It’s old news, but I’m allowed to be late since I had to overcome a language barrier. Since 2008, Le Futuroscope, which is a really cool theme park in France with many cinematographic related attractions, has a ride named “les Animaux du Futur” (animals of the future). Based on the BBC show “The Future is Wild“, this ride, created by Total Immersion, takes you through futuristic landscapes and lets you interact with the animals occupying them.
Since its inception, the ride had a home version, that enabled you to see some animals come to life on an AR marker. To welcome a new version of the ride, launched last month, the home version went one step further, and enabled users to play with the dreaded “octopus monkey”, without any need of printed markers. It looks like great fun –
You all know the classic story: boy meets girl; girl plays with boy; boy falls in love with girl; girl leaves…
Maria Palma just shared with me YDream‘s take on the story, featuring their virtual Mascot, Flapi the cute, and an even more cute – real girl (the Creative Director’s daughter which totally steals the show).
I like the attempt for drama driven by the interaction between real and virtual.
But I’d love to see this on a portable device. The girl should see Flapi in her field of view avoiding the need to turn her head to watch it on the screen.
YDreams response: they’re thinking about it…
This demo (based on their SimVideo augmented reality platform) and others were presented by YDreams’ CEO, Antonio Camara, at the Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas this week.
YDreams wasn’t the only AR company to present at the event: Total Immersion made a splash as well.
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:
Wow!
Sad to say, it’s not the next AR goggles…it’s for shooting underwater HD video…
But there’s more.
TN Games
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.
PrimeSense
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.
Lunch@Piero’s – with Total Immersion
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.
Kids at play conference
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.
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:
1. The Most fundamental AR milestone 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…
2) The best AR device of the year
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.
3) Best AR Demo
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.
4) Person of the AR year
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.
5) The most significant AR deal of 2008
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.
6) A [Predictable?] disappointment
Gizmondo won’t be coming out this year after all…The Nordik Link has the scoop.
7. Last minute find: A Surprising Simplicity in AR
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.
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:
10) Otellini’s CES keynote showcases AR technology
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.
9) Video game gurus recognize AR as the future of gaming
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’”
8) ISMAR 2008
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.
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.
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.
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?
Bruno Uzzan from Total Immersion sent me this invitation and I thought you might be interested as well.
He is inviting you, augmented reality avid fans, to visit their new offices and have a treat: try some cool augmented reality installations such as transforming yourself to the Joker, or to a hip-hopping break dancer, virtually drive a luxury sedan, hold a beating heart, and he promises even more…
Whether you go or not – you will probably enjoy this clip…
WHEN: September 26th, 2008 from 3-7pm
WHERE: 900 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 255 Los Angeles, CA 90036
WHO: Media & Event Planners, Brand & PR Strategists, Creative, Marketing & Industry Professionals
RSVP TO: RSVP@t-immersion.com by September 19th, 2008
For more information, please contact Kris Woods at 323.617.4843
If you happen to stop by – tell Bruno I invited you, and ask him how come he missed ISMAR ’08…
So far we have looked at demos of augmented reality gameplay and investigated preferred hardware devices. That was just the warm up. Now we’re getting into the real beef: who offers the best software engine that can augment our reality (and our spirits)? Who will spearhead the creation of a totally new gaming experience?
Games alfresco brings you the unofficial roundup of the top 10 best augmented reality engines.
We will look at one engine at a time (enough with these looong posts!) and at the end of the round up, will rank them based on the feedback from you, the community. This is collaborative work in progress of group of passionate contributors on facebook. If you want to take part of the fun, join us at: augmented reality games.
Here is a sneak peak at some of the engines that we may or may not review:
Here is my countdown of the top 10 best AR demos poised to revolutionize video games:
10. Human Pac Man
When Dr. Adrian David Cheok (NUS) wanted to create an exciting augmented reality game, he chose to remake the first video game to ever introduce a character – the legendary Pac Man. Cheok literally stepped into Pacman’s shoes in this first-person-shooter-like real world game.
9. Come Out & Play
In 2006 the Come Out & Play Festival turned New York City into a playground for a weekend, then did the same for the city of Amsterdam in 2007. Hundreds of players gathered to play dozens different Big Games across each city.
None of the games played in the festival made it to my top ten list – individually. They fell short of stretching the interactivity between real and virtual. But as a group – they reminded us that playing games outdoors can be fun, and technology can make it even funner.
8. Second Life Avatar Enters the Real World
Tobias Lang and Blair MacIntyre (GA Tech) give us an extraordinary glance at what happens when the virtual world “leaks” into the real world. No, they didn’t use a green screen as you can see behind the scenes. Is it a hint for some of us to ditch Second Life and augment our First…?
7. WIFI ARMY FPS
The world is the battlefield, your phone is your weapon. Players organize in 2 teams armed with cell phones with the goal to locate and take pictures of their opponents. The phone compares captured pictures against a database of player faces and awards points for correct hits. Peter Whatanitch of W2Pi (creator of the game) explains how it will work. It could become quite an experience as staged in the Lumix Battle commercial.
6. Shadow Monsters
Phil Worthington is an artist that injects coolness into augmented reality.
“Magical monsters appear from shadows cast by the hands of participants, reacting to gestures with sound and animation. Wolf like creatures, birds and a rastafarian are among the characters that speak and squeek as imaginary mouths open and close. Shadow Monsters is an intuitive and magical experience for young and old alike to play with body posture for creating crazy narratives.”
5. AR Grafitti by DAIM
Artist DAIM creates virtual 3D graffiti floating in space in his latest art project “Tagged in Motion” of NextWall .
What if everyone could overlay reality with their own virtual creation?
4. CARCADE: In-Car Video Game
Andreas Nicolas Fischer and team suggest to take advantage of the fast changing scenery experienced by car passengers – and turn it into a video game (remember Gondry’s Star Guitar Video Clip?). Could be a great way to pass time. I’d call it: “Are we there yet..?”
3. Total Immersion at Demo ’07
Probably the most commercially successful company that specializes in augmented reality, Total Immersion delivers the best live demos in this domain – with a French accent. They have also featured in CES 2008 keynote by Intel’s CEO Ottelini.
2. Roku’s Reward
This concept* video shows the potential of augmented reality utilizing today’s technology:
A handheld camera device,
live video overlaid with 3D graphics,
computer recognition – identifying real life objects,
positioning and acceleration sensors,
virtual objects interacting with reality,
…wrapped up in a fantasy narrative make up this yet-to-be-developed game.
*According to Phil Stenton (HP Labs, UK): “Roku remains a demo film. We haven’t signed up with anyone to create the game yet.”
Though delivered in words only, this “demo” paints the farthest vision for augmented reality so far. Everything else you’ll see on this topic will look like excuses: “sorry, we don’t have that technology yet…”
Yes, but do you have the imagination?
“There was something familiar about this prey. It was young and clever looking … a newborn from Juan’s own design! And that meant its Mommy would be nearby. Juan said, “You know, I don’t think –”
“The Problem Is, None Of You Think Nearly Enough.” The sound was premium external, like sticking your head inside an old-time boom box. Too late, they saw that the tree trunks behind them grew from yard-long claws. Mommy. Drool fell in ten-inch blobs from high above.
This was Juan’s design scaled up to the max.”
* You may ask how come I left out another classic remake: AR Quake. Well, this remake is indeed played outdoors, but let me ask you this: does it add much to the original experience of that first person shooter?
* How come I am ignoring what some call “the future of books” such as EyeMagic Book or WizQubes? Is it really that different than manipulating 3D characters on the computer screen?
* Daniel Wagner, a major force behind recent AR innovation, may be disappointed that his pioneering handheld AR game the Invisible Train didn’t make it. No hurt feelings; it’s a great proof of concept, but isn’t it more fun to play with the *visible* train?
* Other educational oriented games such as MIT’s Environmental Detective or U-WIS’s MadCity Mystery certainly beat learning in a classroom – but aren’t they indistinguishable from traditional low tech scavenger hunts?
Games Alfresco 