Posts Tagged ‘augmented reality’

Google Goggles

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

This makes me want to trade in the iPhone for a Droid. Not likely, but still an option.

I am continually amazed by the technology breakthroughs that keep appearing for mobile. For me, this begs the question: “is it easier to use an app like Google Goggles or is is simpler to search through the standard browser?” Yes, apps like this are nifty, but are they more efficient? How much does a weak cell signal affect the apps performance in the long run? I look forward to the coming months to see if apps like these are truly a tool to make life simpler, or if they are just put in place to sell the Droid over the iPhone… this remains to be seen.

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Getting Jollified

Friday, December 18th, 2009

Hopefully everyone has had a chance to check out “Jollified” — Zoom’s Holiday AR application. I’ve had almost as much fun playing with it as I did working with the Zoomers to create it. This project truly was a collaborative effort and a learning experience for both Design and Development. We loved the idea of combining a new digital technology like Augmented Reality with something low tech and hands-on like letterpress printing. We took our inspiration for the design of the site from Letterpressed cards and incorporated the texture of the toothy paper, the scrolly flourishes, and the muted colors all used with that style of printing. We then had to figure out how to make something that we created digitally look like it had been printed by hand, one color at a time. We did some experimenting and learned a lot of techniques in Photoshop to replicate the effect that is achieved in Letterpress printing when the texture of the paper shows through the ink. With a letterpress printer you must print each color one at a time, this can result in a slight overlap when two colors are next to each other. So, we also figured out how to use Photoshop to create this look. But the real fun came when we started turning files over to the development team and began to collaborate with them to turn our old style look into a high tech application. If you haven’t already, definitely take minute to get Jollifed!

Jollified

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Get Jollified!

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

‘Twas the weeks before Christmas and all through The Zoom,
Zoomers were fighting off holiday gloom.
The projects were done, to the clients with care,
In hopes that AR would soon be there.

When out on the Internet arose such a clatter,
When asked, Zoomers said, “Why nothing’s the matter!”
Away to the laptops they flew in a flash,
Started the webcam and cleared all the cache.

Zoomers engaged in the holiday fun,
Added hats, beards and noses, each and everyone.
Twas a Jollified Christmas, brought straight from Zoom,
From there on out, no more holiday gloom.

From our stockings to yours, we are pleased to bring you Jollified, a festive holiday Augmented Reality flash application. Not unlike elves, we have been tinkering and fussing over Jollified for weeks, in the hopes of bringing you tidings of cheer and well wishes.

To get Jollified, please watch the video below and then visit the official Jollified website. Play around, snap a photo of your Jollified creations and share the merry with family and friends.

‘Tis the season to get Jollified!

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Waiter, there’s Augmented Reality in my iPhone!

Monday, September 28th, 2009

robotvisionJustin, with his Android phone, will shrug his Google-loving shoulders and say “who cares?”, but I’m excited. My iPhone just got a new App this morning called Robotvision, a piece of Augmented Reality technology that overlays real-time business and restaurant information, as well as other fun stuff, onto my phone’s 3GS camera view.

I hold my iPhone up, look for, say, Bars and Restaurants within a mile, and BAM! Flags showing the nearest options hover in front of me. Tap on a restaurant to get the address, driving directions through the map app, or to call with the oft-forgotten phone functionality that my gadget possesses. Tap to search bing and get a summary of their hours, ratings, photos of the place, etc. Lay the iPhone down and a map view appears, all of the tagged locations raining down in pin drop formation.

I can also see all of the nearest Tweets and Flickr photos with a click of a button. Less useful, but novel and fun.

This is a preview of the Augmented Reality of our future. Human vision? Bah! It’s time for Robotvision.

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Reality is SO boring.

Monday, August 31st, 2009

reality01It seems that reality just isn’t cutting it anymore. We humans want to supersize reality, layer more and more stuff on top of reality to really trick it out. Innovative folks out there have been working to develop Augmented Reality technology since 1992, creating applications that blend our real physical world with computer-generated virtual imagery, and the results are pretty darn interesting.

There are some new mobile applications out there that help you, among other things, find subway stops, restaurants, identify landmarks, navigate the roads, identify someone’s face and pull up all of their online profile information, or pull up all of the wikipedia entries about your surroundings. If it can be layered on top of reality, someone’s figuring out how to do it.

For instance, take a look at this Yelp! app that uses the camera and GPS on your iPhone to tell you instant information about the restaurants around you.

This Top 6 countdown of hot mobile Augmented Reality apps explains where we are today and gives you a taste of the future possibilities of this technology.

And here’s a great example of an Augmented Reality digital hologram, used by GE to promote their Smart Grid technologies. You print off a special page and hold it in front of your web cam to view the hologram.

Lastly, this video shows an iPhone app that uses Augmented Reality to teach kids spelling. Watch out, children of the future!

Despite its early 90′s origins, which in Computerland makes Augmented Reality practically ancient, the possibilities of this technology are still nascent. The applications and graphics still feel a bit primitive (though, admittedly, in a futuristic way), and the overall consensus among techno geeks everywhere is that we’re just taking the first steps in what will be a huge leap forward for reality as we know it.

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