At the TankFest 2017 in Bovington (England), World of Tanks developer Wargaming showcased the famous “Sturmtiger” as an augmented reality image via Microsoft’s HoloLens glasses. This allowed visitors to experience the giant tank virtually in all its details up close.
If anyone thought of augmented reality as merely the fun app Pokémon GO, they must have been greatly surprised at the TankFest 2017 in Bovington. Because the annual tank event of the “Tank Museum” in southern England presented not only real tanks rolling around the training grounds this year.
Instead, there was a special show featuring a special tank in the museum halls.
World of Tanks – Get up close to the virtual Sturmtiger
In the halls of the Tank Museum in Bovington, there are dozens of tanks from all eras, especially the famous war machines from World War II. Among them are also various Tiger tanks, one of which was featured in the film “Fury”. However, what is missing is the rare “Sturmmörserwagen 606/4 with 38 cm RW 61”, better known as “Sturmtiger”.
This colossus was built only 18 times during the war, and only three examples have survived in museums. Since Bovington does not have its own Sturmtiger, they asked their long-time business partner Wargaming for help. They quickly built the tank virtually and used Microsoft’s HoloLens glasses and Google’s Tango technology (which allows for virtual spatial capture even without GPS) to bring the Sturmtiger to virtual life.
Thus, the Sturmtiger also spectacularly rolled in for the visitors of the mixed reality show straight from the Prokhorovka map of World of Tanks into the museum, where otherwise there was just an empty spot. Museum visitors could then view the tank from all sides with the HoloLens glasses and even see inside the tank through it. Additionally, the function of the enormous 38cm assault mortar was described in detail. The gun fires rocket-propelled projectiles instead of conventional tank ammunition.
Fun Fact: The Sturmtiger is currently not available in World of Tanks.
What do you think about such educational applications of augmented reality? Do you think that more museums will soon replace missing exhibits with such virtual representations? Or is it all just technical fluff that won’t catch on for you? Let us know in the comments!
Relevant to the topic: World of Tanks should last forever
