Tish from Ugotrade interviewed Robert Rice about his latest Sekrets AR endeavors. It was an unmissable opportunity to rant about everything augmented. Check out the blog of one passionate AR fan.
What moves you in AR?
Filed under: AR Demos | Tagged: Neogence, Robert Rice, Sekrets, Ugotrade | 1 Comment »
The dust from CES 2009 has barely settled over many shiny new devices, and new advancements in Handheld Augmented Reality software are already emerging from Vienna.
Daniel Wagner and his team at Graz University have come up with new and improved capabilities.
We saw an early implementation of Studierstube ES at ISMAR 08, so I asked Daniel what’s new about this capability, besides being faster and more robust.
Daniel: We can now track multiple images and switch arbitrarily. I believe it is now at a level that it can really be used in practice.
Games alfresco: Looks great. Based on the video it seems that it runs on Windows Mobile 6 (ASUS p552w, iPAQ 614c). What about other platforms?
Daniel: Not bad! It is written in C/C++, [but] since this is pure math code, it could be ported easily to any platform. Our AR framework is still Windows Mobile only, although we now also have Linux support (desktop only since we lack a Linux phone). MacOS and Symbian are in the making and should be available in a month or so.
Daniel: On January 20th we have the official opening of our “Christian Doppler Lab” (founded by the Christian Doppler agency). For that purpose I created a small demo for tracking business cards. In the future we’ll replace the 3D content with something more useful…
I can’t talk about Daniel without mentioning WARM ’09; He is the main organizer of this Winter Augmented Reality Event on 12th-13th February 2009 at Graz University, Austria. Registration is over, but if you really want to go and have something cool to present – you may be able to convince Daniel to let you in.
Should you get your hands on this powerful technology (assuming Imagination makes it available for licensing soon) what would YOU do with it?
Filed under: AR Tracking | Tagged: ASUS p552w, Daniel Wagner, iPAQ 614c, Mobile AR, Studierstube ES, WARM 2009 | 3 Comments »
A quick look at all MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices) Intel is showcasing at CES 2009 (thanks to Truc and Warner from GottaBeMobile)
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Intel introduced the MID design concept only last year with just a handful of working devices. This year, they are definitely making a big splash with too many to count.
Here’s Intel’s own Uday sneak-peaking a bag full of MIDs prior to the show
A notable MID, the Gigabyte m528, was released last month boasting great capabilities albeit a steep price ($750)
Stay tuned for Mid Moves – where four well-known technology bloggers will be taking 8 Intel-based Mobile Internet Devices on a fun and challenging 4-day tour starting on Jan 19th.
Now, which one will you use for your next augmented reality experience?
Filed under: AR Devices | Tagged: AR Devices, Intel MID | 3 Comments »
CES starts tomorrow.
It always delivers a gadget-splashy kick-off for the year. If you are there in person, or following virtually (like I do) – you will want to check out these events:
Sad to say, it’s not the next AR goggles…it’s for shooting underwater HD video…
But there’s more.
Wear this helmet from TN Games and when they shoot you (in a game) – you’ll feel the wonderful sensation of actually getting hit in the head. Now, try it on a street while playing an augmented reality style laser tag. You may feel cool – but you’ll still look dorky.
To complete the awkward look, don’t miss the matching game vest and you’ll feel the shots and blasts on your torso.
Prime Sense, an exhibitor in CES 2009, makes “video games more immersive and fun to play by allowing users to play naturally using body movements and gestures”.
Though unique in its technology, Prime Sense is not the only company that offers body game play. A handful of companies compete on that niche – somewhere between the Wii and augmented reality games.
Total Immersion is sure to deliver a great augmented reality tour de force this CES. They are the best at demonstrating AR today. This year, though, they left the keynote stage and went for lunch at Piero’s. January 8-9, 2009 — 11:30 am to 2:00 pm press demonstration only.
I have argued before we first need to get the next generation hooked on AR. The conference within conference, Kids@Play, will provide some of the ingredients needed to do it right.
What will you look for at CES 2009?
Filed under: AR Events | Tagged: CES 2009, Kids@Play, PrimeSense, TN Games, total immersion | 2 Comments »
Happy New 2009!
What’s in store for us in 2009?
As usual, CES 2009 will kickoff the AR year with a glitz. Expect to see new AR devices unveiled: new Intel MIDs, mobile devices powered for the first time by the promising chips: Texas Instruments OMAP3 and NVidia’s Tegra .
And we are most likely to meet the first a cool looking AR goggles – from Vuzix.
What else to expect in 2009?
We will see consumer AR apps selling for the first time, AR games played by cellphone owners, and the AR Market doubling in size.
And not to forget – ISMAR 2009 – the world’s most important Augmented Reality event, will mark the first year where the show expands beyond the engineering department. In October 2009 ISMAR will make a foray into art, , experience, entertainment, and business – all key building blocks of the future AR industry. Orlando will host this year the most ambitious ISMAR yet to be planned. To join the effort contact Chris Stapleton.
2009 is posed to be the year where AR breaks from the lab and gets in the hands of consumers which will change the way we experience the world – forever.
What do you expect from 2009?
Filed under: AR Events | Tagged: CES 2009, Intel MID, ISMAR 2009, MID, Nvidia Tegra, OMAP3, Vuzix | 7 Comments »
Top 10 AR milestones in 2008 was one of the most popular posts this year. What came out of it was even more gratifying: a multitude of reflections, impressions, and thoughts I received about your own AR moments, including some last minute finds.
Here is an anecdotal collection of your greatest AR moments in 2008:
Oriel Bergig: During 2008 we have seen some major advances in the field of Augmented Reality. Porting AR technology to mobile devices and especially cellular phones creates an opportunity to reach millions of users. For several years, the biggest AR labs and companies have made huge steps in this direction. In 2008 these efforts have started to show results. Pose estimation has been upgraded with the StbTracker release in the end of 2007. Research focusing on better user experience, and in particular on making mobile AR technology accessible to people with no special training, is being conducted by the best minds of the HitLabNZ. During one of the top covered events of the year, CES2008, Intel’s CEO Paul Otellini demonstrated Total Immersion’s technology enabling mobile AR experiences such as urban guidance. To wrap-up, the 2008 most fundamental milestone would be: AR technology is closing up fast on the mass user market.
Charles Woodward: The greatest milestone? Commercial breakthroughs by Metaio and Total Immersion.
Thomas Wrobel: Wikitude I think. Seems the first released, useful, AR software. Runner up to the AR Geisha doll…
Oriel: Since 2008 would most be remembered for its advances in mobile AR technology, the AR device of the year is the mobile phone. Nokia has released the Navigator phone that includes a GPS and an accelerometer, which make a valuable addition. The N95 has been demonstrated as well in many more contexts as a good choice for AR applications. The next AR device of the year would be the Nokia N97 and of course the iPhone with its huge global success. iPhone feets very well AR applications and a successful attempt to port ARToolKit to iPhone has already been made by ARToolWorks. Appealing applications are next to come but only after the iPhone OS has better support for real time video acquirement.
Charles: Best device? iPhone, and/or Nokia 6210…
Thomas: hmz…tricky. I personally think hardware is still rather lackluster, and I have had little experience with some of the most recently released stuff.
I guess probably the iPhone + G1 devices…while far from ideal, they are at least getting location-aware services, and “barcode scanning” style product information into public hands.
Eric Rice shares what gets him excited about a video comparing between PS2 Eyetoy and PS3 Eye.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Oriel: The best demo of 2008 is the demo that will be remembered by most people a decade from now. The demo that reached most of the people in the world is most likely Intel’s CEO Paul Otellini keynote talk during CES2008.
Charles: Haunted Book, Cherrer et al at ISMAR2008 – just beatiful!
(click Interaction on the left menu bar and then Haunted House.)
Thomas: LevelHead [by Julian Oliver], I think. Although this pet demo [ARf] is also nice;
(that may be because I want my own desuke though :p)
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Charles: Georg Klein – leads the way in anything he touches [single handedly won ISMAR 2008 tracking competition]
Thomas: There’s been so much development by so many individuals and companies I don’t know one specific person.
Charles: Beijing Olympics fake fireworks. About the viewers of the Olympics openning ceremony:”What they did not realise was that what they were watching was in fact computer graphics, meticulously created over a period of months and inserted into the coverage electronically at exactly the right moment. ”
Thomas: Not sure about AR deals as such, but Total Immersion getting offices in the US is a good sign for the company and AR in general.
Gizmondo won’t be coming out this year after all…The Nordik Link has the scoop.
Anyone can build 3D models with Google’s Sketchup. With the AR Media plugin from Inglobe – anyone can bring it into an augmented reality scene. ArchDaily tried it here.
Thanks for contributors and especially: Charles Woodward, Oriel Bergig, and the always there AR enthusiast: Thomas Wrobel
Bonus: Blair MacIntyre shares his greatest AR moments in 2009 in his blog.
Filed under: AR Events | Tagged: ARf, ARToolWorks, Beijing Olympics fireworks, Charles Woodward, Georg Klein, Haunted House, iphone, Julian Oliver, LevelHead, Oriel Bergig, Scherrer, Sketchup, Thomas Wrobel, total immersion, Wikitude | 1 Comment »
Want to build an Augmented Reality iPhone app?
“First, learn from others’ experiences”
OK, how many augmented reality apps can you find on the iPhone app store?
None.
That is – none yet. Not until Apple makes public its live video API – because without live video – there is nothing really to augment.
So in the meantime, whom can we learn from?
Let’s take a look at select iPhone apps – with a special focus on kids. After all, we want the NEXT generation to get hooked on AR.
See how kids interact with iPhone apps…
See how screens are organized…
See the space required for finger touch…
See how much content can be crumbed into a screen…
See how to use the accelerometer…
See for yourself…
…and most importantly – enjoy!
Word Magic – learn to spell
Interactive book – Interactive book gone wild on the iPhone
Shapes, Colors, Sounds – that’ll keep the toddler busy for 5 minutes
Memory game – how wide is your finger?
A Fast Collection – how long do you play an iPhone app?
3 year old experience – playing through the eyes if a 3 year old
Apps for kids
iChalky – Clever use of accelerometer with a stick figure
Pinch ‘n Pop – there is a use for finger pinching besides zooming
Advanced editor – how many functions can you cram into an iPhone?
Watch more reviews on iPhone Apps for Kids
Filed under: AR Education, AR Games | Tagged: augmented reality games, iphone | 1 Comment »
From the authors of “Top 10 Milestones in Augmented Reality“, here comes a second installment in the 2008 Wrap Up series.
This time, Games Alfresco rates the progress of the Augmented Reality industry in 2008, using some self-invented, non-partisan, and mostly-gloomy key performance indicators.
But don’t be dispirited.
According to the proven 5 stage transition model below, AR has left the “Desperation” stage, and is entering the “Pacification” stage. We are not looking back.
Here is the 2008 progress report of AR’s 10 key performance indicators:
(for info about mentioned people, products, companies - refer to the previous post)
Yes, the buzz around AR is building, but in an anecdotal survey – none of my acquaintances has ever heard about AR (until I started raving about it)
Will Wright and Bruce Sterling made headlines on this blog when they highlighted augmented reality as the future of gaming. Otellini (Intel CEO) demoed AR during his CES keynote as the future of mobile. Not bad for a technology no one has heard about.
Wow. 2008 was a year of AR awards and acclaim. From the Nokia Mobile Innovation Challenge Winner through the Crunch50 and Android top 50 finalists – augmented reality was a big winner this year.
An industry can be measured by the intensity of the online dialog among its constituencies. Apart from one great annual event, sparse blogs, and a handful of largely passive forums – AR enthusiasts behave like introverts when it comes to tackling major issues online (emails and hallway conversations don’t count…). Despite growing buzz and awards, online AR dialog is dismal.
Aesthetics was not a conspicuous quality of the augmented reality industry this year. Except for a few isolated cases (e.g. LevelHead, Better Than Reality, The Hunted House, Tagged in Motion) AR still looks pretty geeky. Got artists?
The excuses are over. Powerful, mobile, affordable and cool devices are here and ready to take you on an augmented reality experience. You can leave your backpacks at home. Sure, AR experts are not yet satisfied and are waiting for next year’s gadgeteria – but the potential is palpable – you can almost taste it .
Tools and platforms are the irrigation required to grow a healthy industry. 2008 was marked with more releases of new AR tools and engines than ever before. Not sure how many are being used, though.
Wikitude and Tonchidot hinted at the flavor of what’s in store. The masses are not using such apps yet. Heck, they don’t even believe in their existence…
It’s always challenging to estimate the size of a market occupied by mostly small private companies, especially when no analyst firm has picked up the glove. An educated guess would put it at no more than $50M. A miniature industry, for now. One day it will overshadow the gaming, movies, TV, tourism, and the advertising industries.
Non-existent. Unlike AR’s revolutionary technology, the lion’s share of its business models are very traditional: AR companies get paid for delivering projects for clients.
AR has the potential to nurture new business models and growth that will take advantage of its world changing capabilities. What would you pay if we could deliver the world’s information into your personal field of view?
***
Not on the list:
I purposely left out typically important industry indicators such as R&D expenditures, registered patents, published papers, etc.
You may ask why. If you did, here is my reasoning: the AR industry has been very strong on research in the past 10 years but very weak on adoption and commerce. That’s exactly why we should focus on what drives the latter.
***
Despite important milestones reached by the AR industry in 2008, its key performance indicators seem quite somber.
I give it an overall 3/10 (Pacification stage).
But cheer up, keep in mind the kid’s evolving smile (above): the AR industry is in its embryonic stage. Companies in the space are still laying the groundwork for a soon-to-come major leap forward.
After all, in 10 years everyone will use augmented reality, right?
Filed under: AR Events | 1 Comment »
2008 was a great year for augmented reality.
This emerging technology is on a 15-plus-year-long journey from the lab and into the mainstream. With too many events to list, 2008 marks an important year in that quest.
Here is the countdown of the top 10 most important AR milestones of 2008:
The year started with the largest consumer electronics show CES. Total Immersion’s demo had the attention of the entire consumer electronics community during Otellini’s (Intel CEO) 2008 keynote.
My personal idol in the game industry, Will Wright, delivered the best augmented reality quote of the year. When describing AR as the way of the future for games, he explained:
Games could increase our awareness of our immediate environment, rather than distract us from it”.
Futurist Bruce Sterling made controversial statements about games in 2043 in front of a developer only audience in the Austin Game Developer Conference . Here is one statement that stood above all:
“What do the games of 2043 look like? “I think you would call [them] ‘augmented reality’”
The world’s most important augmented reality event, ISMAR 2008, was more significant than ever. It demonstrated, above all, the level of maturity AR research has reached.
2008 gave rise to a flood of new AR-worthy mobile devices: iPhone 3G (see below), Android based G1, Itelco’s IDOL, HTC’s Touch HD, Blackberry’s Storm, Nokia N97… It also signaled the dawn of hands free AR with prototype glasses and contact lens (see Top 10 devices.)
It might not be the best AR device but it certainly has the most buzz. In 2008, the iPhone was highly sought after by game developers and researchers. The App store which amassed 10,000 apps in half a year, offers an instant distribution model for AR games. In 2008, the iPhone was the gadget to beat.
AR engines and tools did not stay behind in 2008 and delivered new tracking engines for the hottest platforms du jour. Some notable examples include ARToolkit for iPhone, AR in Flash, and Studierstube ES for mobile phones. See the entire collection of engines and tools.
AR made headlines in 2008 with 2 applications that dribbled into top 50 lists: Tonchidot made the Crunch50 and Wikitude made the Android 50 finalists. Total Immersion won another award at NVISION ’08 for Best Application of Visual Computing.
Ghostwire may or may not be the first AR game to win a game award. But, 2008 was certainly the first year were 6 out 0f top 10 games were selected as finalists in game awards such as Nokia’s Mobile Innovation Challenge.
One AR game did not win any awards this year, but was certainly an audience favorite (the most hits): Cyber Figure Alice – the first adult only AR game.
Media Power made significant investments in augmented reality research organizations around the world. If the $5M for GA Tech GVU donnation and $2.7M for NZ HIT Lab donnation don’t speak for itself, the results are already showing:
The AR market picked up steam in 2008 with high visibility deals such as Total Immersion’s with Six Flags (“magically superimpose clown masks on riders” as their waiting for the Dark Night ride) and Metaio (book deals with publishers ArsEdition and Knowledge Media). Metaio also scored a lucrative advertising contract to promote the MINI.
What, in your opinion, was the most significant augmented reality milestone in 2008?
Whatever you do, don’t miss “If the Augmented Reality Industry Got a Report Card”
Subscribe (top right) to get the complete 2008 wrap up series.
Filed under: AR Events | Tagged: artoolkit, Bruce Sterling, Ghostwire, GVU, HIT Lab, iphone, ISMAR 2008, Media Power, Metaio, Nokia N75, Otellini, Studierstube ES, Tonchidot, total immersion, Wikitude, Will Wright | 16 Comments »
Games Alfresco 