The 77% - AR for Learning
Volumetric Video, AR and the Future of Transformational Learning
Bringing Stories To Life
Principal ballerina, Momoko Hirata, dancing in the displays at the V&A Storehouse
A trends and consumer research report from Snap Inc. and IPSOS revealed a fascinating insight: 77% of people are interested in using Augmented Reality (AR) for ‘learning in new ways’, and that figure goes up for ‘exploring the world’, and for ‘concerts and events’.
It’s a massive number, and it proves what many of us in the narrative and experience design field have long suspected: audiences are ready for deeper, more interactive, and more engaging content.
But the same report revealed a stunning gap: only 23% of companies are currently creating AR learning experiences, and average uptake of AR in museums is less than 10%.
This isn't just a statistics gap; it's an experience gap and a commissioning gap. It's a huge, missed opportunity to connect with audiences who are actively asking for new ways to learn. So, why is this gap so wide?
We believe it's because "AR" is often seen as a solution in search of a problem, or as a complex technology focused on sterile 3D models. The true potential, the human potential, its narrative purpose, is being overlooked.
This is where two technologies with radical potential combine: Volumetric Video (VolCap) and smartphone-based AR.
Volumetric Video is not about creating a digital avatar. It's the unique ability to record real people, telling real stories, in full 3D. It captures the nuance, performance, and presence of a person.
Augmented Reality is the delivery system. It gives us the power to take that real person, that 3D performance, and place them in a real-world location at any size or scale.
The result is no longer just "learning"; it's an encounter with ‘the real’.
For The Fallen
Martin Wright delivers Laurence Binyon’s famour poem at the Thame War Memorial
Imagine standing in a museum gallery, and instead of reading a text panel, the curator appears right on the exhibit case, gesturing to the artefact as they share its hidden story. Imagine a history lesson where a soldier from a past conflict stands in the classroom, recounting their experience or an actor delivers a war poem or letter to/from the front. Imagine standing at a historic site or city and seeing a key figure from its most storied moment appear, telling their side of the story, right where it happened.
This is the driver at the very heart of our passion for narrative and storytelling, and what’s led us to create OPUS.
For over three decades, our team has focused on narrative design for heritage, arts, and culture. Our work has always been about using narrative thinking and design to tell stories of who we are, where we come from, and what we believe and value as individuals, communities and cultures. But our goal isn't just to inform. It's to find new ways to make people think and feel, act and see the world differently – encountering, exploring and inhabiting new perspectives – as a result of the experiences we create.
We've done this through narrative masterplanning and experience design for museums, visitor centres, and cultural projects. Now, these new 3D media and creative technologies are opening the most powerful pathway we've ever seen to deliver on that mission.
Performance:Place:Purpose
It’s not just what you say and how you say it that matters, it’s also about who speaks and where and why…
The opportunity for transformational learning is immense. We can use VolCap and AR to bring human stories to:
Museums & Cultural Venues: Allowing experts, artists, and historical figures to provide personal, engaging interpretations.
Classrooms & Schools: Moving learning from the textbook to a direct, 3D, face-to-face encounter.
The World Itself: Turning our cities, parks, and heritage sites into living, breathing stages for discovery.
That 77% of people aren't just interested in "AR" as a technology; they are interested in connection, humanity, and new forms of storytelling, and now we have the tools to deliver this in exciting new ways by putting real people in real places, telling real stories.
This isn't about replacing the magic and value of real human encounters – a frequently raised concern. In fact, we believe it's the opposite. This technology can extend the reach of our best teachers, guides, and performers, making it possible to encounter their stories and expertise in ways and places never before possible.