"It's addictive!", 13-year-old Jan is certain of that. He is in seventh grade and is a guest with his parents and numerous other visitors at this year's KONVENT'A, the 17th Oberlausitzer Gewerbe - und Leistungsschau, which took place from April 28 to 29 in the Löbau exhibition hall. The trade fair is regarded as an innovative exhibition and contact platform for trade, education, services, leisure and tourism. The presence of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences was also innovative on both days.

Even though the exhibition space was much smaller than in previous years due to a special exhibition by the city of Luban, the ten square meters available were filled with a lot of life and a great offer for young and old. The only ups and downs were in the main exhibit, an augmented reality sandbox provided by the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

"We need something like this for geography lessons," enthuses pupil Jan, who happily digs and digs with both hands in the sandbox, which reaches up to his hips. The highlight? Red, orange, beige, green and blue rings and abstract areas run through the sand. Where he piles up sandcastles, the red areas on the peaks indicate the heights of this self-created mountain range. The deep sand trenches, which represent the valleys with their small lakes or rivers, are colored blue. With a movement of the hand, an orange-colored hill can emerge from such a valley.

An infrared camera set up above the sandbox makes this possible. "It photographs the snapshot, from which a value is calculated in the connected computer and converted into an image that is projected onto the sand," explains Marco Hartmann. He is a study scout at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and, together with Egmont Schreiter, has adapted an open source construction plan for Zittau, which helps to create the miraculous and motion-simultaneous sand coloration. "First you have to define the zero line. The plus and minus areas for this then throw out the different color schemes. This results in the different colored height and depth patterns. This is a great way to visualize different heights."

Whether primary school pupils, prospective HSZG students, their parents or grandparents, all generations were fascinated by the opportunity to create their own landscapes and entire mountain ranges. "You can even make it rain," explains Marco Hartmann. Outstretched palms above the sandpit are interpreted by the camera as clouds. Raindrops are generated and color the sand surface below the hand movements blue.

But the whole thing doesn't just look good. Many interested visitors asked what else can be done with it apart from playing games. Marco Hartmann reports: "If you take the idea further, a lot is possible with sufficient, powerful technology. I'm thinking of the wide range of applications for measuring height profiles, such as terrain surveys or air simulations. For example, to answer questions such as: How does a water flow behave when altitude conditions change? There are many possible applications." 

In the end, all visitors to the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences stand were convinced of this. In addition to the sandbox, visitors to the fair were able to find out about study opportunities at the HSZG, try out the "ExperiMINTe" games on the touchscreen or enjoy the small souvenirs in the form of balloons or badges. 

Many thanks to all those who supported the Public Relations Office this weekend, especially Egmont Schreiter and his team from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science for constructing and providing the augmented reality sandbox. More than just 'interesSand' as an eye-catcher.

Text: Cornelia Rothe, M.A.

Photos: Christiane Matthieu, M.A.

Cover picture: Marco Hartmann