The Augmented Reality Ballet

Posted on June 30, 2010 by thomaskcarpenter

The Ballet Font Project combines ballet with augmented reality.  I assume they’ll have big screens showing the combined real time dance with the foot drawn fonts.  The project is a rare cross breed between geekdom and high-end culture.

Used watch batteries and infrared LEDs to create a 2D motion tracking system. We taped these little devices to ballet dancers and had then perform moves which formed letters, which will be used in a headline font called “Ligne”.

This video shows a few letters being performed where we’ve used to the tracking data to overlay FX. The stroke width is controlled by the speed of movement. We’ll be doing a live demonstration at the Armory in Portland, Oregon on Thursday, July 1, 2010. Participants will be able to use the tracking devices to do real time augmented reality.

This project is the brainchild of Weiden + Kennedy’s WK12. Oregon Ballet Theatre contributed the choreography and dancing talent. I developed three versions of software called “Chireo” (chirography + choreography). “capture” did the initial motion and video capture. “augment” let us clean up the data and export the font and rendered videos. “live” is the real time motion tracking / augmented reality software we’ll be using at the demo. Todd Greco here at Fashionbuddha helped on the visual FX in the “augment” and “live” versions.

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Robots Need Augmented Reality Too

Posted on June 30, 2010 by thomaskcarpenter

The object recognition portion of augmented reality is a little like that hand-held label printer that you got when you were a kid and then went crazy putting tags on everything in your room.  Did you really need to put a tag on your table that said, “Table”?  Nah.  But it felt good doing it.

High-end object recognition (and I’m including facial) is really a key component to ubiquitous AR.  Well, and those pesky glasses, but we won’t talk about them today.

So back to object recognition.  For our computers to understand the world enough to create seamless reality interfaces, they’re going to have to understand what a chair is, where it is when they see it and what it’s used for.  This understanding will be useful for us humans, but it will be even more useful for robotics in the future.

With easy access to information, labeled in a computer friendly way, robots can learn to use our environment better than before.  And I’m not even talking about high-end robotics either.  A couple of cameras on a Roomba could help it know when to vacuum the floor and when to stay put because a party is going on.  We use unattended vehicles to transfer parts around our Toyota plants.  Allowing these simple vehicles to know when a box has been left in the way and to quietly move around would make them work better.

And who knows, maybe in the far-flung future when Turing level robots become possible, they’ll educate themselves on the wider world by taking long journeys and absorbing the trash-tags left by their human overlords.

And for fun, here’s a picture and video of a robot.

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Augmented Reality Farmville

Posted on June 29, 2010 by rouli

Addicted to Farmville? Have a green thumb but no garden? Envy real farmers but got allergies?
The guys from TU Munich have the perfect solution for you:

Augmented Farmville could be one heck of a layer for Layar/Junaio/Wikitude once better positioning is available. Think of the gold rush to get a virtual plot in major cities, imagine Times Square as a flower bed! Using real meteorological data to those virtual farms would add another interesting and educational twist. It may be the most stupid idea I have ever featured in this blog, but then again, nobody would guess that a farm simulator will be one of the most successful games in 2010.

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How Augmented Reality is Changing the World Cup

Posted on June 27, 2010 by rouli

Coming back from my vacation, I had to catch up with a lot of AR related news. One topic though was so prevalent that I had to write about it in my coming back post. Obviously, I’m talking about the world cup in soccer. No other sports event gained such an attention from the AR community, and here are the results (don’t worry the last few ones are quite good):

Zakumi in FLARToolkit
The good: It seems to be created by a single programmer. Cheers for the initiative.
The god-awful bad: The music. I rather hear vuvuzelas than this one hit wonder.

Kappa’s “We Are One”
The good: The music is better than the previous video.
The bad: It’s in Chinese, so it’s hard for me to tell, but I think you need to download an application to play with it. Hello? This is 2010s, not prehistoric 2009!
Where: http://2010.kappa.com.cn/

Sony Ericsson World Cup Game
The good: You get to be a world famous soccer player while hitting soccer balls with your head in this game created by Total Immersion’s partner CherryPicks.
The bad: World famous soccer players are not necessarily handsome.
Where: http://www.sonyericsson.com.hk/fifa-game/

The world cup in a shopping mall
The good: Nice game, showing there are still some innovative things to do with a marker on a piece of paper. Made by another partner of TI – InterAct 3d.
The bad: Couldn’t they have the same application accessible through a webcam?

Junaio’s virtual soccer field overlay
The good: A brave attempt by Metaio to show game statistics for fans in the stadium in an unconventional way.
The bad: You have to be in South Africa to see it, and no videos are available. I’m a bit skeptic.
More info: http://augmentedblog.wordpress.com/2010/06/24/kick-it-like-augmented-reality/ where you can read about another application assisting you to find a good joint to see the next soccer match.

Zugara’s AR game in a banner
The good: Really cool creative, you need to “head in” corner kicks in this AD for AT&T.
The bad: AT&T. And people looking at you from behind while you’re jerking your head around.
Where: http://www.espn.com

KickBall AR
The good: Much better than AR Boomerang, this is the only mobile application on this list.
The bad: Only available for Samsung’s Bada operating system and the fact that Tom already wrote about it.

If I’ve missed anything (surely there’s a Layar layer for the games, no?), please feel free to add a comment.
So how AR is changing the world cup? Well it’s not, but for my first post in nearly three weeks, I had to try a title inspired by the linkbait generator. Anyhow, the usual “Weekly Linkfest” will return next week and as usual be sure to follow me on Twitter.

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Kickball AR App

Posted on June 24, 2010 by thomaskcarpenter

I guess I feel compelled to post this app because of the World Cup.  It’s a cute idea worth a few minutes of play time, but after that, I’m not sure what the appeal would be.  Personally, I’m ready for the next phase of smartphone AR which requires more awareness of objects and the world. Floating augmented objects just isn’t tickling my fancy anymore.

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Digital Bullets: Augmented Reality – Financially Viable Or A Gimmicky Technology Driven Fad?

Posted on June 21, 2010 by thomaskcarpenter

Lavolta asked a number of CEOs the above question: Augmented Reality – Financially viable or gimmicky technology driven fad?  If you’re a long time reader of Games Alfresco, I don’t suppose I’ll need to expound on my views.  But I would like to hear what your thoughts are about the comments made by the various CEOs (about fifteen.)

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TV Trickery with Augmented Reality

Posted on June 21, 2010 by thomaskcarpenter

We’re a long way from fooling the man on the street, but augmented reality may soon play trickery on your TV screens.  This video montage combining scenes from movies like The Running Man and Wag the Dog; and bits of real-time AR from the last few years makes for a convincing argument about the future of this new medium.

I’m partial to such obscuring of reality as it speaks to my science fiction interests.  Whenever I see a video like this is makes me think of one of my favorite authors, Philip K. Dick.  And while this argument is probably twenty years too soon, the ubiquitous use of AR may eventually enchant the populous with its devious wares.  Though you may scoff at such influences, think long and hard about how current technologies and techniques subject the masses to keep the absence of reason as their masters.

But like I said, that argument is twenty-years too soon, or twenty-years too late, if you consider the wealth of propaganda techniques which by and large are more insidious in their use.  Of course, the real danger is not that sophisticated techniques will be developed to hide or alter the truth, its that they will know everything about you so that they can tailor their obfuscation to maximum effect.  But I digress.

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Augmented Reality’s Console Upgrade

Posted on June 15, 2010 by thomaskcarpenter

I’ve been watching the news from E3 with keen interest.  First off, I’m a gamer, if you can’t tell.  But I’m also wildly curious how augmented reality will shape the future of gaming.  Now I haven’t seen any games that strictly use AR, but the direction consoles are taking shows how AR is shaping them.

Microsoft’s Kinect

The formally named Project Natal previews have shown how the dual camera system would allow for gesture based gaming.  The concept doesn’t change with the new name, but we have more information about it.  One of the cooler parts of the system doesn’t even deal with gaming.  Gestures and words will now access the interface like Minority Report.

While we’re a long way from invisible AR systems that travel with us and connect us to the world in new and unique ways, the Kinect system certain raises the bar on how machines can see the world.  The AR smartphone gives us a tiny magic window into the data driven world, while the AR console brings the magic to our living room.

The announced games for Kinect are pretty limited to a racing game, an adventure game involving white water rafting, sports, and dancing.  The only brand name was a Star Wars game that seems like a perfect fit for Kinect and a virtual pet game Kinectimals that gives us the only true augmented reality experience like the PS3 EyePet. The system is due out in November, just in time for the holidays.


Playstation Move and EyeToy

PlayStation is rightly packaging the Move controller along with the EyeToy (for promotional as much as technical reasons.)  While it doesn’t quite compare to the gesture based Kinect, it is a step forward.  However, if I were buying a system for its AR inclusion, the Kinect wins hands down (pun intended.)

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Press Release: TIME OUT NEW YORK AND JUNAIO® BRING TO YOU: “THE TONY SUMMER DRINKING AUGMENTED REALITY CHANNEL”

Posted on June 15, 2010 by Ori Inbar
SAN FRANCISCO / NEW YORK, June 15th, 2010 – Time Out New York launches its premiere mobile augmented reality editorial for TONY`s “Summer Drinking Special” which hits newsstands June 16. Time Out New York and junaio®, the next generation augmented reality browser, are partnering to provide the first-ever mobile guide to cool drinking destinations in NYC. With just a smartphone and the TONY channel within the junaio® browser, you can unlock summer discounts and deals around town by simply pointing your phone.
“The TONY Summer Drinking Guide features great places to take advantage of drink specials throughout the city, ” says Marci Weisler, Digital Business Director of Time Out North America. “Our readers today are on the go and mobile. By leveraging augmented reality technology, we add another dimension to our print and online content and make it available anywhere they go.”
Users can visit the TONY Summer Drinking channel by downloading the junaio 2.0 app for iPhone and Android devices. After launching the app and selecting the TONY Summer Drinking channel, users can point their smartphones in all directions to reveal details on featured bars offering deals and incentives, browse venue photos, contact numbers, directions, neighborhood maps, as well as a web link to the actual Time Out New York summer drinking page.
The hot “Augmented Reality” Technology behind it
TONY`s “Summer Drinking Special” is made possible through junaio®, the exciting new augmented reality browser designed for camera equipped mobile devices. “junaio® delights mobile users with easy and intuitive access to information presented in ways that provide an instant grasp of essentials through unusual and enjoyable new media experiences. Our partnership with TONY shows the potential of extending and enriching offline content for people on the go,” said Lisa Murphy, junaio® Product Marketing Manager.
How to get the “Summer Drinking Special” on your smartphone
Download junaio® from the Apple App store or from the Android Marketplace. junaio works best for iPhone 3GS. Tune into TONY`s Summer Drinking Channel and point your phone to unlock the nearest discounts around you as part of the June 16th issue of Time Out New York. For more details go to: http://www.timeoutnewyork.com/ar/

SAN FRANCISCO / NEW YORK, June 15th, 2010 – Time Out New York launches its premiere mobile augmented reality editorial for TONY`s “Summer Drinking Special” which hits newsstands June 16. Time Out New York and junaio®, the next generation augmented reality browser, are partnering to provide the first-ever mobile guide to cool drinking destinations in NYC. With just a smartphone and the TONY channel within the junaio® browser, you can unlock summer discounts and deals around town by simply pointing your phone.
“The TONY Summer Drinking Guide features great places to take advantage of drink specials throughout the city, ” says Marci Weisler, Digital Business Director of Time Out North America. “Our readers today are on the go and mobile. By leveraging augmented reality technology, we add another dimension to our print and online content and make it available anywhere they go.”
Users can visit the TONY Summer Drinking channel by downloading the junaio 2.0 app for iPhone and Android devices. After launching the app and selecting the TONY Summer Drinking channel, users can point their smartphones in all directions to reveal details on featured bars offering deals and incentives, browse venue photos, contact numbers, directions, neighborhood maps, as well as a web link to the actual Time Out New York summer drinking page.
The hot “Augmented Reality” Technology behind it
TONY`s “Summer Drinking Special” is made possible through junaio®, the exciting new augmented reality browser designed for camera equipped mobile devices. “junaio® delights mobile users with easy and intuitive access to information presented in ways that provide an instant grasp of essentials through unusual and enjoyable new media experiences. Our partnership with TONY shows the potential of extending and enriching offline content for people on the go,” said Lisa Murphy, junaio® Product Marketing Manager.
How to get the “Summer Drinking Special” on your smartphone
Download junaio® from the Apple App store or from the Android Marketplace. junaio works best for iPhone 3GS. Tune into TONY`s Summer Drinking Channel and point your phone to unlock the nearest discounts around you as part of the June 16th issue of Time Out New York. For more details go to: http://www.timeoutnewyork.com/ar/

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First Image Processing iPhone AR App in AppStore

Posted on June 14, 2010 by thomaskcarpenter

Now I can’t guarantee that it’s the first, but it’s a start.  The Faces app comes from Pixelshed and is available in the AppStore right now.

Make fun of your friends by putting new faces on their heads and share these images via email and Facebook.

Point your iPhone towards your friend’s face and a magical overlays will appear on the screen. Change the overlay by swiping left and right on the screen.

Faces is the very first app that takes advantage of cutting edge Augmented Reality (AR) technology on your iPhone.

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