Thaksin, Yingluck use augmented reality to connect with fans for Songkran
Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister ex-PM Yingluck are using augmented reality to connect with their supporters for Songkran.
The two former leaders used AR technology to superimpose short video clips of their Songkran greetings to match the current environment of each supporter, such as a lawn or a home floor.
Their fans can also choose the option of snapping photos alongside the AR pictures of the two prime ministers. But the function works only with a device's rear camera so fans need someone to shoot a photo for them.
Thaksin and Yingluck posted a link to their AR pages on their Facebook walls. Each has a separate AR greeting and AR photo shooting page built on the website webar1.ar4thais.com.
Thaksin wrote on Facebook that he had talked about AR technology during his Club House live chat on Tuesday, so he would like to send AR greetings to his supporters.
“Anybody can open the AR link to receive my greeting from anywhere in Thailand. If anyone of you wants to take a photo with me for memory, you can scan the QR code and click the link https://webar1.ar4thais.com.”
“I would like to send you a video greeting. Since this is Family Day and I’m part of your family, I’ll travel around with you via AR technology. You, the people, can take a photo with me anywhere and [amid] anything by scanning the QR code or clicking on the link.”
When a Facebook user clicks on the link or uses a QR scanner on his or her phone to scan the QR code on the post, he/she will see Thaksin or Yingluck appear at the spot the phone camera is pointing at. The technology is similar to the one used in the once-popular Pokemon Go mobile game.
The size of the AR photos of the two former prime ministers can be adjusted on par with the photo of the fan behind the camera.
