Hasta La Gadget!

We’re going to start off by stating unequivocally that we think this is a bad, bad idea. The Twitter 360 app, just launched by Presselite, is an augmented reality app for your iPhone 3GS which enables you to track your friends by the geolocation of their tweets. The app makes use of the iPhone 3GS’s compass to locate the tweeter, then reports back on their location. Now — if, like us, you want to be able to tweet about the rocking party you’re at on a Friday night when you’re actually sitting on the couch watching Mama’s Family — don’t worry: you can opt out of the geolocation feature. The Twitter 360 app, sure to be a resounding success with creeps the world over, is available now in the iTunes store for $2.99. Check out a video demonstration of it after the break.

Continue reading Augmented reality Twitter 360 app geolocates your friends by their tweets

Augmented reality Twitter 360 app geolocates your friends by their tweets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I ain’t afraid of no iGhost! I’m referring to the lame ghosts in this app Augmented Reality Ghost Hunting (ARGH), for the iPhone. The app festively debuted on this glorious Friday the 13th, and I guess it’s supposed to creep us out, but it just got me giggling.

The objective of ARGH is to use your iPhone as a paranormal viewfinder to locate and capture ghosts in your general area. A color meter in the app tells you whether you’re getting closer to a ghost (red means warmer); once you point your camera at the proper location and see the cartoon-ey ghoul, you can tap a button to capture it.

I tested the app in Wired.com’s newsroom, and it actually took a bit of wandering around with my iPhone until I spotted a ghost — so I guess it could double as a fitness app, too.

ARGH felt like a short-lived gag for the most part, but we’re excited to see what other types of augmented reality games emerge as smartphones become more powerful and capable. Georgia Tech’s augmented reality zombie shooter, which uses a prototype phone, is a great example of what we can expect.

ARGH is $2 in the iPhone’s App Store. See a video of ARGH in action below.

Download Link [iTunes] via Laughing Squid

If we’re being honest (and trust us, we’re being honest), Pranav Mistry’s Sixth Sense contraption has always baffled us. It’s kind of like Sony’s Rolly. It looks cool, it sounds rad, but we’re fairly certain only 2.49 people actually know and fully comprehend how it works. That said, we’re more than jazzed about the possibility of having wearable gesture interfaces gracing every human we come into contact with, and rather than attempting to make his invention “comply with some kind of corporate policy,” he’s purportedly aiming to release the source code into the wild in order to let “people make their own systems.” Nice guy, huh? All told, the Sixth Sense can be built for around $350 (plus oodles of unpaid time off), and we’re pretty certain that a few talented DIYers can get this thing whipped into shape far quicker than Mega Corp X. So, how’s about a release date for that code?

[Via AboutProjectors]

Filed under: Displays, Wearables

Sixth Sense creator to release code, wearable gesture interface becomes a reality for all originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What do you do when everyone’s talking about the competition’s exciting new take on navigation? Why, you come up with your exciting new angle that’s way cooler than theirs then sit back and guffaw while high-fiving your co-workers. That seems to be what Symbian Foundation is attempting here, with a teaser of a tool that would let you not only easily interact with Facebook events but also get real-time augmented reality navigation straight to them. It looks fancy enough, but there’s a big catch: the company has no current plans of making it a reality, saying it’s “not part of the Symbian UI Roadmap.” Carry on, then, nothing to see after the break but a mobile Web 2.0 pipe dream.

[Via SlashGear]

Continue reading Symbian Foundation teases augmented reality/social networking tool, says you’ll probably never get it (video)

Filed under: Cellphones, CES

Symbian Foundation teases augmented reality/social networking tool, says you’ll probably never get it (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember that time last year when Esquire embedded an E Ink display in its front cover and everyone you know rushed out to buy one, and how the scheme saved the once-doomed print magazine market? Well, it appears that the periodical (and the industry as a whole) are again in need of a dramatic technological sales boost — this time in the form of augmented reality. When the mag hits the newsstand on November 7, readers (and their webcams) will be have a chance to scan some QR codes and partake in the technology that’s been known to teach children about architecture and help jaded club kids party underwater — except this time the unsuspecting public can look forward to seeing Robert Downey Jr. emerge from the front cover to spew what the AP calls “half-improvised shtick on Esquire‘s latest high-tech experiment for keeping print magazines relevant amid the digital onslaught.” With that kind of content — alongside a computer-animated snowstorm and a dirty joke or two from Gillian Jacobs — can anybody doubt that traditional media will soon be back on its feet?

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Esquire hopes augmented reality will trick people into reading originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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