The Irish Soda Bread Exhibition at Maith: Augmented Reality; Harshest Reality (part 2)

We added raisins, cranberries and nuts to the original recipe for soda bread. The ruler was to help the team at XR Masters get a sense of scale to help them make 3D model. (Inches or centimeters? We could have had the culinary equivalent of Stonehenge.) All soda breads in this post created by Chef Susanna Johnson-Sharp.

There will soon be an exhibition about Irish Soda Bread at Maith. Because Maith is an exhibition space for AR, we needed 3D models of soda bread. With a bit of guidance from Scandy, and a lot of support from XR Masters, we created models of the three types of soda bread: traditional, modern and farl.

One result from our first series of tests:

Our 3D model of a version of modern Irish soda bread. Positioned with the Augmented.City GeoPose-based platform. Screen capture from the AOC 3D app, using an iPhone 11 Pro Max. Like all screen captures in this post, no Photoshop was used. The green lines and explanation cards were also being tested and will be changed. The misty appearance is due to my mistake. Finally, the bread is upside down, as this is a still from a test in which the soda bread slowly rotates in all directions.

To create the soda breads, I first experimented with the Scandy Pro. Although the experiments were helpful, I ultimately photographed the slices from all sides and sent the images to XR Masters, where they created the models. This was my first time to do this, and I made the mistake of not labeling each side correctly. Although the team on the receiving end could put the pieces together properly, it would have saved them time if I had been more precise.

Coloring and detail. The detail and coloring in the screen capture above are quite nice, even without Photoshop. However, below we see a neutral gray/bluish cast on both the bread and the logo. I am not yet sure what causes this: rendering? Shaders? The white balance of the camera? I have seen this in other applications as well.

In addition to the models and their explanations, there will be three short videos about the three types of soda bread. Here are images from the tests:

The video looks so sharp and clean that it feels like it was a composite made in Photoshop. The fonts, designs and the video itself were tests.

The detail and clarity of the video were a very pleasant surprise. The positioning, however, should be slightly angled, as this perfectly-perpendicular-to-the-floor positioning feels unnatural. Also, some kind of frame can be added to clearly separate the video from the background.

As described in my previous post, the exhibition must reflect soda bread’s painful history. This will be a balancing act, as the 3D models are fun and informative. The videos, featuring Chef Susanna Johnson-Sharp, are cheerful and as “food porny” as possible.

Stay tuned!

To follow the progress of the Soda Bread Exhibition at Maith, follow Book Merah on Twitter, Bubiko Foodtour on Instagram, or check the Facebook page of the Irish Cultural Museum of New Orleans.

related to this post:

The Irish Soda Bread Exhibition at Maith: Augmented Reality; Harshest Reality (part 1)

Maith: my experiences producing a logo for AR

What is Spatial Cinema?