The World of Augmented Reality

Nooka Augmented Reality Accessorizer: Not real but it should be

2010-02-18T12:28:00.001-08:00

Nooka Augmented Reality Accessorizer: Not real but it should be

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Augmented Reality Maps - Blaise Aguera y Arcas on TED.com

2010-02-17T11:20:00.000-08:00

These concepts and technologies MS Bing and Blaise have been working on has huge implications for actually using AR for practical purposes. Check out the TED video below.

Yelp! Changing the Local Game Some More

2010-01-26T11:29:00.000-08:00

Yelp! Changing the Local Game Some More: "

Yelp! Changing the Local Game Some More

This content from: Duct Tape Marketing

The image below is a screengrab from my iPhone as I am pointing it down a street. The phone is using an augmented reality feature of the Yelp! iPhone app called Monocle. What your seeing is that as I point the camera at a location Yelp! reviews pop on the screen. I can click through or simply choose to skip that shop I was going to go into based on the slew of two star reviews. If this image doesn’t get your attention that reviews on sites like Google Maps and Yelp! are important then nothing will.

Yelp! also added a “check in” feature so people using the app can note when they visit a location. At some point this information will become very valuable and expect Yelp! to build advertising opportunities around check ins – on your 10th visit to a coffee shop you get a free drink coupon, for example. This could be bad news for location games Foursquare and Gowalla.

Google recently mailed 100,000 decals of “favorite places” it has listed in Google Maps. These decals have a square image, called a QR code. When someone with a QR reader on their phone snaps the code the business listing in Google Maps comes up – reviews and all. Now, admittedly, even my geekiest friends don’t have QR readers, but, like RSS, Google can build QR scanning into it’s Android phones like plumbing.

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Augmented Reality Turns Shoes Into Game Controllers

2010-01-26T11:26:00.000-08:00

Augmented Reality Turns Shoes Into Game Controllers: "

Augmented reality has made for some uniquely enhanced objects and applications of late, from meta-iPhones to music videos to new experiments in print publishing.

Enter Adidas and its take on AR technology: augmented reality footwear. The Originals AR Game Pack is a series of five shoe styles that will have an AR code built in to the tongue. When held in front of a webcam, the code will unlock access to an area on Adidas’ website with a series of interactive games in which your shoe actually becomes the game controller.

New games will launch once per month between February and April, with the whole series kicking off February 10. The shoes themselves are available already in UK and select other countries, with a U.S. debut coming February 15.

We’ve already seen a number of innovative uses of AR in product marketing, and this example shows promise — although it will come down to how interesting the actual games themselves are. Would you be interested in a sneaker that transforms into a game controller for your next pair of kicks?

[via The Consumerist]

Tags: adidas, Augmented Reality, games, MARKETING, shoes, video games

What’s Your Favorite Augmented Reality App? [Source: Mashable.com]

2010-01-18T10:42:00.000-08:00

What’s Your Favorite Augmented Reality App? [LUNCHTIME POLL]: "

It’s Friday, which means it’s a special time here at Mashable: time for the Lunchtime Poll!

The way it works is simple. We’ll throw out a poll question, start off with some responses from the staff here at Mashable, and let you fine folks have at it in the comments. We want to get a sense of Mashable readers’ answers to the topic of the week — simply leave your answer in the comments, and preferably tell us why you chose it. Then tune in next Friday for a recap of the results.

Ready? Let’s roll the question:

What’s your favorite augmented reality app?

Leave your vote in the comments!

Mashable Faves

Brenna Ehrlich: If I had an iPhone, I would probably like Nearest Subway. Finding public transport is a pain, and I always get lost.
Matt Silverman: Gotta go with Layar for Android. Useful and fun!
Christina Warren: Yelp and Loopt Mix.
Barb Dybwad: It’s a toss-up between Layar and Urbanspoon. The former has a growing database of all types of data, which is super useful, but I also love how well Urbanspoon represents restaurant information in a single overlay interface.
Samuel Axon: Living in a pedestrian metropolis like Chicago, I think Nearest Chicago Transit is the most useful. And Le Bar could help find a place to kick back and warm up with a few drinks after wandering the streets in the bitter cold.
Ben Parr: I have no favorite, because the problem is most phones still don’t support Augmented Reality. I like the possibilities Layar provides, though.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ericsphotography

Reviews: Android, Mashable, Yelp, iPhone, iStockphoto

Tags: android, Augmented Reality, iphone, lunchtime poll, Mobile 2.0, polls

"

[Source: Mashable.com]

7 Best Augmented Reality Apps

2010-01-15T11:27:00.000-08:00

7 Best Augmented Reality Apps: "From the iPhone's Yelp Monocle to the Android's Layar Reality Browser, check out the seven best augmented reality apps."

Augmented Reality To Help Mechanics Fix Vehicles

2010-01-14T14:46:00.000-08:00

Augmented Reality To Help Mechanics Fix Vehicles: "kkleiner writes 'ARMAR, or Augmented Reality for Maintenance and Repair, is a head mounted display unit that provides graphic overlays to assist you in making repairs. An Android phone provides an interface to control the graphics you view during the process. Published in IEEE, and recently tested with the United States Marine Corps on an armored turret, ARMAR can cut maintenance times in half by guiding users to the damaged area and displaying 3D animations to demonstrate the appropriate tools and techniques.'

The problem with Object Tagging in AR apps today...

2009-12-11T14:39:00.001-08:00

Interesting article tackling just how "real" augmented reality looks with the problem of object "stickiness."

3-D Maps, Camera Phones Put 'Reality' in Augmented Reality: "Augmented-reality apps that provide digital information overlaid on the real world are about to get a lot more convincing."

3-D Maps, Camera Phones Put 'Reality' in Augmented Reality

2009-12-11T14:39:00.000-08:00

3-D Maps, Camera Phones Put 'Reality' in Augmented Reality

2009-12-11T14:38:00.000-08:00

3-D Maps, Camera Phones Put 'Reality' in Augmented Reality: "Augmented-reality apps that provide digital information overlaid on the real world are about to get a lot more convincing."

3-D Maps, Camera Phones Put 'Reality' in Augmented Reality

2009-12-11T14:37:00.000-08:00

Interesting article on tackling the "stickiness" of real world tags overlaid via the camera view and how it is difficult today to get these tags to truly stick to the real world objects.

3-D Maps, Camera Phones Put 'Reality' in Augmented Reality: "Augmented-reality apps that provide digital information overlaid on the real world are about to get a lot more convincing."

Interesting Video: Building with Overlayed Video and Interactive Skin

2009-11-04T11:38:00.000-08:00

I found this very interesting and inspirational to the world of Augmented Reality.

It shows on a very large scale how something in the real world can serve as a vessel of delivering digital content.

As we get closer to pico projectors, and in this case, large scale projectors and sensors, the way we interact in the hybrid world will be even more dreamy.

check out the video:

555 KUBIK | facade projection | from urbanscreen on Vimeo.

Preview of AdTrace Video Mapping Systems from Projection Advertising on Vimeo.

[Source: Chris Heathcote's Anti-Mega ]

The Nerdery: Augmented Reality Bites...

2009-10-29T12:28:00.000-07:00

The Nerdery put on a great webcast on October 13th describing this new world of Augmented Reality. They did a good job on showcasing examples and benefits of AR and AV (Augmented Virtuality).

You can check out their slideshare presentation here and read the full article here.

Some takeaways:

- Marker Based AR vs Markerless Based AR.
- Market for AR in various mediums still emerging
- Novelty of AR still there but they listed several areas that will be able to benefit once it has worn off.
- Especially interesting data around the mobile space and what AR is doing for data overlays in real time location / mapping applications.
- Applications of AR:
-Promotion
-Navigation
-Packaging
-Print
-Visualization
-Physical Computing
-Instruction

[Source: http://nerdery.com/]

What is Augmented Reality?

2009-10-28T08:43:00.001-07:00

Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagery - creating a mixed reality. The augmentation is conventionally in real-time and in semantic context with environmental elements, like for example sports scores on TV during a match. With the help of advanced AR technology (e.g. adding computer vision and object recognition) the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally usable. Artificial information about the environment and the objects in it can be stored and retrieved as an information layer on top of the real world view. The term augmented reality is believed to have been coined in 1990 by Thomas Caudell, an employee of Boeing at the time[1].

Augmented reality research explores the application of computer-generated imagery in live-video streams as a way to expand the real-world. Advanced research includes use of head-mounted displays and virtual retinal displays for visualization purposes, and construction of controlled environments containing any number of sensors and actuators.

[source: Wikipedia.org]

The World of Augmented Reality

Nooka Augmented Reality Accessorizer: Not real but it should be

Augmented Reality Maps - Blaise Aguera y Arcas on TED.com

Yelp! Changing the Local Game Some More

Related Posts:

Augmented Reality Turns Shoes Into Game Controllers

What’s Your Favorite Augmented Reality App? [Source: Mashable.com]

Mashable Faves

7 Best Augmented Reality Apps

Augmented Reality To Help Mechanics Fix Vehicles

The problem with Object Tagging in AR apps today...

3-D Maps, Camera Phones Put 'Reality' in Augmented Reality

3-D Maps, Camera Phones Put 'Reality' in Augmented Reality

3-D Maps, Camera Phones Put 'Reality' in Augmented Reality

Interesting Video: Building with Overlayed Video and Interactive Skin

The Nerdery: Augmented Reality Bites...

What is Augmented Reality?