:
Welcome back to another episode of Book Traveler. My name is Victor and today we are going to be talking about a book titled They Call Me Guero by David Bowles.
Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Güero is Mexican American, at home with Spanish or English and on both sides of the river. He’s starting 7th grade with a woke English teacher who knows how to make poetry cool. In Spanish, “Güero” is a nickname for guys with pale skin, Latino or Anglo. But make no mistake: our red-headed, freckled hero is puro Mexicano, like Canelo Álvarez, the Mexican boxer. Güero is also a nerd–reader, gamer, musician–who runs with a squad of misfits like him, Los Bobbys. Sure, they get in trouble like anybody else, and like other middle-school boys, they discover girls. But trusting in his family’s traditions, his accordion and his bookworm squad, he faces seventh grade with book smarts and a big heart. Life is tough for a border kid, but Güero has figured out how to cope. He writes poetry.
Opinion: Our main character is called Güero. After doing a bit of research, the word güero is used in Mexico and refers to anyone with light hair and skin. The term güero has no political connotation, and Mexicans even refer to blond compatriots as güeros.
Güero lives in a town near the border between Mexico and the United States. The book is written in prose and the central theme is how the border affects him and those around him. Güero describes himself as a border boy and is very observant of his family life and his friends. Güero questions his identity and has accepted the way in which his identity is shaped by a culture divided by a border.
The first poem reiterates that Güero, despite identifying himself as a Mexican-American, still has a hard time accepting it. Güero’s identity crisis occurs many times throughout the book, especially since Güero looks white as an American and is made fun of by children. The book is quite short and easy to read. I would have liked to see Güero develop more, I wanted to know more about his feelings towards his family. It would be very interesting to see how Güero navigates through the divided culture around him. Güero is the example of a modern young man growing up between two cultures, living his own reality while he finds himself and seeks to learn more about his culture.
That’s all for today, until the next edition of Book Traveler. Goodbye.
Stay safe everyone out there! Wear a mask if you come into the library Check out our virtual programming here and also don’t forget to sign up for our Read Woke Initiative on Beanstack!
For everyone interested our intro music is by Break the Bans and the outro music is by Jahzzar, both artists can be found on Free Music Archive.
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