Mobile augmented reality
January 26th, 2009 by PatriceA couple of days ago I got some links from a friend of mine demonstrating augmented reality.
The idea of augmented reality (adding information to your view of the world by means of a computer) has been around for some time, but now it is coming to the consumer in a user-friendly way (you don’t need to walk around with a fighter pilot helmet anymore, an iPhone or Android suffices).
Some applications work by means of markers placed in the real world, that are used by the mobile application to identify the place and position of the user (e.g. Ford Ka campaign). One of the industry challenges is to come up with a standard marker, because the users won’t install a marker viewer for each type of marker (they didn’t do that for each type of 2D bar codes either).
Other applications use the GPS and built-in compass of the -advanced- device (e.g. Android / Wikitude example)
And even others don’t actually require a special type of marker a paper ad is all they need (e.g. Mini Cooper example). All you need is a marker and a web cam.
Here are some examples of a neat idea, enjoy.
Mini-cooper
The nice thing about this solution is that you don’t need to have this special type of marker. All you need to do is find the right ad, aim your camera at it and see the magic.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/HTYeuo6pIjY" height="344" width="425" /]
Wikitude & Nokia
Go places, aim your camera at special points of interests and get extra information.
Wikitude:
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/8EA8xlicmT8" height="344" width="425" /]
Nokia 95:
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/0HOO80RitVI" height="344" width="425" /]
Ford Ka Campaign
Find the markers in the streets of the city, aim your camera at it and look at the new car.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/PrwmHnnSXYo" height="344" width="425" /]