Last year I had a blog on hacking Nearpod based on a session I delivered with my good friend, Rachelle dene Poth. The session shared "hacks" we used to push Nearpod beyond the traditional methods to share augmented and virtual reality.
This year, I'm taking it a little bit further with hacking MERGE. If you haven't had a chance to see the Merge Cube in action, then make sure to check out my many other blogs about the incredible educational products this company has built. The Merge Cube became quite popular when they went on sale at Walmart for much cheaper than production costs. The enthusiasm went viral, and MERGE ran with it!
The scannable cube turned into mega Merge Cubes when the sides were printed in larger proportion to make larger augmented reality experiences. I'm going to share an idea that crossed my mind after showing you how to make your 3D-ID card on your smartwatch.
Finding the Merge Cube on Sketchfab was my first step. You can see the cube below in 3D. I needed to be able to rotate the cube around to view it from multiple perspectives.
Once I had the Merge Cube in view, I was able to send the link to myself as an iMessage from my MacBook. Another option is sending yourself an email. Since the Apple Watch Series 3, 4, and 5 all allow the view of the web (WebKit), I was able to view the 3D Merge Cube object (shown above) on my watch.
Now the fun begins! Open your Merge Explorer app on your phone or tablet and let the magic begin. I've shared a few you can try, but there are dozens of experiences to view.
Of course, holding the magic in your hands with a real Merge Cube is the coolest experience ever, so don't miss out on the real thing!
