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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Special Message From Mark Billinghurst: Augmented Reality for Non-Programmers Just Got Easier

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Ori Inbar
The HIT Lab NZ has just released a professional version of it’s popular BuildAR AR scene building tool. This allows non-programmers to easily build AR scenes. The professional version includes a number of new features such as support for audio and video, multiple objects on AR markers, 2D image and text loading, VR viewing mode, and much more.
The software is available as a free beta now, and then will be commercially available for a low cost from July onwards. It can be downloaded from: http://www.buildar.co.nz/
Using BuildAR Pro, compelling AR scenes can be build in just a few minutes.
Thanks
Mark

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Mobilizy Proposes Augmented Reality Mark-up Language to The AR Consortium

Posted on September 22, 2009 by Ori Inbar

SALZBURG, Austria: SEPTEMBER 22nd 2009. The nascent field of Mobile Augmented Reality (AR) is on the verge of becoming mainstream. In recent months an explosion in the development of practical AR solutions has given consumers numerous AR applications to experience and “augment” their daily lives. With this surge in AR development the potential arises for the multiplication of proprietary methods for aggregating and displaying geographic annotation and location-specific data. Mobilizy proposes creating an augmented reality mark-up language specification based on the OpenGIS® KML Encoding Standard (OGC KML) with extensions. The impetus for proposing the creation of an open Augmented Reality Markup Language (ARML) specification to The AR Consortium is to help establish and shape a long-term, sustainable framework for displaying geographic annotation and location-specific data within Augmented Reality browsers.

In addition to proposing the ARML specification to The AR Consoritum, Mobilizy will be presenting an overview of the ARML specification at the Emerging Technologies Conference @MIT, Boston, and at the Over The Air Event held at Imperial College in London.  An introduction to the ARML specification is available here.

The purpose for establishing an open ARML specification is to assure all data that is created for augmentation in the physical world could be universally accessed and viewed on any augmented reality browser. ARML allows individuals and organizations to easily create and style their own AR content (e.g. points of interest) without advanced knowledge of AR, APIs or tools. The ARML specification is analogous to HTML for the Web, which is used for creating web-pages and web-sites.

Features of the proposed ARML specification 1.0 include:

* Founded upon KML with extension name-space for AR specific data;
* Placement of a “View in AR” icon which clearly identifies a mobile website that supports location aware (real time) data in an ARML browser;
* Compliance with basic XML document structure – no proprietary programming API required to create an AR layer.
* ARML adherent data can be viewed on ARML browsers (e.g. Wikitude) and KML browsers (e.g. Google Earth);
* Custom styling of AR data (points of interest) via standard KML styling elements;
* Initial support for UTF-8 encoding.

Additionally all content created using the ARML specification can be also viewed on other KML based viewers such as Google Earth without any modification. For Mobilizy, proposing the ARML specification is a logical step to assure cross-platform exchange of context-aware, location-based, real time data within an AR experience.

Mobilizy understands ARML as a natural evolutionary process to open AR for the entire world. We believe that open standards and open interfaces are a key to success for Mobile AR initiatives.  Mobilizy’s strategy is to build a complete AR eco-system for context-sensitive, location aware, real time data exchange in conjunction with a compliant browser that includes interfaces to social bookmarking services, search engines and directories.

Mobilizy GmbH is offering limited access to the preview version of our upcoming ARML browser. If you are interested to gain early access, or you have questions regarding the ARML specification, please contact us at: arml@mobilizy.com

About The AR Consortium:
The founding members of the AR Consortium are eight companies whose primary focus is augmented reality, whether technology, tools, applications, solutions, or content. The AR Consortium’s goals include providing a forum for members to meet, share ideas, and discuss issues facing the growth of the industry, as well as open a dialog about emerging standards and protocols.

About Mobilizy:
Mobilizy is an early pioneer in commercial augmented reality and the creator of the WIKITUDE World Browser, which is one of the first practical augmented reality (AR) mobile applications available world-wide. Mobilizy GmbH engages in the research and in-house development of location-based services and augmented (mixed) reality experiences for smart-phones.  Mobilizy is one of the leading innovators in developing new methods and applications for data acquisition and exchange in the emerging market of mobile augmented reality.

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Layar Reality Browser adds 3D to its Platform

Posted on September 22, 2009 by Ori Inbar

Layar adds new dimensions to its platform; first demo in Amsterdam.

AMSTERDAM, September 22nd 2009 – Today Layar announced the addition of 3D capabilities to its augmented reality browser platform. With 3D, developers can tag real-life objects with 3D text, place 3D objects in real-world space, and create multi-sensory experiences.  The addition of 3D enables Layar developers to create more realistic and immersive augmented reality experiences for mobile devices.

First demo at Picnic Conference in the Netherlands
The first demonstration of the Layar 3D experience will be at the Picnic Conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, from September 23-25. A demo application has been developed to showcase the power of 3D. Conference attendees looking for “Picnic” in the Android Market can find and download the Android application to their phone to view a virtual exhibition that delivers a multi-sensory experience of reality, augmented by 3D.

They will experience the flyby of a jumbo jet, a rocket launch, and be in the middle of an arcade game – all including sound. Conference buildings are tagged with 3D texts and on the lawn several 3D objects are placed such as windmills and 3D “experience domes”. Videos and images of the demo are available at http://www.layar.com/3D.

How does it work?
Layar 3D makes use of OpenGL, the accelerometer, the GPS and the compass of the phone. Developers can place 3D objects in their content layers based on coordinates. Objects can be optimized in size and orientation to create an immersive and realistic experience. The 3D capabilities support live downloading and rendering of 3D objects. Actions such as “open link” or “play music” can be assigned to 3D objects.

November Launch for Android
Together with selected partners Layar will update their API to support 3D objects for new and existing layers. Layar will launch 3D to the public in November together with the launch of version 3.0 of the Layar Reality Browser for Android.

Raimo van der Klein, CEO:

“We are very excited to announce this groundbreaking addition to the platform. Augmented Reality is an experience medium, not just a tool or a substitute for maps. With 3D we deliver these experiences. The platform currently facilitates over 500 developers who from November onwards will have endless possibilities to create rich 3D multi-sensory Augmented Reality experiences.”

About Layar
The Layar Reality Browser displays real time digital information on top of reality in the camera screen of the mobile phone. While looking through the phone’s camera lens, a user can see houses for sale, popular bars and shops, tourist information, play a live game, etcetera. Layar first launched on June 16th, 2009 and announced its global launch and version 2.0 on August 17th, 2009. The Layar platform serves as an enabler for mobile location services – any database with geo-location information can easily be turned in a content layer. The Layar Reality Browser is globally available for mobile phones running the Android operating system, with iPhone 3GS coming soon. Layar is a company based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

More information
Layar3D Augmented Reality Engine Trial: Flyby of a Boeing 747

Layar3D Augmented Reality Engine Trial: Arcade Game

Layar3D Augmented Reality Engine Trial: Venue Tagging

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Metaio Announcing Mobile Augmented Reality Platform – Junaio

Posted on September 18, 2009 by Ori Inbar

junaio_screen

Metaio, Inc. Will Launch Its Mobile Augmented Reality Platform junaio On November 2nd San Francisco, September 18th 2009 – Today, metaio officially announced the launch date of junaio, its mobile augmented reality platform. On November 2nd, the leading company in augmented reality will release a first version exclusively for the iPhone. More features will be released soon after, including capabilities on the Android and Symbian platforms. junaio will change the way we create, access and share information. By combining innovative online and mobile technologies, junaio will allow users to see location-based content through the display of a mobile device. Users can leave traces, messages or objects and visually interact with their friends or anyone else in the world. Already existing web services can be enhanced and completely new ways of interaction can be created. Whether it is social networks, multimedia content or game concepts – virtually anything can be embedded in the real world and connected to a certain place. “The possibilities are endless, we are taking the Internet outside to the real world,” says Thomas Alt, Chief Executive Officer of metaio. Seeing location-based multimedia content through the display of your mobile device is only one part of the story. “Mobile augmented reality is all about the user´s orientation. But to deliver a really useful and robust application, you have to be user oriented,” says Peter Meier, Chief Technology Officer. metaio is defining a new dimension in mobile augmented reality through incorporation of features that will allow better usability and social interaction. junaio is the result of more than six years application development in augmented reality and months of research and usability tests for mobile applications. So get ready for the ultimate Outernet experience!

For more information and updates, please refer to: www.junaio.com

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Total Immersion Brings Augmented Reality to TomorowCity Todaytomorrow

Posted on September 14, 2009 by Ori Inbar

Total Immersion (TI) may not be at the center of the Augmented Reality (AR) browsers frenzy these days – but when it comes to delivering AR on a large scale – it’s still the 800 pound gorilla.

Nicolas Bapst, responsible for Product Marketing for Amusement Parks at TI – recently shared with me their latest achievements: a totally new kind of interactive 3D live show and an AR goggles experience The Networked City developed for TomorrowCity in South Korea .

The 3D live show is based on TI’s 3D Live Show technology (naming coincidence?):

…a very innovative and interactive screen movie production…This show introduces the U-city in a spectacular method and the audience can participate directly in the story performance.

With the new offering from Total Immersion, spectators share the stage with virtual live performers, playing a guessing game around what’s real and what’s not.

3D interactive 1 TI

3D interactive show 2 TI

See the hilarious video on TI’s site

The 3D live show is not all TI had up its sleeve for the U-city. A second project, involving augmented reality (AR) goggles is: the Networked City

The networked city TITo the naked eye, the exhibit looks like a bare bones model of a city. But when visitors put on the special AR goggles a whole new world unfolds – as graphics overlaid on the city model.

How does this new world looks like?

Can’t say…no video of the exhibit was released so far.

Until then, you’ll have to travel to South Korea to see for yourself…

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Press Release: Mobilizy Releases WIKITUDE 3 and an Enhanced Version of Wikitude.me

Posted on August 26, 2009 by Ori Inbar

From our friends at Mobilizy, this exciting press release:

SALZBURG, Austria: AUGUST 26TH 2009. Mobilizy GmbH introduces WIKITUDE
3 for the Android OS and relaunches a completely new Wikitude.me geo-tagging platform.  WIKITUDE 3 is the latest release of the Wikitude World Browser, the premiere mobile AR application for Android, which displays location-based, geo-specific content in a real-time augmented reality camera view on a smart-phone using GPS & gravimetric (compass) sensors.

WIKITUDE 3 is the latest release of the Wikitude World Browser, which presents the user with data about their surroundings, nearby landmarks, and other points of interest by overlaying information on the camera-view of a smartphone bringing information from the internet into context with the real-world. The Mobilizy development team has listened to it’s users and implemented several new features to improve and enhance the user experience within WIKITUDE 3.  New features include:

*Full Integration with the Wikitude.me user-generated, geo-tagging platform;

*An enhanced User Interface (UI) which tightly aligns with the UI in
the forthcoming iPhone version of the Wikitude World Browser;

*Improved methods to enhance perspective and depth of perception of POIs  (Smaller POIs indicate further distance, larger POIs indicate close proximity);

*The search and viewing-distance for POIs can be regulated by the user with a sleek slider bar;

*New & Improved filter options allow end-users to choose which content overlays and POI categories are displayed;

*Improved methods for locating POIs through search terms;

*An improved radar-overlay displaying the user’s current viewing direction and POIs within a specified radius;

*An entirely new “Beam-Me” feature which tele-ports the user to a pre-defined geo-location, allowing the user to experience a specified geo-data overlay;

Currently, WIKITUDE World Browser 3.0 offers data overlay sources from Wikipedia, *Qype and user-generated content from Mobilizy’s Wikitude.me (www.wikitude.me)

Wikitude.me
Mobilizy GmbH has partnered with Netociety Ltd., a specialist in enterprise social software, to develop an enhanced geo-tagging experience that empowers individuals with the tools to create POIs and location specific, hyper-linked digital content which can be viewed through the WIKITUDE World Browser. According to Markus Tripp, the project manager of Wikitude, “Wikitude.me is the first platform which allows individuals to actively contribute to augmented reality.  This is an amazing and huge step forward in the AR industry!”

Wikitude.me provides an open, easy-to-use, free mobile information platform for anybody who wants to access or provide location based and situation-specific information or services via mobile phones. Basically, Wikitude.me can be understood as a platform which encourages community-driven content creation to which anybody can contribute freely, very similar to the philosophy of Wikipedia, but for mobile augmented reality. With regards to intellectual property, Wiktude.me is implemented under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License.

To get started with Wikitude.me platform users can login through existing 3rd party accounts such as Yahoo!, Google, Twitter and Facebook. The ability to add points of interest and “geo-tag the world” is done through any Internet-enabled device, such as a netbook, laptop, desktop or a smartphone like the Apple iPhone, Nokia N97 and the Android handsets which are available today. For each point of interest there is a title, description (250 chars), category, language, and link to a URL.  Each POI that is geo-tagged on the Wikitude.me platform is also cross-posted on Twitter (http://twitter.com/wikitude_me ) to inform the global Wikitude
community of the creation of fresh geo-content.

Mobilizy GmbH believes that the future of mobile augmented reality (Mobile AR) literally rests in the hands of the users.  Our team can develop the infrastructure for Mobile AR experiences such as WIKITUDE 3 and platforms like Wikitude.me,  but ultimately the end users will determine how mobile AR will be shaped. Mobilizy is constantly researching and developing ways to improve the WIKITUDE mobile AR experience by placing the user at the center of our development process.

NOTE: POI data created by early-adopters of the beta version of Wikitude.me will be migrated to the new platform early next week.

About Mobilizy:
Mobilizy GmbH is an early pioneer in commercial augmented reality and
the creator of the WIKITUDE World Browser, which is the first
practical augmented reality (AR) mobile application. Available on
Android (Coming soon to iPhone). Mobilizy engages in the research and
in-house development of location-based services and augmented (mixed)
reality experiences for smartphones.  Mobilizy is one of the leading
innovators in developing new methods and applications for data
acquisition and exchange in the emerging market of augmented reality.

About Netociety:
Netociety Ltd. is a UK-Austrian based software development firm
helping companies customize, implement and adopt social software,
collaboration tools and best practice. Netociety facilitates the
development of collaboration systems for engaging with customers,
employees and partners. Improvements in innovation, change, marketing,
and productivity efforts are focused on.

WIKITUDE: The World IS the Platform!

————————
Mark A.M. Kramer
Product Strategist / Human Experience Lead

Mobilizy GmbH
http://www.mobilizy.com
Jakob-Haringer Str 5/IV
5020 Salzburg
Austria

End press release

Well, what do you think?

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