# See what video we did in support of the Anti Bullying day :)



## InfraredDream (Jun 24, 2010)

Hello,

A friend of mine did a cool shirt design and gather a big bunch of kids to draw their own pink shirts for the Anti Bullying Pink Shirt Day on Wed. My husband and I decided to use the Augmented Reality Technology we developed and prepare some animations to be played on their shirts once they are done and get together. As they were having so much fun, we recorded a small video in support of the campaign. Hope you will like it 

Augmented Reality in support of "Stop the bullying" campaign - YouTube


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## Ursus sapien (Apr 21, 2010)

Cool project in support of a worthy campaign Well done.


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## InfraredDream (Jun 24, 2010)

Thank you. I am very happy you like it


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

Secret message in a T-shirt  Mmm. pattern that idea before I do


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## Chappy (Apr 21, 2010)

gklaw said:


> Secret message in a T-shirt  Mmm. pattern that idea before I do


Something tells me you've probably beaten us all to it, Gordon! Great idea, by the way.


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## InfraredDream (Jun 24, 2010)

It's called Augmented Reality as mentioned in the video. I am very happy you guys like it. It can be used for lots of stuff. This is something we did for a few days (after working on the technology for quite some time) as we wanted to add some fun to the event. Kids had a blast, but we did not film them all to avoid asking every parent, etc...
Gordon, thanks for the smile


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## InfraredDream (Jun 24, 2010)

In the same vibe, that got me pretty intolerant today 

A Burnaby parents group is trying to deflate a student-run anti-bullying campaign

I guess that is the same parents group that was against the anti-homophobia rules in the district last year. Oh well


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## Ursus sapien (Apr 21, 2010)

InfraredDream said:


> In the same vibe, that got me pretty intolerant today
> 
> A Burnaby parents group is trying to deflate a student-run anti-bullying campaign
> 
> I guess that is the same parents group that was against the anti-homophobia rules in the district last year. Oh well


Homophobia, usually religiously based, has been used to block anti-bullying projects for as long as I've been involved in organising them (early '90s). No matter what evidence is presented, opponents use words like 'indoctranation', 'special rights' and 'recruitment' to defeat anti-bullying initiatives. In the mean time, adults allow children's lives to be stolen while pretending not to notice.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

Funny how much those groups back petalled when they tried to ban student run tolerance clubs in schools. When they almost got it accomplished, the rules they pushed for ended up banning their religious clubs as well, so they gave up that fight.

I was lucky that in my highschool, most of the violence was between racial groups rather than targetting people individually for being different. I joined one of these tolerance based clubs because I believe in it, although many thought me gay for it, never did it result in violence or teasing. The promotion of acceptance and equity from a young age really helped keep many open minded to other lifestyles. I know burnaby had a much larger european base that brought you up to hate certain people (mostly one specific denomination of a certain religion) based on nationality, sexuality and religion.


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

Milena, thank you so much for posting this! For one thing, you reminded me that tomorrow is Feb 29th. I didn't know that! I'm going to pull out the pink shirts.

The Augmented Reality program is impressive. The kids seem so excited to be using it, too. What other things have you done with it? Is this something that you and your husband created?


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## InfraredDream (Jun 24, 2010)

I am happy that this thread turned into talking about this important manner. My kids have not been bullied to the stage of being afraid to go to school, but they had some issues that were not nice and cost them self esteem and took many efforts from the whole family for them to feel better and stronger again.

Storm, I've read similar reactions before, but did not expect them to reach out and blame such a day and actions. I can see their point in a way, but it is too one-sided. Anti-bullying is not only about homophobia or religion or any one single difference we have. Similar to the reaction neven experienced. I hope for them to be able to see the difference.

Morainy, thanks for the kind words. The technology itself is gaining more and more popularity because of the wide range of areas it could be used in. This particular implementation is based on our own research, yes. And for this project we added some animation to make the event more fun for the kids. 
We just recently started doing things with it and so far it is mostly for entertainment. But one particular direction we want to pursue is educational. We are currently working with a speech therapist specialized in helping kids with autism. She sees a lot of areas that this technology could be used, especially helping these kids with having feedback of what they body is doing thus learning to control it and so on. We will most probably start a kickstarter.com project soon to get funding for it as apparently we will need a lot of resources (time and visual content) to finish it. I am very excited about it and hope it could make something meaningful.
As I am so happy this thread and video help.
Thanks a lot for the support!


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## InfraredDream (Jun 24, 2010)

Happy Pink Shirt Day!

Unfortunately my daughter is sick today and won't be able to wear the shirt she made to school. We're going to the doctor a bit later, so she will wear it there.
My son left proudly wearing his. He checked a few times to make sure he put it on, it was funny 

Storm has posted a wonderful and very informative entry in his blog and I hope he is OK for my to post it here. Thanks, Storm!

Pink Shirt Day


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## skabooya (Jun 15, 2010)

That would have been great to use in our classroom  The vid made me smile.


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

Milena, when I saw the kids in your video watching themselves on the computer, entranced, I could see that this would have many educational benefits. I think that using it to create something especially for kids with autism is outstanding.

Two of my kids wore pink shirts yesterday. But, ending bullying (and especially homophobia) in schools takes work every day. I support the idea of district policies that address this issue. When Vancouver brought in an anti-homophobia policy a few years ago and provided training to administrators and some other staff about how to address the issue, it made a real difference. It's true that we should all raise our children to value other people and not to bully anyone, but having clear rules about how to respond to issues when they arise in schools makes change happen faster. So, thank you for posting this video!


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## InfraredDream (Jun 24, 2010)

Thank you very much for the kind words. We hope to be able to use the technology to educate kids in many directions. That video was something we did real fast and the outcome made my heart sing. There were 25+ kids and to see them work on their shirt and message and then smile while showing it on the computer was wonderful. Especially as they needed to bring a friend with them to see the hearts connecting them interactively.

Thanks, Maureen, for your posting and Storm for your blog. Change takes time, but I believe such campaigns make more people think about it. And with engaging kids directly, I hope they will grow up with that awareness.


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## Ursus sapien (Apr 21, 2010)

This stuff moves so slowly. I gave workshops in Vancouver (and other school districts) for teachers and administrators in '93 -'95, and worked on the safe schools initiative with school districts in the mid '90s. Every time a policy was approved, refrences to homphobia and the bullying of gay kids were deleted first.

Even after the McCreary Society study on street entrenched youth in Vancouver came out, showing how vulnerable gay kids were to domestic violence and homelessness, school officials would run from the issue.

Eventualy, though, change takes hold. We just need to keep talking about it, to administrators, political leaders, parents group's; and most importantly, to the children and youth.



Morainy said:


> Milena, when I saw the kids in your video watching themselves on the computer, entranced, I could see that this would have many educational benefits. I think that using it to create something especially for kids with autism is outstanding.
> 
> Two of my kids wore pink shirts yesterday. But, ending bullying (and especially homophobia) in schools takes work every day. I support the idea of district policies that address this issue. When Vancouver brought in an anti-homophobia policy a few years ago and provided training to administrators and some other staff about how to address the issue, it made a real difference. It's true that we should all raise our children to value other people and not to bully anyone, but having clear rules about how to respond to issues when they arise in schools makes change happen faster. So, thank you for posting this video!


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## InfraredDream (Jun 24, 2010)

I agree, Storms, the kids and "the man in the mirror" are the main targets for sure.


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