Parents' Guide to Civilisations AR

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android Free Education
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Common Sense Media Review

Christy Matte By Christy Matte , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 8+

Diverse AR collection brings the art museum home.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 8+?

Any Positive Content?

  • Civilisations AR App: Screenshot #1
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Privacy Rating Warning

  • Personal information is sold or rented to third parties.
  • Personal information is shared for third-party marketing.
  • Personalised advertising is displayed.
  • Data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • User's information is used to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Data profiles are created and used for personalised advertisements.
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What's It About?

CIVILISATIONS AR is a companion app to the BBC's Civilisations television show. The app includes more than 40 different artifacts from throughout time and around the world. There are sculptures, masks, paintings, and other objects. Kids scan a flat surface to view the artifacts. The menu shows a globe, and each artifact appears on its point of origin as kids scroll through the list of options. When kids make a choice, the artwork shows up in 3D view on the screen. Kids can rotate the object, make it larger or smaller, and search for hot spots that provide cutaways, activities, or more information. There's also an information page that outlines the origins of the object along with other interesting details. Kids can opt out of AR mode, in which case the objects appear in 3D mode on a plain black background.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say : Not yet rated

This lovely, info-packed artistic exploration from the BBC does AR the right way. Civilisations AR is a pretty experience that's easy and fun to use. While many AR apps today are clunky, Civilisations AR easily recognizes flat surfaces in all sorts of light. Those who don't want to use it can turn it off, which makes it more accessible to a range of users. The collection of art objects is diverse and interesting, and you can rotate on-screen to explore all sides or zoom in for the detail work. Curious kids will delight in all of the additional information provided, as well as the chance to hunt down hotspots all over each artifact. Overall, Civilisations AR from the BBC is an educational gem.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the different types of art in the collection within Civisations AR. What types of art do you see? How are they different? How are they the same? Which do you prefer?

  • Talk about art through the ages. How are the older pieces of art different than those that are more current? Why would the art we produce change over time?

  • Families can talk about learning with apps. Do you think this is a good app for learning? Why or why not? What can you learn?

  • Explore other free educational apps with your kids. What do they want to investigate?

App Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by

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