Hasta La Gadget!

You may consider yourself a world-class liar, but a new pair of “social x-ray” glasses could soon expose you for the fraud you really are. Originally designed for people suffering from autism, these specs use a rice grain-sized camera to pick up on a person’s 24 “feature points” — facial expressions that convey feelings of confusion, agreement and concentration, among others. Once recognized, these signals are analyzed by software, compared against a database of known expressions and then relayed to users via an attached headphone. If their date starts to feel uncomfortable, a blinking red light lets them know that it’s time to shut up. Rosalina Picard, an electrical engineer who developed the prototype with Rana el Kaliouby, acknowledged that her algorithm still needs some fine tuning, but told New Scientist that the glasses have already proved popular with autistic users, who often have difficulty deciphering others’ body language. No word yet on when these social specs could hit the market, but they’ll probably make us even more anti-social once they do.

Social x-ray glasses can decode emotions, make your blind dates less awkward originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Jul 2011 04:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When we go somewhere new, we wish we could spend more time taking in the sights and less time looking at our phone for directions and info about our surroundings. Apple’s well aware of this conundrum, and has filed a couple of patent applications to let you ogle your environment while telling you where to go and what you’re seeing. One app is a method for combining augmented reality (AR) information and real time video while allowing users to interact with the images on screen — so you can shoot a vid of a city skyline with your iPhone, touch a building where you want to go, and let it show you the way there. The second patent application is for a device with an LCD display capable of creating a transparent window, where the opacity of the screen’s pixels is changed by varying the voltage levels driving them. Such a display could overlay interactive info about what you see through the window, so you can actually look at the Mona Lisa while reading up on her mysterious grin. Of course, these are just patent applications, so we probably won’t be seeing any AR-optimized iDevices anytime soon (if ever), but we can dream, right?

Apple seeks to spruce up the real world with interactive augmented reality, has the patent apps to prove it originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Jul 2011 12:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For better or worse, it seems that GPS services are rapidly approaching their mid-life crisis. After rampaging through a host of makeovers (see more: here and here) that would make even the most ADD-popstar dizzy, the phoenix of the navigation industry is now trying its hand at a new augmented mobile reality. Sitting pretty at $2.99 in the App Store, Lustancia’s TapNav app swaps the virtual maps for a real-time AR overlay via your iPhone’s camera. It’s not a killer feature by any means, but if you’ve ever found yourself wondering just which turn your PND is indicating, then this is for you. Sexy robot-voice assistance and routing stay free, but you’ll have to pony up for that turn-by-turn navigation after the sixty day paid trial. Astonishingly brief press release after the break.

Continue reading Lustancia’s TapNav app takes your iPhone for an AR-assisted spin

Lustancia’s TapNav app takes your iPhone for an AR-assisted spin originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 24 Jun 2011 10:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gun accessories for your Wiimote or Move wands are old hat but, we can’t help but be at least a little intrigued by this rifle-like dock for the iPhone. The appBlaster is an accessory from apptoyz designed specifically for use with the company’s Alien Attack iOS game. Slide in your iDevice and fire up the AR shooter and you’ll be treated to a bit of Piper-vision, exposing the invisible aliens in our midst. Pull the triggers and two capacitive pads touch the screen to fire at the invaders that only you can see. The appBlaster is available for pre-order now at RED5 for £19.99 (about $32) and will official hit shelves on July 7. Check out the PR after the break.

Continue reading appBlaster iPhone accessory lets you kick AR alien butt, bubblegum not included

appBlaster iPhone accessory lets you kick AR alien butt, bubblegum not included originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Jun 2011 04:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ugly, plain and iPhone-only, but TapNav at least pays attention to the road ahead

TapNav is an upcoming augmented reality (AR) navigation app from mSonar. Unlike other AR navigation systems, which just overlay information onto the camera’s live feed based on GPS and compass positions, TapNav actually reads the input from the camera. This allows it to offer some services that vanilla GPS can’t.

Like other AR apps, TapNav shows you the road ahead and overlays your route. This helps you quickly see where you are supposed to be going, without having to decode a 3-D representation in your brain.

This looks pretty cool (although right now the screenshots show that the graphics are rather blocky), but the future plans look even better. Because it reads the image of the lane ahead at 29fps, TapNav will be able to react to the road conditions. Thus, an update promises lane detection (with an alarm if you drift off your line), and distance detection to keep you away from the vehicle in front.

Thankfully, one promised tweak will be “major updates on UI.” That should stop TapNav from looking quite so much like a 1990s driving game.

The app launches tomorrow, and will run on iPhone’s with cameras. I have a trial version, but it refuses to copy itself onto the iPad 2. A shame, as the bigger display would be great for quickly glancing the route ahead.

The app will be $3 and include a 60-day subscription to the services. Further subscriptions will be available as in app purchases.

MSonar Internet home page [MSonar]

See Also:

• Augmented Reality
• Word Lens: Augmented Reality App Translates Street Signs Instantly …
• Augmented Reality App Identifies Strangers With Camera
• How it Works: Augmented Reality