App Review: The White House’s 1600

Want to have a little fun with a demo of augmented reality? Then you might want to search around for a US dollar bill and try out the 1600 app.

In the final months of the Obama administration, the White House released an app called “1600”. By pointing your camera at a US $1 bill, a 3d model of the White House, aka 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, will appear and play a sequence of events that occur over the year. Although I’ve included screenshots below, the app is better experienced by trying it out yourself.

What I loved about this app is that it is a very clear example of augmented reality, particularly when you compared it to the “AR experience” of Pokemon Go. This app satisfies the 3 criteria of an augmented experience:

First, the virtual object appears as if it belongs in the environment. The White House appears as a 3d model, not a 2d image.

Second, the model is aligned with the world, which in this case, is the $1 bill. I can walk around and see the back of the White House, or if I get closer, the model fills up more of my field of view, rather than remaining fixed from a single perspective.

Finally, the user can interact with the model in real-time by manipulating the $1 bill.

While the interactions are not as rich as they could be, this app is a quick demo of what real AR can be like. If the current White House administration is committed to showcasing technology, I would encourage them to continue to enhance the 1600 app to support more interactivity, such as having the model of the Whitehouse respond if I touched it, to create a richer storytelling experience.

To see this app in action, watch the official youtube video. Leave your own review in the comments below.

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Image credits: Engadget (main image), go.wh.gov/1600 (body images)