MONDAY GROUP: Web AR at the conference

The Mondey Group agency used a thought experiment to inspire conference guests to seek answers to the question of whether the universe is being created before our eyes or simply exists in an infinite number of variations. Participants were introduced to the world of quantum physics by University of Warsaw lecturer PhD Jan Chwedeńczuk. His story about Schrödinger's cat was the beginning of an inquiry into digital marketing practice.

Does a cat enclosed in a box with a radiation source and its detector, which can release poisonous gas, stand a chance of surviving? Rest assured, this is just a thought experiment! It was created by Edwin Schrödinger, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics. After the half-life characteristic of the atom has elapsed, there is a 50 per cent probability that the cat is dead, and an equal probability that it is still alive. This is what common sense would suggest.
However, the quantum-technical description suggests otherwise. Until you open the box and see what happens to the cat, its state is fundamentally indeterminate. It is simultaneously alive and dead. Physicists speak of the superposed state of a living and dead cat.

So how will the Schrödinger experiment presented on the conference stage end? The organisers were looking for an interesting way to solve the riddle that would engage the audience. So we decided to use augmented reality (AR).

At a key moment in the story, when it was uncertain whether Schrödinger's cat had survived the experiment, visitors were asked to take out their mobile phones, switch on their cameras and scan the cover of the book they were given as a greeting. The system asked their permission to open a browser window, which displayed a cat enclosed in a box with a radiation source and a detector. Users themselves could open the virtual box and check if the cat was alive.

An experiment that took place 90 years ago now has a 21st century solution. We used a unique web AR engine, which allows augmented reality effects to be created in the phone's browser, without having to install special applications. And most importantly, no real cats were harmed in the experiment!