Following the launch of an augmented reality-equipped art gallery, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) announced its newest mobile app that aims to give library researchers an enhanced experience.

DOST's Science and Technology Information Institute (STII), the information and marketing arm of the department, will soon launch its STARLib app, or the Science and Technology Augmented Reality Library.

According to STII Director Richard Burgos, the STARLib app will "will add new creative dimension to the experience of DOST visitors, library users, and even beneficiaries."

"We will redesign the library user experience by incorporating augmented reality,” Burgos revealed.

With the STARLib app, The DOST-STII library will be the first library to use augmented reality in the country, according to Burgos.

"We will also include virtual reality and gaming in the experience of a science and technology library without physical books," he added.

Researchers will also get to see virtual reality in action. With the STARLib app, descriptions will pop out when the app is used to shoot a certain part of the library.

"The app may also run a 2D or 3D animated object with an audio," said Alan C. Taule, chief of STII's Information Resources and Acquisition Division, which handles the STII Library.

The enhanced experience will initially be available in selected locations in STII, and will be expanded to include the whole DOST Compound in Bicutan, Taguig City.

The STARLib also has a gaming component that will encourage researchers to visit the library and read books to earn more points.

The STARLib app will be launched on February 27 at the Centennial Hall of the Manila Hotel during DOST-STII’s 30th Anniversary celebration.