Augmented, virtual and mixed-reality content selection and display for political campaigns
A political campaign information system recognizes a real world object relating to a political campaign and uses augmented, mixed and/or virtual reality to display information relating to the campaign on a smart device such as a smartphone or AR glasses.
1 . A method of enabling a user to interact with a political campaign, comprising:
enabling capture by a portable handheld or wearable camera device of an image of a campaign object including, on a surface thereof, a recognition area containing no visible code; and
with at least one processor, automatically performing operations comprising:
recognizing the campaign object based on the recognition area in the captured image;
associating the recognized campaign object with a campaign and at least one associated campaign data record stored in a storage device;
selecting a user-interactive media item in response to the associated campaign data record;
superimposing the selected user-interactive media item onto a display of the captured image or a further image derived therefrom displayed on a portable display of the portable handheld or wearable camera device;
enabling user interaction with the superimposed selected user-interactive media item;
presenting campaign images on the display based on first user selections through the enabled user interaction; and
enabling selection, over an electronic network, of physical items associated with the campaign based on second user selections through the enabled user interaction.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the superimposing and interacting comprises using at least one of augmented reality, mixed reality and virtual reality.
3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the recognizing comprises recognizing a two-dimensional or three-dimensional campaign object with print on it.
4 . The method of claim 1 wherein the campaign object has indicia printed thereon, and the recognizing comprises recognizing at least some of the printed indicia.
5 . The method of claim 4 wherein the recognizing includes recognizing characters printed on the campaign object.
6 . The method of claim 5 wherein the campaign object comprises a printed political campaign advertisement.
7 . The method of claim 6 wherein the selected user-interactive media item comprises a digital overlay that leads a user to specific user interaction selected from the group consisting of providing specific information; a video, tutorial, or any kind of displayable content.
8 . The method of claim 1 wherein the superimposing is performed on a handheld smart phone, or smart glasses.
9 . The method of claim 1 wherein the selected user-interactive media item comprises a call button.
10 . The method of claim 1 further including displaying any or all of the following action buttons in any combination or subcombination:
Political Program,
Photo Gallery,
Videos,
Description,
Call,
Email,
Shop link,
Explanation of decisions,
Intro,
Social Media links,
Personal information,
Schedule of events,
Campaign Rallies,
Link for volunteer applications, and/or
Link for fundraising.
11 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
uploading a compressed format of the captured image to a server over an electronic network; and
recognizing comprises the server recognizing based on the uploaded compressed format and providing an augmented reality overlay providing a message associated with the political campaign.
12 . The method of claim 11 wherein the camera is disposed on a wireless wearable display device characterized by a wearable display, the displaying displays the captured image on the wearable display, and the providing provides an augmented reality display on the wearable display.
13 . The method of claim 11 wherein the wearable display device comprises wirelessly-connected augmented reality enabled glasses.
14 . The method of claim 11 wherein the recognizing comprises recognizing a predefined pattern in the recognition area using at least one color and grey scale information.
15 . The method of claim 11 wherein uploading indicia comprises uploading a compressed format including coordinates of pattern features.