The Augmented Reality workshop at the 12th Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival is a one-of its kind experience where young geeks can draw a character and see the 2D image jump and move, literally, from the surface of the paper to a digital space on a gadget. “We make the character they draw come to life,” said workshop presenter, Mahmud Kobtan, who is a certified lead trainer at UAE-based accredited coding platform for children, Geek Express.

Similar to holographic images and the popular game Pokemon Go which took the world by storm a few years back, the workshop allows any art work or a Magic Cube to be projected into real life through a phone or a tablet.

“Hold the Magic Cube in your hand and the tablet’s camera will capture it’s edges, allowing you to create your very own virtual world”, Kobtan told the young participants as he guided them to introduce more characters and animals to their scene to appear on the screens.

Aimed at enhancing creativity, the workshop allows children to think out of the box by exposing them to a new technological concept they may only have seen on TV or in the movies. “Having access to technology they may not have seen or worked with before boosts their critical thinking skills, innovation and cognitive abilities. When they realise a technology like this exists, they can imagine more of it and can perhaps also come up with the next big idea just like the Pokemon Go game,” added Noor Oueidat, who was assisting her colleague host this incredible workshop.