An Augmented Reality (AR) sandbox is an interactive visualisation tool that shows how topography affects water moving through a catchment. Participants can shape the sand to create their own river catchments and valleys which are then ‘augmented’ in real-time by a projector which shows a coloured elevation map and contour lines.

By holding a hand above the sand, participants can ‘make it rain’ and then watch how the virtual water flows through the catchment in real-time and explore how changes in topography and land use affect flooding.

Building on the research undertaken by JBA Trust (the research outputs are freely available here) we have developed a complete Augmented Reality Sandbox package that can be tailored to support your specific engagement and education events and activities.

The ‘off-the-shelf’ AR Sandbox package includes the complete physical model, computer hardware and software, all the demonstration accessories, operation and demonstration guides and a training session for demonstrators.