Prolific doodler Marty Cooper carries around animation cels, a marker, and some Wite-Out as he wanders the city, creating whimsical scenes that turn mundane background imagery into charming mini-stories. And he painstakingly captures them on his iPhone to create the animated world of Aug(De)Mented Reality.
We’ve seen a couple of prototypes that enable or at least emulate touch-sensitivity on everyday objects. But as wearable technology continues to flourish, we’re going to need a simple and portable solution. Augmented reality company Metaio thinks they may have an answer with Thermal Touch, a technology that emulates touch-sensitivity using “the heat signature left by a person’s finger when touching a surface.”
Right now the hardware needed to pull off the feat is quite bulky. In the demo video below, Metaio used a tablet, a standard camera and a rather large infrared camera. The company hopes that in the future, all of the necessary hardware can be included in a wearable device similar to Google Glass, like so:
Here’s the demo video:
Sorry zombies, I guess you’ll be stuck with voice commands. Good luck with that.
[Metaio via TechCrunch]
Metaio is demoing a new possible future in the evolutionary path for input control of wearable computing devices and it should be no surprise that Augmented Reality plays a role. There is a known UI problem with which many software and hardware makers have grappled: What is the best way to interact with the HUD (heads up display) and to control it, for example, if you are looking at a… Read More
Watching a master at work is a great way to acquire motor skills. But it’s not that easy to keep an eye on someone else while looking at your own movements to see if you’re doing it right. A proof of concept system called Ghostman helps you do both simultaneously, thanks to augmented reality glasses.
Ghostman was designed by researchers from the University of Tasmania and the University of Washington, led by Dr. Winyu Chinthammit. Using two pairs of Vuzix Wrap 920AR glasses, Ghostman overlays a teacher’s hand over the student’s own vision. The student can then see the demonstration from his teacher’s point of view while his own hand is also in full view.
In their limited tests, Dr. Chinthammit and his colleagues found out that teaching a new motor skill through Ghostman is as effective as going about it with an instructor sitting by your side. This means it could one day be possible for instructors to effectively teach motor skills through a remote session. Although I think it would also be beneficial if the teacher could see from his student’s perspective as well to help him provide feedback.
Come on doc, we all know a pottery lesson would’ve been more appropriate. Head to Hindawi to read the researchers’ paper on Ghostman.
All images by Dr. Chinthammit et al.
[via New Scientist via PSFK]
Developed to aid the brave men and women of our fire department, the C-Thru Smoke Diving Helmet harnesses a vast array of technologies to help aid rescuers when combating a blaze — including augmented reality, noise cancellation, improved communications, and a thermal-optic camera.
Political campaigns, down through the centuries have used the technology of the times to help enhance a candidate’s
competitive edge. Innovating communication channels has always played a
key role in reaching and targeting constituencies during national
elections. Presidential candidates who failed to embrace the new
technologies of their day often found themselves vulnerable in the eyes
of the public.
For anyone who doubted that the Oculus Rift has some awesome
applications outside video games, it gives me great pleasure to present
to you "Conquest of the Skies," a nature documentary being developed by
Sir David Attenborough. It’ll be the first of
its kind – and hopefully first of many.
In what we’re considering the first “wow” moment in Xbox One’s Kinect environment, Kinect Sports Rivals arrives this week to scan you in. In this game you, the user, are … Continue reading
Aside from the sleek body designs and supercharged engines, part of the appeal of a sports car is feeling close to the ground, hurtling along with such close proximity to the roads as to feel a tangible connection to the street or circuit beneath you. But as Jaguar Land Rover’s Transparent Bonnet concept shows, augmented reality could bring us closer to the tarmac than ever before.
3D modeling software is often used to visualize and develop concepts – anything from a piece of furniture to a video game. Those programs make it easy to transition from idea to prototype and to refine or duplicate sketches, but they require a lot of practice and training to master. A new company called Gravity thinks it can make sketching in 3D almost as easy as doodling with pen and paper.
Gravity uses an infrared pen, a control pad with sensors and a pair of augmented reality glasses. You use the pen to sketch in midair, just above the control pad. You won’t need to be M.C. Escher to start creating 3D models though, because Gravity only allows for sketching in one plane at a time. A switch on the pad lets you switch planes, rotating your virtual object to the side where you want to draw. Your sketch will then be visible to anyone wearing the glasses – it could just be you, or a roomful of people.
The founders of Gravity believe that “CAD [computer-aided design] generates perfect shapes that don’t leave room for the imperfection of your early modeling to allow imagination to keep influencing the idea. CAD requires thinking in terms of functions and variables. This is where imagination is defeated. There is much lost in the process of moving from 2D to 3D.” I’m not sure I buy that. Sure, making complex technology user-friendly can help drive innovation and speed up the development of concepts. On the other hand, professionals need the precision and the shortcuts that CAD and other 3D modeling software provide. For example, will Gravity users be able to cut, copy and paste an exact part of a sketch, and will the commands for those features still be intuitive without being tedious?
Sketching in 3D looks cool, but I’m going to let the pros decide if this is just a high-tech whiteboard or a legitimate alternative to 3D modeling software.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
