Hasta La Gadget!

We’ve yet to see how helpful – or harmful – Google Glass can be to people with sight, but you might be surprised to know that it can be used to help blind people too. A two-man company called Dapper Vision is working on OpenGlass, a system of tools and services that can help identify objects as well as provide additional information via Google Glass.

In the video below, you’ll see two of OpenGlass’ services that can help the visually impaired – or anyone for that matter – identify objects. The first is Question-Answer, wherein the Glass user takes a picture of an object and uses voice commands to send the picture to Twitter or Amazon’s Mechanical Turk service to be identified. The Glass user receives the answer via voice as well. The second is Memento, which is like a real-time version of Question-Answer, but it requires someone to build a database of images and annotations for it to draw data upon.

That was awesome, but I hope as wearable technology improves that OpenGlass will be less reliant on online sources of data. Maybe someday Dapper Vision can cram in a visual dictionary of sorts in Glass. As I said, the video only shows a small part of OpenGlass. Head to its official website to see more information and videos.

[via Engadget]

It looks like Microsoft is taking a dip into the wearable technology pool with a new patent that reveals plans for a pair of augmented-reality glasses that would be used during multiplayer gaming to receive voice commands, track your eyes, and recognize the faces of other players. As such, these glasses take a different approach […]

Right now Google Glass sits at the apogee of geeky, wearable technology.  Last month, interviewing a Glass-wearing Robert Scoble, Newsnight’s Jeremy Paxman memorably debunked it in his opening question as “that thing on your head. ” Getting non-techie people to view Glass as anything other than ludicrously geeky is going to be an uphill fight for Google.

Arguably, though, even more of a blocker to Glass adoption is people viewing the technology as the epitome of creepy, thanks to its built-in camera. Sure a digital eye sited at eye-level lets you share a nice view of that mountain you can see from your hotel window. But in more everyday scenarios, it also lets you video your fellow humans as they go about their business, and that privacy intrusion is inevitably going to cause some friction. Throw in the whole NSA PRISM surveillance fallout and stuff like this is inevitable.

Add to that, even though Google has banned (even more creepy) facial-recognition apps on Glass’s Mirror API, it’s possible to envisage a workaround that leverages Google’s Hangouts feature — which shares real-time field of vision — to get around the bar. Marco Vanossi, co-founder of GeoPapyrus, pointed out this workaround to TechCrunch — and demonstrates how it can be made to work in this video, creating a Hangout with a robot assistant called Dexter that then analyses what the Glass wearer can see.

“You can share your camera view through a Google Hangout and the content in it (people, objects, places, barcodes, qrcodes) can be analyzed and identified,” he tells TechCrunch. “As a result, information can be overlaid on top of it and shown back on your screen. This means that the Hangout app, built and distributed by Google on every Glass device, could be used to violate its own privacy rules.”

All of which suggests there may be room for an eyeless Glass-style product that preserves privacy by being receive-only — and therefore can’t be accused of spying. Enter GlassUp. GlassUp is a prototype pair of augmented reality specs that does not include a camera. It’s currently seeking funds to start manufacturing on Indiegogo. The glasses are designed to allow the wearer to receive text-based messages and updates overlaid over the central portion of their field of vision — so while they intrude on the wearer’s vision, they can’t be accused of intruding on the privacy of the people around them.

GlassUp’s creators envisage a typical use-case being a pedestrian or a motorbike rider wanting to navigate handsfree and without having to stop every few yards to consult a map/smartphone. Or a tourist wanting to get info about the historical landmarks they are seeing pushed to their eye-line as they explore a new city. Other imagined use-cases include for cooks or warehouse workers needing info as they work.

The device is basically a second screen output for a smartphone, connecting via Bluetooth, that’s worn as a heads-up display. It has a monochrome projector to display text updates, helping to extend the battery life of the device. The creators say they intend to release some apps themselves, but also plan to release an API for Android, iOS and Windows Phone to allow developers to extend its functionality.

Having intentionally stripped back the hardware of GlassUp to remove privacy concerns its creators have also shrunk the cost. The price tag for the device starts at $299 — considerably cheaper than the Google Glass Explorer’s hefty price tag of $1,500.

GlassUp’s creators are hoping to raise $150,000 on Indiegogo and have so far managed to reach just over half their goal, with 11 days left on the campaign. However, an update on their crowdfunding page notes that they will deliver products even if they fail to achieve their funding goal — thanks to unnamed investor backers. GlassUp is due to go on sale from February next year.

TechCrunch’s Steve O’Hear contributed to this story

The Elements iPad app is one of the best alternatives to the traditional periodic table. But a mobile augmented reality company called DAQRI is working on something more interactive and intuitive. The company calls it Elements 4D, a set of building blocks that make learning about the elements fun and easy.

Elements 4D has a total of six wooden blocks. Each block face is dedicated to a single element. When you view a block face or faces through the Elements 4D iOS app, the block comes to life, showing a virtual representation of the elment. In the image above you see carbon and gold being represented. The app also shows additional information about each element, but its best feature is demonstrating chemical reactions. Simply by putting two block faces side-by-side, you’ll see what chemical compound they become, if any. It’s a virtual chem lab. You’ll need lots of blocks to make meth.

Pledge at least $25 (USD) on Kickstarter to get Elements 4D blocks as a reward. Note that you have to pledge at least $75 to get all six blocks. Aside from being expensive, another significant downside of Elements 4D is that it currently only has six blocks. That’s just 36 faces, but we know of 118 elements. I guess DAQRI can release more blocks in the future, but then that would add up to hundreds of dollars. I’ll stick to The Elements app for now, but Elements 4D is a great example of the educational application of augmented reality.

[via The Next Web]

Yet another player is joining Meta, Japan’s Telepathy One, China’s (allegedly real) Baidu Eye, and big Google’s Glass at the face-mounted AR table. GlassUp, the newest kid in town, claims precedent on the concept. Google just shrugs and pays its legal retainer.

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First of all, as contemplated here before, and as we all learned from the The Great Virtual Boy Tragedy of 1995, it could be, it just might be, that aside from early adopters, the geek elite, and a tiny slice of industry – nobody really wants the PIA of having AR in their glasses. Plus, there’s also the ongoing debate on how unusable and silly AR glasses would be in actual human life.

Something to consider.
Okay, on to the new:

GlassUp, Heads-Up, Read-Only
Yep, another competitor jumps into an as of yet non-existent market: Venice, Italy-based GlassUp’s angle is to Bluetooth its way into a user’s smartphone and display email, SMS, Tweets, Facebook notifications, etc. as they arrive. If developers get hip, other possibilities include translations, directions, and location-specific info displayed in real time as one arrives at a given waypoint.

With zero subtlety, GlassUp promotes their product as:

• “Receive only.” No photos or videos involved, no privacy issues. (As opposed to? -Ed.)

• The projection is Monochrome (currently green, but we may switch to amber).

• Longer battery life (Than? -Ed.)

• GlassUp projects the information close to the center of vision, with less strain to the eye of the wearer. (Whereas those other guys make you look up and to the right. -Ed.)

CEO Francesco Giartosio and co-founders claim to have begun work on their AR glasses two years ago, about two months before Google went public with Glass. Should their indiegogo crowdfunding campaign prove successful ($41,169 of $150,000, 20 days remain), they hope to come to market around February of next year – ahead of Google Glass, and, at $399, hitting a much more realistic price point for the average individual or bulk-buying corporate consumer.

Possible Legal Problems & Precedential Issues & Stuff
It’s unclear if “GlassUp” is an attempt at drafting off of Google’s marketing campaign, or if it’s been there all along (maybe it was “VetroUp?”). In any case, if, for example, one has an invention in their basement that only 3 people know about, and they’re calling it “1234,” but then one of the largest, most powerful corporate entities in the history of humanity invents something similar, gets patents and trademarks, and years before anybody hears of your stuff, happens to name their product “123,” then one’s kinda hosed.

But, Google does occasionally surprise, and they might Don’t Be Evil and simply concede that the word “glass” is like, you know, common, and that it’s also part of the word “eyeglasses,” which is also like, you know, common; indifference, pity, or straight-up common sense could prevail. Or, Google could decide to lawyer the name “GlassUp,” perhaps even the whole product, out of existence.

People do love an underdog story, so should Google go aggro, at least GlassUp will get a pile of publicity. Either way, for Sig. Francesco & Co., using the word “glass” is kinda win-win.

More images & video below:

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Reno J. Tibke is the founder and operator of Anthrobotic.com and a contributor at the non-profit Robohub.org.

VIA: Mashable; indiegogo
Visuals: GlassUp