Introducing Augmented Reality from BBC

This video clip is about introducing Augmented Reality and how Augmented Reality Application works on mobile device. BBC interviewed the person who is the founder of the UK based AR application company which launched "The nearest tube station AR application" few weeks ago. According to this interview we can expect more AR applications before the Christmas.

The original BBC article is here .

Augmented reality meets scavenger hunt with GeoBeagle, Wikitude

This is another Android based Augmented Reality application which is made by U.K.-based developer Nicholas Tollervey. It is Augmented Reality version of treasure hunting game. I found this this post from the Venturebeat website.
The more detail information about this application here.

Geocaching, an outdoor game where players use GPS on mobile devices to leave or track down hidden packages, may be about to get a bit easier.

Instead of relying on GPS coordinates and written clues to find packages, players can see visual markers on an Android phone’s viewfinder thanks to an augmented reality project by U.K.-based developer Nicholas Tollervey. It’s one of augmented reality’s newest uses after two companies released application programming interfaces last month to encourage experimentation. Augmented reality is a young field that lets you overlay information or graphics in a viewfinder. It was considered more of an academic pursuit until smartphones opened the door to potential everyday use.

Tollervey took data from GeoBeagle, a free, open-source application for Google’s Android platform and marked it up in the Wikitude browser. Wikitude is an augmented reality browser from Austrian company Mobilizy. When it launched last year, it was a travel guide that let you hold up your Android phone’s viewfinder and see Wikipedia articles tagged to places around you. (See examples here.)

Since then, the company and its Dutch rival, SPRXMobile, have opened up APIs and are competing to lure independent developers to build apps. So the space could be set to balloon with lots of interesting commercial applications. Think restaurant recommendations, real estate listings, or search queries that could be launched directly from your phone’s viewfinder.

A review of AR-media™ Plugin

I tried to use AR-media™ Plugin which is made by the Development Lab of Inglobe Technologies, an Italian company specializing in the development of Augmented Reality solutions. It is very quick and easy way to make an Augmented Reality scene on your screen.
In order to use AR-media™ Plugin you should have the Google SketchUp program which you can download at google . In addtion you can download a trial version of AR-media™ Plugin from here.
If you install the AR-media™ Plugin correctly you can see the AR-media™ Plugin button on your Google SketchUp program. And then you can simply generate a virtual object on your screen. In order to augmente a virtual object you need a paper tag which is provided by AR-media™ Plugin.

It is really easy and instantaneous. However, there is one shortcoming, which is that you can augment only one scene at a time.

Microsoft sustainability

Since iPhone's remarkable hit on the mobile device market, new keywords such as "New User Interface", "Touch Screen," and "Haptic" have become new paradigms on most markets. Mega pixels and MP3 player functions were big issues on the mobile phone market just a few years ago. However, most major mobile phone providers emphasize their new user interface, especially interfaces using 3-D and touch functions. In addition, as pervasive computing and Ubiquitous computing has appeared, the demand for new user interfaces and new display technologies has increased enormously.
On the other hand, as display technology has been developed we begin to rebel against the restraint imposed by monitors.

This video clip shows our new life with new display technologies and new interfaces. To keep pace with the times, we encounter new formats of GIS data such as portable light. 

(From : http://ohhello.tv/index.php/work/view/microsoft_sustainability/)

Augmented Reality GPS Tour Video

This video was recorded around the middle of 2007. It is a HMD (Head Mounted Display) based Augmented Reality application. The one big benefit of HMD AR is total immersion as contrasted with Monitor-Based AR.

Nearest Tube iPhone App Adds Digital Directions to Your Surroundings [IPhone Apps]

iPhone 3GS only: The Nearest Tube iPhone app uses the iPhone 3GS's newly-adequate camera to show the direction of the nearest tube station by adding directional arrows to a real-time "video" you take of your surroundings. Seriously, check this out.

AcrossAir, the makers of the app, claim it as one of the first "augmented reality" apps for the iPhone, meaning it adds digital signs to a real-time video. It only supports the London Underground for now, and is currently being approved by Apple, but we could definitely see this coming in handy for most any major city. Can we humbly request a version for Chicago, city of the miles-apart subway stations? We'll let you know when it's eventually approved and released into the App Store. (From Gizmodo.com)

Pattie Maes demos the Sixth Sense

This demo, from Pattie Maes' lab at MIT (and spearheaded by her student Pranav Mistry), was the buzz of TED2009. Sixth Sense is a wearable device with a projection screen that paves the way for profound, data-rich interaction with our environment. Imagine Minority Report and then some. (Recorded in February 2009 in Long Beach, California. Duration: 08:42.) (From TED website : http://www.ted.com/)