Windows Phone Mango augmented reality hands-on

We’re still waiting to get our first big bite of the full Mango experience after this morning’s liveblog, but we were able to get a quick hands-on with a few of the apps making use of the operating system’s new features. Chief among them is the History Channel app, which is making use of the augmented reality features that have been enabled. Using the internal gyro and accelerometer the device was able to overlay landmarks, which with a tap can be added to the phones home screen — you know, in case you really want to know what’s up at the Brooklyn Bridge. We also got a look at the updated Weather Channel app, which will not identify cloud types using any augmented reality trickery, but will give you quick and easy access to what’s up — and about to start falling. Check out the pics below, and get ready for a video after the break.

Continue reading Windows Phone Mango augmented reality hands-on

Windows Phone Mango augmented reality hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 11:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony’s SmartAR demoed live, raises the bar for augmented reality (video)




Remember Sony’s SmartAR? The markerless AR technology that promises reality augmentation without the need for unsightly tattoos? It’s back again, showing itself once more after an all-too-brief 48 hour layoff. A new live-demo shows Sony’s markerless object recognition system focusing on posters, tables, books, and coffee cups in lieu of the traditional AR card — allowing it recognize multiple objects at once. Focusing on objects rather than markers allow augmented entities to interact more naturally with their environment. For instance, bouncing AR balls plummet off the edge of a table, and realistically ricochet off of a book placed in their path. Objects don’t even need to remain on screen, as demonstrated by an AR pop-up menu that remained viewable even after the object-marker that spawned it left the viewer’s field of vision. Sony seems to have built the groundwork of an augmented reality system that might actually be useful — pair this up with a set of swank AR glasses (or better yet, holographic AR glasses), and we’ll have a vision of the future we can really look forward to.

Sony’s SmartAR demoed live, raises the bar for augmented reality (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 May 2011 17:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MVS California’s Volumetric Head Up Display is a 3D laser show for your car’s windshield (video)

Your windshield is good for more than just keeping bugs out of your mouth. It’s also a big blank canvas waiting to display helpful info like directions, traffic notifications, and safety information. A number big name manufacturers like GM and Pioneer have offered up heads-up display concepts over the past few years, but what makes MVS California’s Volumetric Head Up Display really neat is its impressive implementation of the volumetric aspect, using lasers to project images on the windshield in a such a way that gives the illusion of depth. So, if the system is being used to give driving direction via GPS — its main application, at present — it can make a turn arrow appear lined up with an exit half a mile down the road. The prototype showcased at this week’s Augmented Reality Event 2011 projected in red only, though the company says it’s capable of full color. How long do we have to wait for the future? MVS is hoping to get the thing into cars as a premium option in the next few years for around the same price of current high-end navigation systems. Surprisingly dull video of reality augmenting 3D lasers after the break.

Continue reading MVS California’s Volumetric Head Up Display is a 3D laser show for your car’s windshield (video)

MVS California’s Volumetric Head Up Display is a 3D laser show for your car’s windshield (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 May 2011 14:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony SmartAR delivers high-speed markerless augmented reality, blows minds (video)

Some may agree that over the years, augmented reality’s been slowly losing its appeal given its sometimes laggy and unreliable performance — most implementations require a weird marker to be in clear sight, and the graphics rendering speed on your handheld device would rely on your slow and steady hands. As such, we were initially skeptical when Sony’s SmartAR announcement came along; but as you can see in the video above, said technology took us by surprise with its super slick responsiveness, and the markerless object recognition makes a compelling hassle-free selling point. What’s more, the same clip also shows off SmartAR handling large 3D space with ease — notice how the virtual objects continue to animate even when the original anchor object is out of sight. Sony hasn’t given any dates here, but there’s no doubt that once SmartAR is available to game developers and advertisers, it’ll rake in some nice pocket money for the electronics giant.

Continue reading Sony SmartAR delivers high-speed markerless augmented reality, blows minds (video)

Sony SmartAR delivers high-speed markerless augmented reality, blows minds (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 May 2011 01:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Man buys Nintendo 3DS, goes wrist-on with augmented reality tattoo (video)


According to his post on I Heart Chaos, Cranberryzero’s next logical step after purchasing a Nintendo 3DS was to head down to Blue Flame Tattoo in Raleigh, NC to have the gaming system’s augmented reality card permanently etched onto his arm. Our reaction lies somewhere between stupefied bewilderment and geeky adoration. Call it paranoia, but we wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing our Miis were always lurking on the underside of our most-prominent appendage. CBZ, as he refers to himself on the blog, was kind enough to share some video of the finished product. Naturally, things are a little shaky, but you try standing on someone’s wrist suspended in mid-air and see how you do.

Continue reading Man buys Nintendo 3DS, goes wrist-on with augmented reality tattoo (video)

Man buys Nintendo 3DS, goes wrist-on with augmented reality tattoo (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 May 2011 19:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Panasonic Viera AR Setup Simulator app augments the reality of your TV dream (video)

A cardboard cut-out, really? You pasted a 50-inch rectangle of stiffened paper to the wall in order to preview the flatscreen of your dreams within your new Vitsoe shelving system? For shame. A true nerd, nay, a real man would have cast aside those arts and crafts for Panasonic’s new Viera AR Setup Simulator app. Just grab the wall or pedestal AR marker from the printer and place it wherever you hope to showcase that new Panny. Then watch the app augment your reality through the iPhone’s camera. Don’t cost nothin’ but your time, starting with the 60 second video embedded after the break.

Continue reading Panasonic Viera AR Setup Simulator app augments the reality of your TV dream (video)

Panasonic Viera AR Setup Simulator app augments the reality of your TV dream (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 08:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Navigon MobileNavigator for iOS updated with augmented reality, safety camera features

Navigon just recently rolled out a stylish iPhone Car Kit for use with its iOS navigation app, and it’s now also announced a fairly significant update to the app itself. In addition to all the usual basic navigation features, MobileNavigator 1.8 now also boasts an augmented reality component dubbed the “Reality Scanner” that overlays points of interest on top of a live camera view, as well as a new “Safety Cameras” feature that warns you of speed and red light cameras (available as an in-app purchase for $4.99). What’s more, Navigon has also dropped its prices across the board for the occasion — the full app with maps for all of North America will now set you back just $45 until April 18th, while versions for just the US or Canada run $35 apiece. Full press release is after the break.

Continue reading Navigon MobileNavigator for iOS updated with augmented reality, safety camera features

Navigon MobileNavigator for iOS updated with augmented reality, safety camera features originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 23:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DARPA’s next-gen wearable display: augmented-reality, holographic sunglasses

The US military seems to adore the idea of wearable displays, hence its continued efforts to make them a reality. We know it seems like just yesterday that DARPA tapped Lockheed Martin to build low-power, lightweight augmented-reality eyewear, and it was actually four full years ago when the wild and wonderous dream was to craft HMDs as small and light as “high-fashion sunglasses.” Well, that dream lives on, this time with holograms: the lenscrafters at Vuzix just received a cool million to develop goggles that holographically overlay battlefield data on the wearer’s vision. It all sounds very Dead Space (or, you know, like a Top Secret version of Recon-Zeal’s Transcend goggles), promising realtime analysis of anything within sight. The company believes the finished product will be no more than 3mm thick and completely transparent when turned off. If all goes well, expect this to trickle down to consumers in short order; soon you’ll have full “situational awareness” — including relationship status — of that mysterious stranger you’ve been eyeballing from across the room.

DARPA’s next-gen wearable display: augmented-reality, holographic sunglasses originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Apr 2011 23:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aurasma’s AR iPhone app to turn everyday objects into multimedia triggers (video)

We’ve seen augmented reality done what seems like a million different ways, but we’ve never seen it quite like this. The New York Times reported Wednesday on a forthcoming iPhone app called Aurasma that has the power to turn ink-and-paper publications into interactive mine fields. Aurasma, conceived by enterprise software firm Autonomy, uses a scaled down version of the outfit’s IDOL pattern recognizer to identify images stored in a vast database, and then converts those images into related video. Unfortunately, the first release of the app, scheduled for sometime next month, comes in the form of an AR advertisement / game for an unidentified upcoming movie, and the company’s founder seems solidly focused on the technology’s marketing potential. No word yet on when or if we can expect to see our New York Times come to life, as seen in the video at the source link below, but if this is the future of augmented reality, count us in.

Continue reading Aurasma’s AR iPhone app to turn everyday objects into multimedia triggers (video)

Aurasma’s AR iPhone app to turn everyday objects into multimedia triggers (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Apr 2011 01:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Refactr turns whiteboard into giant 3DS AR card, proves bigger is better (video)

If you haven’t already seen our demo of the 3DS’ rather impressive bag of augmented reality tricks, then let us take this opportunity to show you — once again — why we’re excited about the thing’s AR capabilities. The folks over at software development firm Refactr have done some tinkering and found that all you need to make your very own 3DS AR card is a white board, some dry erase markers, and a projector. By tracing the outlines of that mysterious question mark card on to a shiny white surface, they found that conjuring the device’s AR interface is actually quite simple, and mostly a matter of contrast. Going big, in this case anyway, not only makes for a good time — as evidenced by the video below — but it should also put to rest any questions about whether or not these things are sprinkled with pixie dust, Juju powder, or some other magical substance.

Continue reading Refactr turns whiteboard into giant 3DS AR card, proves bigger is better (video)

Refactr turns whiteboard into giant 3DS AR card, proves bigger is better (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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