Yesterday, at the TechCrunch 50 conference in San Francisco, a small start up from Tokyo stole the show; the name: Technidot, the cool product they unveil: Sekai Camera (World Camera) running on the iPhone.
In their own words, the Sekai Camera is:
…a real-world interface for the iPhone that connects real and virtual worlds, allowing anybody to create, experience and participate in both.
While at your favorite mall, point your iPhone camera at things around you such as food, toys, art, transit maps, and get detailed information about it. More fun for you, more business for retailers.
AirFilter takes care of the customized search to bring you the additional information, based on a database generated by advertizers.
And you’re not on your own; the Sekai Camera is also a social networking environment: leave messages to your friends – in space – so they can see it when they pass by.
Isn’t that a killer augmented reality application?
And Tonchidot’s take on Evolution could become the symbol of the AR revolution…
Here is the coverage of the demo by Anthony Ha on VentureBeat : including enthusiasts and skeptics.
This just in! More skeptics!
Blair MacIntyre finds it hard to believe it’s real. The TechCrunch panelists were amused and confused but blamed it on the language barrier.
What do you think? Is it real? or really augmented?
Filip, many thanks for the tip!
Filed under: AR Demos, AR Devices | Tagged: augmented reality shopping, iphone, Sekai Camera, TechCrunch, Tonchidot |
Games Alfresco 
[…] popping into Ori’s blog, I say this post: Unveiling Tonchidot: A Cool Parallel World – on […]
Tonchidot looks amazing, but I count myself as a skeptic.
Some of the video looks impossible to me. (for instance; How does it know where the products are on the shop shelfs? The iphone camera isnt nearly high-res enough to indentify that stuff in real time from image alone).
Even if it is real, theres questions as to how the (vaste amounts ) data will get in the system.
Its certainly an interesting video either way, and as a concept its superb. But I wish they were more open with the details.
Blaming the lanuage barrier to me seemed more like just like an excuse to dodge questions ;)
That said, I love the concept, and the evolution logo!
(especialy as you can almost imagine the next two steps on it yourself…)
[…] like a marriage between Tonchidot’s Sekai Camera and Mobilizy’s […]
Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily this is not difficult.
[…] popping into Ori’s blog, I say this post: Unveiling Tonchidot: A Cool Parallel World – on […]