Helen Papagiannis at TEDx

Posted on November 24, 2010 by thomaskcarpenter

Helen Papagiannis opens her talk with a question: “Think about how you saw something new for the first time.”  She goes on to relate that to the magic of her augmented reality piece at the Ontario Science Centre and how the first movies invoked the same sense of wonderment.   I agree with her assessment that AR brings a sense of wonder and magic back to technology.  I don’t think I would still be writing about augmented reality two years and three-hundred and fifty posts later if it didn’t hold that sense of wonder for me.

Helen Papagiannis is an artist, designer, and researcher specializing in Augmented Reality (AR). Hailed as being among the top 10 forces currently shaping the AR industry, Papagiannis has been working with AR since 2005 exploring the creative possibilities and theoretical implications for this exciting emerging technology. Recently, Papagiannis’ interactive artworks were featured in an exhibition at the Ontario Science Centre. She is presently completing her Ph.D. in Communication and Culture at York and is a Senior Research Associate at the Augmented Reality Lab (Department of Film, Faculty of Fine Arts). Prior to her graduate studies, Helen was a member of the internationally renowned Bruce Mau Design studio, where she was project lead on Massive Change: The Future of Global Design.

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Sydney Town Hall Organ Augmented Reality Projection

Posted on November 17, 2010 by thomaskcarpenter

We’ve come so far since the days of shadow puppets on the living room wall.

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Kinect Unleashed – Not Just For XBox Anymore

Posted on November 15, 2010 by thomaskcarpenter

While Microsoft denies that the Xbox has been hacked, pure semantics I tell you, the new Kinect system has been unleashed for uses other than the ones planned by the giant of the redwoods.

Adafruit Industries offered a $3,000 prize which was collected by “Hector” for completing the task.  The hacking was important enough to get noticed on CNN.com.

Now a Google software engineer is offering two different $1,000 rewards for: writing the coolest “open-sourced” program for the Kinect, and for doing the most to make Kinect easy to use (via TGDaily.)

An open Kinect system, given the power of its motion capture, could make for a wide range of uses.  Personally, I was saddened that I didn’t have an Xbox (I have a PS3 and a Wii) to try Kinect out when I details about the product came out, but these new hacks for the Kinect give me hope.  Using Kinect and a computer or web-enabled TV could open up tons of possibilities for home use beyond gaming.

A Kinect-enabled house could allow ubiquitous control of anything within range, though I’m thinking most of these will be for hardcore modders.  A more likely result would be that Xbox would see the possibilities from the mod community and co-opt those uses into the official software.

On the AR game front, assuming the tools created were easiest enough to use, we could see some creative home grown games that utilize the Kinect.  However, the price of a Kinect sensor is pretty steep to play these types of games, especially when people are becoming used to the cheap prices for app games, so I doubt we’ll see much more than research projects.  One can hope, though.

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AirRaid – Social Augmented Reality Game

Posted on November 11, 2010 by thomaskcarpenter

The production values on these indie game trailers boggle my mind.

The game initially reminds me of Conquest, but with a lot more bells and whistles.  Clover Studios has brought together location based gaming and tower defense, which makes for a good peanut butter and chocolate combination.   Though with any multi-player strategy game, off-time balancing will be an issue.

I’ve only just started messing with the game, so I’ll be sure to report back next week with a longer term impression of the game play.  So far it appears to be a step up from the other AR games we’re used to seeing these days, but we’ll see.

 

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Augmented Reality Mountain Guide

Posted on November 9, 2010 by thomaskcarpenter

Having spent a fair amount of time hiking or skiing in the Rocky Mountains, I can attest to the usefulness of this app–The Canadian Mountain Parks Companion: Banff Edition.  In a city, it can be easy enough to use a top-down map rather than an AR app because the logical and easy-to-follow nature of the modern city.  The outdoors have a sneaky way of looking the same.

I’ve had many an argument with a family member about: “which mountain peak is that over there.”  Even holding a map doesn’t help you because the distances are so huge.  This would be an easy way to understand the topographical vistas at an app’s glance.

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Please Empty Your Pockets

Posted on November 5, 2010 by thomaskcarpenter

Is it art or is it an airport screening machine?  And with so much memory in the cloud, how much of your daily life could the computers record?

Please Empty your Pockets is an installation that consists of a conveyor belt with a computerized scanner that records and accumulates everything that passes under it. The public may place any small item on the conveyor belt, for example keys, ID cards, wallets, worry beads, condoms, notepads, phones, coins, dolls, credit cards, etc. Once they pass under the scanner, the objects reappear on the other side of the conveyor belt beside projected objects from the memory of the installation. As a real item is removed from the conveyor belt, it leaves behind a projected image of itself, which is then used to accompany future objects. The piece remembers up to 600,000 objects which are displayed beside new ones that are added to the installation. The piece intends to blend presence and absence using traditional techniques of augmented reality, such as those described by Adolfo Bioy Casares’ 1940 novel “La Invención de Morel”.

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Scrawl – 3D Drawing in Augmented Reality

Posted on November 4, 2010 by thomaskcarpenter

When ever I see these AR art programs, it makes me think of Gibson’s Virtual Light. The graphics in this little app have a good contrast against the world, which makes them a little easier to see.  Also wish you could see these on Layar, Junaio, etc.  Art should be viewer agnostic.

Real 3D drawing in Augmented Reality on an iPhone, using multi-touch! Anyone that has made or attempted to make an Augmented Reality program can tell you that getting the right graphical overlay, placement, etc… is not the easiest thing in the world to do. However, Scrawl here has made it incredibly easy to add that digital augmentation onto whatever marker you create as easy as pointing your finger!

Take a look, pay particular attention to how a graphical imagery can be added in real-time and interact with the environment instantly (ie, look at the shadows! Wow!) Scrawl is doing for Augmented Reality what Napster did for acquiring MP3s!

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Urban Gaming – Augmented Reality Style

Posted on November 3, 2010 by thomaskcarpenter

We’re probably at least five years away from something like this, but it sure does look fun.

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Popcode Games

Posted on October 29, 2010 by thomaskcarpenter

While I’m probably not going to be playing Balloon Burst from Popcode obsessively like I do Civ 5 on the PS3,  the game is much better than the floating pixel games of six months ago (I’m looking at you Firefighter 360.)  Still, I’m looking forward to that innovative AR game that I just can’t put down.  Keep at it, Popcode!

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Sex Offender Augmented Reality Tracker App

Posted on October 25, 2010 by thomaskcarpenter

Given the spokesman and the nature of the video, I actually thought this was a comic piece and I was prepared to write another article about how augmented reality was entering the zeitgeist.  It turns out the AR app is a very serious one.

No further comment except to say how interesting it is to see the intersection of personal information, societal issues and technology.  See the official website for more information.

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