Im a huge fan of Jeri Ellsworth, but even Tilt5 didnt have a "smart" path despite using a cheaper approach to doing AR by orienting more for a projection screen approach and focusing on games - they started out as a kickstarter for CastAR (as the Technical Illusions company), went through the VC path with Playground Global, had issues with that path and went out of business, then Jeri (and possibly partners) bought the distressed assets of CastAR at auction to relaunch as Tilt5. It's been a nearly nine year or more journey IIRC.
Listen to https://theamphour.com/394-jeri-ellsworth-and-the-demise-of-... for more info.
For instance a phone can lock on to QR codes in the environment and add content over what the camera sees. (I have content that is good to go for this model but I gotta learn ARKit and fight with the App Store to get it to you.)
I went to an interactive art exhibit (imagine some hippies are making Disneyland on a shoestring budget) that scanned a sand table with a Kinect and projected contour lines on top of them. Disney can reskin Space Mountain quickly by just projecting something else.
It seems to me that people aren’t doing everything they can with projectors either directly onto surfaces or using half mirrors like “Pepper’s Ghost”. These are mainstream for musical performances but I’d like to see somebody do a sketch comedy routine with one.
Contrast to the tech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4f8ZZv_j_c&t=3390s that Karl G appears to give kudos to on his site https://kguttag.com/2021/11/19/awe-2021-part-1-tilt-5-was-ma.... It has a rough-edge which is overtly used as a product attribute: the "game board" is required ... detail: it is made of the common micro-spherical retro-reflective (road-sign) surface, leading to a relatively low $400 barrier-to-entry. These trade-offs appear to be smart.
Q: How did Tilt5 take the "smart" path and Magic Leap the "way of pain?" (whimsy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCNEzFpIrP8)