Augmented reality relies on a combination of sensors, cameras and software to detect the real environment and accurately superimpose the virtual elements around us. AR has great potential for its application in different fields, including education, entertainment, industry and healthcare. Some examples you may be familiar with are the TikTok and Pokémon Go filters.
At Telefónica we’ve been striving over the last few years to capitalise on the innovation that augmented reality has brought us. To show our employees and visitors to Distrito Telefónica in Madrid how it works, we’ve organised the Distrito AR initiative at Telefónica’s Innovation and Talent Hub.
Which augmented reality experiences can be enjoyed at Telefónica’s Distrito AR?
Distrito AR is an initiative developed by the Innovation and Talent Hub at Distrito Telefónica in Madrid to showcase the past, present and future of augmented reality technology through the values that the company expressly advocates in our brand: Talent, Technology, Telecommunications, Technology and Transformation.
Distrito AR is free of charge and features five dynamic, interactive and immersive augmented reality experiences associated with these values that are spread across the campus. As they are WebAR experiences, no downloads are required to access them, you just need to use your mobile phone to scan the QR codes of each of the experiences and they will be automatically displayed on your browser. Do you want to know what the experiences are and what they consist of? Read on!
Talent – Challenge 42
The first of the experiences emphasises Telefónica’s commitment to talent, and there’s nowhere in the Distrito that reflects this better than 42 Madrid. If you aren’t familiar with it, it’s Fundación Telefónica’s free programming campus with an innovative commitment to young talent.
In its area you’ll be able to find Challenge 42, an augmented reality game in which you can prove that you too can “think outside the box” by discovering the figures hidden behind the three-dimensional puzzles and optical illusions of this augmented reality experience.
Technology – The Next U
The Next U is the experience that reflects Telefónica’s technological value, and it does so through immersive reality, which includes both the metaverse and the augmented reality we’ve been discussing. The idea of the metaverse elevates the concept of user identity to a more digital plane. When we navigate these immersive environments interactively, we need an avatar that not only identifies us to others, but also one we can identify with, one that represents our virtual self, either realistically or fantastically.
With Distrito AR’s The Next U experience you’ll be able to use augmented reality to discover your virtual alter ego and watch it come to life before your very eyes.
Telecommunications – Т-4E
One of Telefónica’s core values is telecommunications. Remote communication has evolved at a frenetic pace since the 19th century. Fundación Telefónica, together with thet-4E experience at Distrito AR, invites you to travel back in time and learn more about some of the leading elements of the revolution in the world of telecommunications over the last century.
Transformation – LaCabina XpeRience
LaCabina is Telefónica’s Technological Inspiration Centre, an area where you can obtain first-hand knowledge of the technologies that are driving the digital transformation, a fundamental value defined and advocated by Telefónica’s work.
In this Virtual Reality experience known as LaCabina XpeRience you’ll be able to see how some traditional scenarios and activities are reinvented thanks to the new technologies developed by the company.
Transcendence – DIGITAL Chillida
Another of the company’s values is transcendence, which is why it relies on Fundación Telefónica to promote reflection and the relationship between culture and technology. The Telefónica Collection boasts important works by 20th-century artists, including several sculptures by Eduardo Chillida.
In the DIGITAL Chillida experience, you’ll be able to move closer to this artist’s work thanks to the use of augmented reality.
All these experiences have been created in partnership with DeuSens, the agency specialising in RX, in the development section, and Onirix as the technological platform that’s provided the AR solution.
How to access Distrito AR from home
To find out more about all these experiences, we invite you to visit the Distrito AR experience at Distrito Telefónica, but if you’re from outside Madrid and you also want to enjoy these five immersive activities, you can also do so from home.
All you must do is click on each of the experiences we’ve mentioned in this blog using your mobile phone and they’ll open in your default search engine. As these experiences are developed in WebAR mode, you can access them from home without having to downloading anything. Try it!
