Some of the best advances in internet and phone technology have been in the food industry. With the best food day of the year sadly, but satisfyingly behind us, I thought it only right to respond to this post on ReadWriteWeb about “Foodspotting.”

This is genius. Plain and simple. I love food, and any way that I can take the guess work out of finding restaurants that have delicious food or navigate an unfamiliar menu is always greatly appreciated. It is apps like this that really make it tough for me to continue to avoid purchasing a smart phone. In some ways, it reminds me of how Maxim brings “Bacon porn” to folks online.

In some ways, this is another example of crowdsourcing. By introducing this iPhone application, Foodspotting is getting the public to chronicle every meal worth eating throughout the country in pictures. This would be very labor intensive if one person, or even one company, tried to pull all this information together alone. There are plenty of blogs that do this on a local level, for example Young & Hungry in DC. There also are plenty of iPhone apps already out there that help you make food decisions (Mashable lists the top 21 here, and here and here are some more). This new app merges together the visual advantages local food blogs, the best of existing food apps, and adds a twist — only pointing out users’ favorite dishes. I like what Foodspotting is putting together.

The future for an app like this is an augmented reality application that could show you the nearest eateries with a picture of the most popular dish. I must not have been very hungry in class when we discussed augmented reality because this seems like a no-brainer. Some food related augmented reality apps are already in the works, like this one that gives augmented reality organic food information.

The only logical next step to apps like these is the fictional app that was discussed in Curb Your Enthusiasm’s finale this month, the iToilet.

This post kind of follows the last few and looks at why TOYS will create digital-emigrants from 2D learning, before you can say podcast. The trends in creating online virtual worlds around product and game is stepping up, and will see kids stepping out of using laptops and desktops …

The traveling STAR WARS exhibition had an interactive table, where with a few crude black and white shaped cards, you could build a moisture farm using augmented reality.

These are toys you will be buying. Free software online and a web-cam. Given that all consoles can deal with this and so can most laptops – even phones – you will be using this technology sooner than later.

This short demo from James Cameron’s movie Avatar – shows this at a new level. Although the movie is going to be just that – a passive movie, it is interesting to see how toys and peripheral materials are increasingly focused on mashing physical objects with virtual ones. There are a number of examples of people messing with cameras and applications (check this Transformers home made one) or an academic project to see what people are doing. but this is the first one I’ve seen which has obviously been developed around what will be a big-commercial-movie. This interaction, blending real with virtual is already happening with things like PS2 Eye-Toy. But objects are now beginning to appear in the middle. Not just camera sees person and visa versa, but camera recognises object and persons interaction with it. – That makes it an assessment tool as well as a learning tool.

With digital camera’s already fitted with projectors — 3M mini-projectors on Amazon — and POV cameras — it’s significant that a major movie/game enterprise starts to fund the mashing of these together in commercial ways. Think it’s hard teaching with an iPod – imagine what the science lab will look like in a decades time – when this kind of thing is old-hat and been in the lounge room since they were pre-schoolers.

The point is that much of the driving forces that power the web itself are more interested in escaping the small screen. While we live in a time where hyper-connected-social-twittering is the new cheese … it is likely that the generation now playing GT5 on PS3 will see much of Web2.0 as ‘historical’ much like dial-up.

While adults might discuss the decline of traditional media trending down and to the right – it is facile to think that one is simply replacing the other. Statistically, youth-online is not flocking to 2D spaces – and FB has discovered games are it’s killer app, not comment walls.

Yet, virtual worlds and games – are still regarded as less important than the new-standards – and god knows, they are hard enough to access in public schools.

If you have 10 minutes – watch this amazing video story  ‘world builder‘. Especially if you are not yet seeing what ‘virtual worlds are for’.

Esquire Augmented Reality Special Issue

宜家邊會話可以食老本架，每一行都有生命周期 (life cycle)，科技令呢個周期縮短，唔創新嘅話就等於等死！傳统媒体例如印刷業就受到互聯網嘅不斷沖擊，面對愈黎愈小嘅讀者羣，佢地都要諗計攪吓新意思。君子雜誌十二月果期就玩咗 Augmented Reality (AR)，只要單撈及安裝一個software，用電腦個 Web Cam對住雜誌裡面唔同頁數印咗個好似2D barcode 嘅正方嘢，電腦就會出現唔同嘅動畫，同用家互動，果日係Lab道試過，效果唔錯，d同學都玩得幾開心，幾好嘅 gimmick 。其實AR都發展咗好耐，我做postgrade時都好多人玩，可惜個陣好勁嘅hardware先做到，勁貴，難普及！但係宜家連手提電話都可以玩3D咁勁，iPhone都好似有AR嘅 apps，相信隨住smart phone嘅流行，AR會好快流行，好多野玩。

有d朋支或同學都知我用咗QR code好耐，我卡片或你睇緊呢個blog嘅address都有用QR code代表出嚟 (睇下右下角)，蘋果日報最近都開始玩QR code啦，以前傷腦筋點樣揾到個免費嘅QR code reader 比唔同型號嘅手機，宜家蘋果日報就可以用手機打一個電話去，然後會用SMS send條link比你download個reader，試過部Nokia裝個reader，用我個blog試，只要用部手機對住個QR code，就會即刻會跳去我個Blog，好快呀！日本以經玩咗好耐，香港好快會流行啦！

幾好玩呀！

科技對印刷業都好大影嚮，Amazon出嘅Kindle電子書熱賣，另一間網上書店Barnes & Noble 都出咗Nook，好多人都話出ebook reader，似乎電子書將會帶比出版業一次番天覆地嘅改革！

In the last several weeks, I’ve been hearing and reading a lot about augmented reality.  It’s as if it just popped out of nowhere all of a sudden and is now seemingly attacking with force.  Every marketer is now keen on knowing more and getting involved.  In China, there are increasingly more and more agencies exploring augmented reality innovation.

Augmented reality, simply put, is a mixed reality of real life + virtual computer generated imagery.  It has been used in other fields, such as military or architecture, but is now breaking ground in the advertising industry.  Marketers desperate to discover the next new way to connect with consumers are clamoring to get a piece of the action and see how it can be applied to their brands successfully.

It’s too early to tell whether augmented reality has staying power and will deliver ROI (how would it be measured though?) or if it’s merely a passing fad.  I don’t think there’s any way this is just a passing fad.  The implications and consumer involvement are far too interesting for it to simply come and go.  Plus the number of computers and smartphones globally are climbing with rapid speed.

Here are some cool examples of recent augmented reality examples by some of my favourite brands:

1. Coke Zero + Avatar
Firstly, I have to confess to being the biggest Coke Zero fan.  I was a Diet Coke drinker before Coke Zero came out and as soon as it did, I fell in love.  I tried it as soon as it came out and told everyone I knew about it’s brilliance (Diet Coke that tastes like real Coke… what’s not to like?!).  Anyway, I digress.  We’re talking about augmented reality, not my silly obsession with Coke Zero.

Coke has partnered with Avatar for a cool cross promotion that is taking place globally.  I recently noticed the ‘AVTR’ cans here in Hong Kong.

Coke Zero cans will be printed with the special AVTR logo and once you hold this in front of your computer’s webcam, you will see an interactive image appear on your computer screen and be able to “take a ride” on the Samson Helicopter from the Avatar movie.  Coke is hoping this will create great buzz (it already has been!) and resonate with youth.  Check out their TVC here for an example of how it works:

2. McDonald’s and Avatar
McDonald’s will be doing something similar, starting on Avatar’s opening weekend this December.  It appears that they are offering Avatar cards that achieve a similar effect as the Coke Zero campaign.  This time, with a robot.  See this clip to understand how it works (whooa!):

3. Always Infinity “Magic Show” campaign
This campaign came out earlier this year and supported by print and also via a page on their website.
Once again, consumers hold a sheet up to their webcam, but on-screen a magic show appears on the paper.  This is how it works (click here to see it in action on the Always Infinity site):

Still much more to see

There is still so much more in the wonderful world of augmented reality.  These are just examples of computer screen based campaigns and capabilities.  There’s the whole area of smartphone augmented reality that I haven’t touched upon yet.  Will discuss that in my next post, cuz there’s just so much to talk about with that (hellooo iPhone applications!)

But seriously – this stuff is exciting right?  It will change the way marketers think and interact with consumers for good!

I’ve been reading lots of good bloggers who write about the tech and marketing  aspects of augmented reality and other virtual experiences. What’s not so well covered is a focus on how these new tools and modes of communication and collaboration will affect our culture and our arts. Here are some of the topics I’d like to cover:

* who are the artists and what are they doing with these new technologies?

* what is particular to the experience of art that you cannot touch?

renaissance artist inside a camera obscura

* how does collaboration with technologists influence the artistic process?

* what are the cultural implications of these changes?

* what technologies are accessible to artists?

* what are the relationships and overlaps between game projects and art projects?

* what independent scenes (non-academic, non-corporate) are happening?

* what do all the po-mos (the art establishment) have to say?

* what academic programs are available?

This is a broad scope so there’ll be lots to explore and I hope this will be a good resource for artists.

The camera obscura is a great historical analogy. The technology of optics changed how artists could represent the world and forever changed the “language of art”.

Looking at the picture I wonder, how did it feel to the artist to be inside the box, tracing a dim image upside-down, instead of being outside looking at the “real world”? These days, like in every age, we question what it even means to be “real”.

Wer anderen erklären will, wie Augmented Reality funktioniert, tut dies am einfachsten mit dem Hinweis auf die Verschmelzung der realen und digitalen Welt. Schwieriger wird’s schon wenn es darum geht, zu zeigen, welchen (echten) Nutzen dieses zukunftsträchtige Tool hat. Allzu leicht verheddert man sich in Sätze wie

„Naja, da kannst du so mit Karten … und Informationen… und Menschen…ähm… tun. Und du verbindest sie, und dann kannst du … sehen… mit deinem Handy… und wenn deine Freunde in der Nähe sind kannst du sie dann auch sehen… und ihre Daten…“

Kein Wunder, denn allzu viel hat man von dieser neuen Wundertechnologie noch nicht wirklich gesehen.

Verschmelzung der Medien

Vor kurzer Zeit fiel mir aber doch ein nettes Beispiel in die Hände bzw. hat es mir mein lieber Postzusteller in einem Stück nach Hause gebracht: Die letzte Esquire-Printausgabe mit dem Augmented Reality Special.

Mitten auf dem Cover, direkt unter Robet Downey Juniors Hintern, prangert ein AR-Tag. Weitere sind im gesamten Heft zu finden. Nach Installation der entsprechenden Software geht’s auch schon los. Die Webcam aktivieren, das Heft entgegenhalten und sehen was passiert. In kurzen Videos führt dabei Downey Jr. Durch das Heft und stellt die spannendsten Artikel vor.

Darunter ist auch der „lustige Witz von einer schönen Frau“. Der ist zwar nicht neu und wird auch nicht viel besser wenn sie ihn erzählt. Nach Mitternacht, so verspricht sie aber, wird es schmutziger…

Esquire - Joke from a beautiful woman - AR Special

Augmented politx

„Zukunft wir kommen“ könnte der Leitspruch von AR lauten. Wie schnell diese Entwicklung passieren wird, entscheidet vor allem die technische Weiterentwicklung der mobilen Endgeräte. Die Akzeptanz der neuen Technologie durch die User und „Kunden“ wird aber in einem hohen Maße davon abhängen, wie sinnvoll die Einsatzmöglichkeiten gestaltet werden (können).

Im politischen Bereich könnte ich mir einige Anwendungsbeispiele für AR vorstellen. Angefangen von einfachen Eintragungen von Kontaktinformationen auf unterschiedlichsten Karten, über Aktivierung des Involvements bei jüngeren Wählerschichten bis zur Begleitung von Wahl-Kampagnen und deren grafischer Darstellung (in Verknüpfung mit anderen Medien) ist durchaus einiges drinnen. Ein Beispiel zu #Unibrennt gibt es hier. Ein ansprechender AR-Layer für das Gebiet Schladming Dachstein (von Peter Höflehner) ist hier zu bestaunen.

AR-Layer für Schladming Dachstein

Die Anwendung ist nicht nur in der Lage, die Frage “Welcher Berg ist das?” zu beantworten, sondern findet auch die nächste Skihütte für den Einkehrschwung oder den nächsten Parkplatz.

Wohin sich der Markt für AR entwickeln könnte, hoffe ich unter anderem auch beim kommenden Mobile Monday zu erfahren. Vielleicht kann man sich dort ja vorstellen sinnvolle Projekte für den politischen Bereich gemeinsam zu entwickeln.

PS: Wer keine aktuelle Esquire Ausgabe bei der Hand hat: einfach die Fotos downloaden, ausdrucken und in die Webcam halten… ist ganz witzig.

Hype around augmented reality, a technology that can superimpose graphics or information over the real world in your phone’s viewfinder, is at a fever pitch. But can it deliver the revenues?

Around two dozen applications like Layar, Junaio and Wikitude have burst onto iPhone and Android devices as smartphones with GPS, a compass and Internet access have finally made it possible for the technology to go mainstream. [...]

Now Juniper Research is saying the market could grow to $732 million in five years, from just under $2 million next year. ABI Research has a more modest estimate: $350 million in annual revenues by 2014. That’s on the back of three primary revenue models: upfront payments to buy an app, subscription fees or paid premium versions and advertising.

The first two are self-explanatory, and might work well with augmented reality games. Advertising could take several forms. You might see augmented reality coupons or sponsored information tags as location-based services become more adept at serving ads based on your historical search needs and where you are. A couple augmented reality browsers like acrossair’s Nearest Tube or Layar could incorporate sponsored layers. For example, Starbucks could pay to add a special augmented reality layer to an existing browser showing nearby coffee spots. Or they could buy access to the technology to build their own app.

But there are reasons to remain skeptical. Venture capital firms have been relatively reluctant to back these young companies — Amsterdam-based Layar is the only company in the last three months to announce a round of venture funding. The larger and older businesses, Metaio and Total Immersion, are launching mobile products on the back of the businesses they’ve already built through augmented reality marketing and factory layout projects from the past. (See an example here.)

There are still also a number of design issues to overcome. The use case is physically uncomfortable. It can be easier to look something up in a conventional map application than to constantly hold your phone at eye-level to see augmented reality tags.

The second issue is that augmented reality is still a bit of a novelty or a gimmick (see Metaio’s app to the left where you can insert 3D objects into your camera viewfinder).

And then of course there’s the business hurdle of reaching critical mass so that an advertising model can sustain the company. That said, Layar is boasting some promising statistics. The company said it has close to half a million downloads and the app is sticky with users logging in about 6.7 times a week on average.

So if their adoption (and those of their competitors) continues accelerating upward, stay tuned.

via Augmented reality to be a $732 million market by 2014? | VentureBeat.

Learning has really taken a gargantuan leap from past to present to future. Back then, the adage went that a child should enjoy his childhood days and the little time that was spent in the class was for sitting in front of the background, thumbs twiddling away on the abacus and kids heading over to the computer labs once a week for hourly sessions.

Now, blackboards have been completely replaced by whiteboards or in some cases, giant projector screens while computer labs are no longer the only opportunity for a child to access the Internet.

Moving on to the present day, learning is now centered more on these few things.

1. Gaming

Studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of gaming as a form of learning. From a common sense point of view, playing an interactive game in class with your classmates would definitely beat listening to a teacher droning on and on about a subject

Using World of Warcraft (WoW) as an example, a computer virus affected the game a few years ago and as players started to get into contact with other players, the virus slowly spread. Within one hour, a virtual town was wiped out and within 5 hours from the start of the outbreak, the whole game had been infected. Research was conducted on this outbreak and researchers found that it actually resembled the way an epidemic spreads in the real world, from the contaminations stage to the outbreak stage.

I was walking past Popular the other day and I saw this whole range of learning games for kids… “Law School”, “Business School” etc. Though they didn’t sound terribly appealing to me, much less a kid of 9 years old, at least it’s good to know that such games are out there in the market for kids to explore.

      2. YouTube

Back then, whenever anyone wanted to pick up a new skill, they would have to physically drag themselves down to attend a course. They would have to pay money to attend such a course too (unless they were learning line dancing at a community centre) But now, with the Internet and more specifically, Youtube, one can just recline in their swiveling chairs and learn something from a video.

Also, YouTube can be utilized as a tool by teachers to teach their students. More learning material in the form of videos can be shown. Also, lectures can be recorded and posted online for students to watch and learn at their own pace.

And when we look towards the future, learning will now be based on augmented reality. This allows individuals to be immersed in experiential learning environments. This will be on a scale much greater than just the single individual holding a small device. Imagine walking into a classroom and seeing the epic battles of World War 1 right in front of your eyes. Also, students will be able to hear and actually converse with projected characters. So, if someone wanted to know more about military tactics, they could just turn to Hitler for some tips and tricks. After all, the man did know best.

As we can see from all the above, learning has definitely gotten much more interesting with time. Now, my only regret is that I will no longer be a student when augmented reality is introduced in schools. No swiping of hands in the air in front of me! Or seeing holographic images strolling up and down the aisles in the class.
Well, at least by then, I think augmented reality will be available pretty much elsewhere, so I need not worry about missing this awesome bit of technology.

I remembered I got my first mobile phone back when I was in primary five. It was a Nokia 3310, the chunky phone which made an irritating clicking sound whenever I typed on the keypad.

But at least both my current and previous phone was much better than the first phone that was invented. The first phone was the Motorola DynaTEC and it was huge! 793g and standing tall at 25cm high. And apparently, back then, size DID matter. Since the phone cost $8544!!! Even the priciest phones of today cost less than $2, 000.

And the phone I have now is a swanky Nokia 5800 which allows me to download millions of songs and it has a touchscreen! So no more irritating clicking sounds.

P.S I’m not advertising the phone for them! Though, Nokia, if you do happen to see this, you may consider contacting me. I have an awesome ad copy for the Nokia 5800.

Back to topic, the mobile revolution has brought about many benefits for society. One such thing would be how it has affected the social sector. Since many mobile phones now come equipped with the camera function, and it is also possible for phones to access the Internet, content can be transmitted immediately to the web, hence resulting in a rise in citizen journalism on platforms such as STOMP or on Facebook and Twitter. Calamities such as the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and the 2005 London Bombings saw majority of the news footage being covered by citizen journalists. Even CNN News Executive Jonathan Klein predicts that mobile phone footage is valuable and that news organizations should capitalize on such a trend.

But, the downside to the advancements in handphone technology now means that it is easier for people to misuse such functions as the camera and video. And we all know what is meant by the term “misuse”. The other day, I was having a conversation with my friend and he was telling me about how there was a website solely dedicated to photos and videos of “up skirt” moments by random females of the population. I find such a website distasteful and a disgrace to women out there. And the small, slim phones which do not look like phones but which has a 10megapixel camera does not help these women much.

The mobile revolution has also resulted in greater openness for the creation of applications and devices. Previously, only mobile phone companies could come up with applications for their phones, however, now, companies like Apple are letting consumer innovators come up with new applications for the IPhone. One 9 year old Singaporean kid has even come up with an Iphone app called Doodle Kids which has already been launched in the Singapore market. And at 9 years of age, I was still running around the playground playing “catching”. Society has really evolved.

The evidence of this evolution is seen in the new smartphones of today which are starting to come equipped with augmented reality and location-based services. Tell me, how cool is that? It has already been introduced in the US (Singapore is just moving at a snail’s rate for technological gadget introduction) and judging from the reaction there, it is definitely gaining popularity quickly. What’s great is that if someone wants to find out more about the particular location he’s in, all he has to do is position the phone in front of him and the information will appear in the screen as layers. Places to eat, the rating of the food there, property locations etc. will all be shown on the screen.

But for now, I don’t want a phone with augmented reality services. In fact, I’ll settle for an iPhone (Psst.. it’s my birthday soon)

Finally, to end off, here’s a little piece of information.1  in 10 handphone users have a handphone that is kept secret from their family members. This was according to a survey conducted by Motorola. Apparently, these secret handphones are used for clandestine business dealings and extramarital affairs. Looks like as technology advances, people are still going to still have those same, “if you don’t want the world to know, let’s hide it” mentality when it comes to secrets.

McDonalds adopta Augmented Reality en sus cajas de Happy Meal, otro claro ejemplo de cómo esta tendencia de Augmented Reality se está convirtiéndo en una herramienta fuerte en la publicidad y el marketing.

Happy Meal AR es también una buena manera de dar una clase de valor adicional a los pequeños clientes de este producto de Mc Donalds, pero además aprovechando la oportunidad para conseguir una buena ‘brand experience’ -los niños que consuman Happy Meal podrán jugar gratis a un juego de Star Wars game, pero mientras lo hacen están expuestos al branding de McDonalds bastante tiempo después de haber consumido su producto y te hayas ido de los establecimiento.

Ya veremos si llega a España.

Mit Augmented Reality lassen sich verschiedene Spielereien treiben. Mann könnte durch die Wände in ein Musseum, oder Theatersaal reingucken, um sich vorab zu informieren. Möglichkeiten des Einsatzes liessen sich an dieser Stelle unzählige finden.

Vor kurzem ist die erste Applikation für Deutschland erschienen: Bionic Eye Germany. Sie listed einige Points of Interest, wie zum Beispiel Einkaufsläden, Imbissketten, oder Kinoketten. Wie es funktioniert erklärt folgendes Video:

Das selbe wünschte ich mir mit Kultureinrichtungen .

Pranav Mistry and SixthSense technology – Part 1 of 2

Pranav Mistry and SixthSense technology – Part 2 of 2

Amerykański magazyn Esquire odważnie eksperymentuje z nowymi technologiami i kreatywnością wydawniczą. Można powiedzieć, że stają się one jego znakiem rozpoznawczym. To całkiem fajny wyróżnik marketingowy.

Po okładce z e-papieru, potrójnej okładce, pictoralach kręconych w technologii HD 4k przyszedł czas na Augmented Reality.

Najnowszy numer wypełniają (choć to może za mocno powiedziane) kody AR. Po zainstalowaniu oprogramowania na komputerze i podstawieniu odpowiedniej strony magazynu do kamery – na naszym monitorze zaczynają się dziać cuda. No. Znowu przesadzam, ale zabawa wygląda na przednią.

W ten sposób te kilka dolarów wydane na tradycyjne pismo umożliwia nam dostęp do ciekawych, interaktywnych prezentacji i reklam.

Czekam na taką prezentację dołączoną do Press z okazji wyboru Dziennikarza Roku

Let’s turn back time to 10 years before, in the year 1999, we have yet to reach the millennium and everyone around us is speculating if the world is going to end due to the millennium bug that’s going to affect computers everywhere. There I was, sitting in my room, thinking, “hey! It’s not going to affect me at all! I don’t have a computer! And what’s more, how is the world ending just because of a computer bug? That’s just silly thought!” OK, maybe the world won’t end, but hey, I was just a kid and what do I know? Parents are working overtime, companies are worried about how the bug will affect them. 

Now, when we look back, don’t you think it’s quite funny how we were all so worried about it? Recently, BBC published an article claiming that the millennium bug was just a hoax! http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/oct/05/stephen-fry-y2k
Here’s the link to it. 

10 years later, in 2009, here we are, with practically everyone owning at least one laptop each, and the use of a desktop isn’t as popular as the past. (Well, this applies to students, and businessman on the go, where a laptop will provide the convenience and portability of a desktop computer.) With Internet websites that allow us to connect with friends and meet people from the other end of the world, who they might never meet ever without it. As many people would have already said, geographical barriers are broken and it seems as if nothing is impossible with the Internet. But is it true? Here a point for you to think, is the Internet really that good that it can make anything impossible become possible? 

Well, sure enough, information gathering is much faster as compared to 10 years ago, but have you ever considered that sometimes, information on the Internet may not be credible and reliable? The Internet is an open source, anyone and everyone with access to it can create a website and include information of all sorts, be it true or false, and as long as it is able to drive traffic into the website and have people linking the website to their website, Google will rank that website higher than, say, a more credible and reliable website (wow, that is A LOT of websites). But then again, what is credibility and reliability in this day and age? 

Social networking sites allow us to connect with friends and meet new people, widen our horizons, some may say, but it also allows stalker behaviour to develop and perhaps you are thinking, “well, it’s no big deal if I’m looking at my crush’s Facebook profile right?” Think again, imagine if that “crush” is you, and the other person knows everything about you, from how old you are, what you look like, what your hobbies are, what music you listen to, to even where you stay! OK, then some may say, “well, I can always protect myself and not state where I live.” Let me tell you this, there is no such thing as PRIVACY on the Internet. As long as you have a blog, a name, a Facebook/MySpace/Twitter account, you are practically as naked as a pig about to be slaughtered. OK, I apologize for that simile, but that’s what I think. 

Think about it. Can you really protect yourself on the Internet? Once something is sent, there is no undo button for you, there is no way to turn back time and unsend that something, be it a statement or an email. 

Now, let’s predict, 10 years later, what will happen to this world? Well, for a fact, a few years down the road, augmented reality will become huge and fascinate the whole world for maybe a couple of years or a couple of months. But what other changes will there be in our lives? Be it in the technological side or lifestyle changes. I think it’s worth thinking about because it concerns us. 

I’m thinking, maybe someone genius will create a time-machine so we can all turn back time and undo what we regret! But until then, we have to make decisions carefully and not regret about it.

The last post showed you a lot of cool things from General Electric’s smart grid website. If you happened to come across the augmented reality section: http://ge.ecomagination.com/smartgrid/?c_id=googaugreal&gclid=CK63k8PVpZ4CFQohDQodd2QOkQ#/augmented_reality, then you were in for a treat. This is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. GE uses a digital hologram to get users to interact with their website. You’ll have to go to the website and follow directions to see what I’m taking about.

If you don’t know the website, or you’re too lazy, check out this video. I suggest you try it yourself because it’s a pretty awesome experience.

Photo source: Layar.com

With the addition of a compass, GPS and associated software, the PDA/smartphone has become as powerful as ever.  Services are emerging that blend social networking and location awareness (e.g. Foursquare, Google Latitude) – in addition, augmented reality has received a lot of recent attention.  Amsterdam-based Layar has interesting technology that they call Layar Reality Browser – Version 2.0 (a mobile, augmented reality browser).

How could location awareness and augmented reality apply to events and trade shows?

Event Check-In

Source: flickr (User: Buckeye Beth)

Event planners could partner with location awareness providers to determine which registrants have appeared on site.  Attendees would need to register and opt-in to the location awareness service – but once they do, the technology can determine who’s on site and provide automated check-in.  Imagine arriving at the event, skipping past the long check-in line and going straight to a self-service kiosk, where you can print your event badge.  Once you have your badge printed, perhaps the event planner disables the location service, to give attendees the reassurance that they’re not being watched, a la Big Brother.

Eco-friendly maps

Photo source: Layar.com

You’re at the main lobby of the event – imagine holding up your PDA and having a map appear of the venue.  You no longer need to ask where the keynote session is being held – your PDA can map it for you – and perhaps guide you right there via its GPS function.  Such a service would make support overhead more efficient (less staff required to direct attendees) and be eco-friendly, since the printed event guide (and map) may no longer be required.

Augmented Reality at Exhibitor Booths

For trade shows that include exhibitor booths, augmented reality provides for some interesting possibilities.  I’m standing at the event’s most popular booth – the event staff is swarmed with visitors and I have to wait in line to speak to the exhibitor and/or get my product demo.  While I’m waiting, I bring up the augmented reality app on my PDA – it shows an image of the physical booth (right in front of me) with the following information overlaid:

1. Related content from the exhibitor that I can view (right now) from my PDA – documents, white papers, on-demand videos, etc.
2. Bios/profiles of event staffers who are in the booth right now – so I know that the most popular demo is being given by the exhibitor company’s Senior Product Manager for Mobile – I can view his LinkedIn profile, so that when my turn comes, I already know that we have a connection in common.
3. An option to view the demo – perhaps the physical booth demos are being streamed out to the web – e.g.  into a hybrid virtual event.  With a click, I’m able to view the live stream of the demo via my PDA.  I’ll admit, it’s an odd thought to watch a live demo that’s occurring a few feet from you – but sometimes at events, it is truly hard to see the demo from the back of an assembled crowd.
4. An option to join a text chat with a virtual booth staffer – again, in a concurrent virtual event, perhaps the exhibitor supplements their physical staffers with online staffers in the virtual environment.

Social gaming and following friends/colleagues

Events could incorporate a gaming aspect, with points tied to actions – and activity tracked via location awareness.  Exhibitors no longer need to scan an attendee’s badge – instead, the location awareness service tracks which booths they’ve visited.  Safeguards need to be established, of course, to ensure that a booth visit was real/substantial, as opposed to a “drive by”.  To use a Foursquare analogy, perhaps exhibitors offer a grand prize (e.g. HDTV) and award that to the attendee who holds the title of “mayor” (of that booth) at the conclusion of the event.

In a sales meeting, on the other hand, you often have colleagues who want to attend sessions together – instead of texting or IM’ing to coordinate meet-ups, a location awareness service (think Google Latitude) can allow opted-in attendees to track one another’s location on the show floor.  If your colleague is spending too long on line for coffee, go grab him so that you’re both not late to your boss’ presentation.

The important stuff – food!

Photo source: Layar.com

Layar, Yelp and Urbanspoon have all released augmented reality apps related to restaurants.  Whether it’s lunch during the event or dinner afterwards, you’ll always be a few augmented clicks away from knowing where’s the best burger, steak or burrito.

Perhaps what we need is a conference on augmented reality and location awareness – where all of this becomes reality!

Ancora Augmented Reality e Musica, dopo la news dell’altro giorno riguardante i N-Dubz.

Questa volta riguarda il rapper Sinik e la Universal francese. News da Billboard.

Universal Music France ha annunciato che il prossimo album (in uscita il 30 novembre) del rapper Sinik, “Ballon d’Or”, includerà immagini che daranno accesso a features di AR.

Magari ci tornerò sopra quando e se sarà disponibile un video dell’ AR in questione. Non solo il booklet, ma anche il cd conterrà un immagine AR che permetterà di lanciare strumenti di mixing.

I missed blogging in the beginning of the week due to a Web 2.0 conference. I’m a hybrid-luddite. I know nothing of how the computer works, but am fascinated by the potential it offers. I am also horrified by that same potential.

I ramble around a lot of odd places, picking up ideas and trends, and so it was the same at this conference. Each conference has its “hot” topic and it was augmented reality for this event.

If you are still struggling with e-mail, hold onto your hats because it is about to become Mr. Toads Wild Ride.

Augmented reality refers to anything that aids your experience of reality. AR doesn’t have to involve a computer- looking at a historic trail lighting up on a museum screen is augmented reality. But the really wowy stuff is with a computer. Take a look at shopping for an apartment in Amsterdam, then think about shopping for a horse. Thoroughbred and  Standardbred sales or getting more information on a horse at a competition; point your phone or goggles at the animal and there’s breeding and performance history as well as price if it’s for sale.

What are we going to do about our shortage of vets in the future? How about putting on your medical goggles that will walk you through stuff you can do yourself. (assess a wound, clean it , dress it, take a shoe off,  give a shot) You can bet in 20 years your surgeon will have some AR training like this BMW repair video.

It was an AR on-line shopping presentation that got me thinking about horses. What changes would we like to be able to view on a horse? Well, blankets and saddle pads just seem like a decadent waste. But, what about shoes? What if you could film a horse’s movements, coming, going, side to side, and then click on a different shoe to try and see how it would affect the gait.

The logarithms to do this would make my hair hurt and it isn’t even in the ball park of doable at the moment. Ten years out, though- an interesting thought. Imagine a computer screen with a video of your horse trotting at you and then away from you. At the bottom of the screen is a selection of bar shoes, wedges, trailers, lifts, aluminum, etc. Click.  You get to see bar shoes on your horse, but more importantly, you get to see how your horse would move in bar shoes. Your farrier could even show you how different trims would affect your horse’s angles. All of this before he even lifts up the first hoof. So instead of taking six months to try different shoes on your horse to find the best shoe and trim for his problem you can accomplish it in two.

Here’s another day dream. They are now developing software that allows for real-time monitoring of  thousands of items simultaneously. The preemie in critical care can have multiple systems monitored and take extensive calculations so that there is real time information that will allow you to make corrections and avoid disaster.

What if they could do that for a hoof. If you could put sensors in critical areas and monitor the temperature, blood flow, vasoconstriction, pressure, laminar stretching, etc. If you could tell the pressure was building before having to wait for a visual sign, would that help treat the disease?

Would it be a competitive training edge to have an AR run through of your horse’s performance? Take a look at this MIT video of a professor drawing out a motion flow. Now imagine drawing out a jumper or barrel course, put in your horse’s stride length and look at where you need to bend him, slow him, what happens when take off is at point A, B or C.

We never know where the future will actually end up. Augmented Reality is here to stay. The questions become “is this a useful concept for the equine industry and if so how best to use and not abuse it.”   AR horse racing—-hmm.

This isn’t augmented horsing, but a fun video [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=DytqyLjJd0A&feature=PlayList&p=785F8E7A08273943&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=37]

The best creation of this day was chosen with regards to the upcoming holiday weekend and because of the first underwater scene on junaio ever.  I wonder, whether there is a diving shell for the iPhone…

By the way: more fantastic (and still living!) underwater creatures can be found here.

Qi Pan kehittää Cambridgessa väitöskirjatyönään online-3D-mallinnusta videokuvan perusteella:

http://mi.eng.cam.ac.uk/~qp202/

Aika pähee. Millaiseenhan tulokseen pääsisi liikkuvan kamerakuvan kanssa ympäristön karkeassakin mallintamisessa?

Growing up, cartoons were a big part of my life, be it transformers, G I Joe, Centurian and even Pokemon and Digimon(who could forget them)

Other then exposing me to tremendous amounts of violence as a young boy, it did do me at least one good. Acceptance of Augmented reality. Why you might ask? Simple these shows, although some in the late 80s were way ahead of there time. Transformers had robots even before the microsoft office( reminder for those who bought in school go go collect it), Centurian show that people could sync up with computers before the first mobile computer was build and pokemon and digimon brought it to a whole new level. Augmented reality

Remember the good o’ Pokedex,

Now this is where augmented reailty is headed. Point and the person with a device and TADA! All you need to know about the person is there. This will be a great addition in times like this where security its priority, all the cops or guards have to do is point the device at you and he will know all your legal records. Seems a fit far fetched? Not true! All they need is a device that works like the microchip planted in pets to be either in humans or simply placed in a card form like the IC. This also allows picture identification of criminals on the lose. Highly possible! It will be like crime watch on the go. And with face detection currently available in all new mac books world wide (get one at your nearest local dealer now) it will make it even easier to spot the person.

LCD TV market is getting huge now due to prices always dropping. This has allowed various technologies to be worked with such as virtual mirrors. These tend to be mirrors that hang on your wall, and also have a screen built in. When the screen it switched on the surface is no longer reflecting an image of you, but is showing a video.

Using this idea, a store in New York decided that clothes can be tried on by facing a mirror and displaying the clothes on screen. Where the clothes are not, you can see your reflection as though you are wearing the clothes. To add to this, a picture is then taken, emailed to friends and family and an opinion can be gained as to weather you buy the item of clothing or not.

Seems like an interesting idea and might help speed up things for those who get bored waiting for their wives to try on everything in a store.