All About Your Child

Christmas! A season that brings families and friends together for great photo shoots. This year, instead of taking the usual ‘stand by the Christmas Tree’ type of photos, get snapshots of a different kind this Christmas at Marina Square’s Largest Augmented Reality Winter Wonderland to be built in a shopping mall, located at Level 2, Main Atrium, from 22 November to 25 December 2013.

Ok, probably some of you are having the same question as me before I attended this media invitation today, “What is Augmented Reality (AR)?”
Instead of giving you the explanation in words, let me show you in the video below:~

This is what you see with your naked eyes: A simple postcard with a special green ‘marker’ at the right bottom :

With the help of the FREE Marina Square AR Christmas App downloadable on both iOS (6.1 and above) and Android (4.2) phones or tablets, be prepared for a pleasant surprise! Watch the video below and see what the amazing App did to that postcard. (I was still playing with the App after I went home. *giggle*)

Isn’t it cool?!
The best thing is…..When you enter the 3,500 sq ft “Winter Wonderland”, there will be Many of such ‘Markers’ at different spots. Simply find the matching ‘marker’ on the FREE Marina Square AR Christmas App and you can take a photo of yourself with the 3D image. As the images are in motion, therefore No two photos will be exactly the same!

Clear instructions are everywhere inside the Marina Square’s Augmented Reality Winter Wonderland, but if you still need assistance with the App, Santa Helpers will be there to help you get the perfect snapshot, thus do not need to worry if you are alone. You can then share it with your friends on social media or you can choose to keep it in your gallery.

My 8 year old and 10 year old had no problem using the app. Oh my! Kids these days are just so tech-savvy! They had so much fun! As kids, they are always on the move and the good thing about this AR technology is you can move your camera and the image does not disappear, so long as the ‘marker’ is still within your camera screen, hence you can take the photos at different angles!
Kitkit and Binbin totally loved it!

There are basically 5 locations in the Augmented Reality Winter Wonderland, which includes:~

1. Toy House
2. Santa’s Hut
3. Christmas Tree
4. Santa’s Sleigh
5. Kids Fun Zone (best place to try out the AR for those who does not have their own devices)

Each location has different ‘markers’ and each ‘markers’ show different images. Some ‘markers’ even allow you to input specific characters like reindeer, Santa Claus, etc. You can then choose where to place the characters to make your photo even more uniquely yours. Not forgetting to mention you can also RESIZE the characters too!

For example, the following 3 photos were taken at the same spot yet they looked so different.
The 1st was without the use of the FREE Marina Square AR Christmas App.
The 2nd photo shows Kitkit sitting on the steps next to the sleigh after he added a reindeer and enlarged it.
The 3rd photo was just Santa and his downsized reindeer.

There are so many variations you can create and the only limitation is your own imagination! So wake those creative cells this Christmas and have endless fun at Marina Square Augmented Reality Winter Wonderland Playground. *wink*

The kids FINALLY get to have a snapshot with ‘snow‘ in Singapore! *giggle* Binbin also tried to push the cute penguin down the slide, get up close and personal with Santa as he pops his head at the corner of the window and my boy even get to BECOME Santa himself! *laugh*

Watch all of that and more in the video below:~

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The last part of the video showed Kitkit standing beside the gigantic Christmas Tree. He was actually “waiting for Santa to land from the sky”, the photo below gives a better illustration of Santa on his sleigh descending from above.

The boys were already overwhelmed by what they could do with the App at Marina Square’s Augmented Reality Winter Wonderland, but nothing beats watching themselves on an iceberg in North Pole with polar bears when the augmented reality experience was further enhanced with a 5.75m x 3.3m large TV screen!

As the saying goes, the early bird catches the worm, so get down to Marina Square early and be the first 100 AR shoppers each week to scan the AR marker and present your device showing the unlocked present to the Customer Service Counter on the same level (level 2) and receive nice treats! It is called Treasure Hunt because you are supposed to SPOT the ‘AR Treasure Hunt’ poster displayed at different parts of the mall to scan the marker to uncover the gift.

The sweet giveaway changes every week! Today, we received this cool aromatic treat from Coffee Bean. So if you love such freebies, go down early every beginning of the week and be the first 100! *Super Grin*

Being there at Marina Square this morning was a great way to start our Thursday, especially for my always inquisitive and get-bored-easily kids. I want to thank the organiser for inviting us to the pre-launch of this Intriguing Augmented Reality Winter Wonderland Playground! *hugs*

Snap Unique Photos at Marina Square’s Augmented Reality Winter Wonderland this 2013 Christmas!

For the SAME purpose as last year’s post “Kids’ School Exam Results“, this acts as an easy reference for me, when people ask me for my children’s exam results, as I do not bother to use my memory cells on things that are of low priority to me.

Binbin’s Primary 2 Overall Results:
English Language : 83/100
Chinese Language : 68/100
Mathematics : 83/100

Binbin’s teacher wrote on his report book: “Zane is a responsive and diligent boy. he displays ability to carry out or complete tasks with minimal supervision. he is neat in his work and is capable to achieve good grades.”

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Kitkit’s Primary 4 Overall Results:
English Language : 76/100
Chinese Language : 54/100
Mathematics : 74/100
Science : 85/100
Social Studies : 79/100

Kitkit’s teacher wrote on his report book: “Zec has made an improvement in his writing this semester. That is good. He can learn, however, to work together with his group members and contribute his share of ideas and opinions.”

We had a pact with Kitkit since last year. It was meant to be a motivational factor, but I guess, he needs more than that…. He agreed to continue with Chinese tuition during the year end school holidays IF HE DID NOT PASS his year end Chinese paper 2 and he failed by 6 marks.

Though the overall score on his report book states 54/100, it is not this that the pact was based on, thus he has to fulfill that promise made last year. With a zillion unwillingness, he was man enough to take the ‘punishment‘.

A very disappointed Chinese tutor had no choice but to “bring out the whip”, “tighten the rope” and hope that the time she spends with him during this year end school holiday will help.

How can a fish learn to climb a tree when the fish cannot even survive out of the water? That was exactly how I felt when I was ‘forced by the school‘ to take Chinese as one of the subjects…..and I can feel that same ache in my son now….

Somehow, I survived those years….. *fingers crossed* for my boy…..

2013 Kids’ School Exam Results