You got yourself a brand new car but don’t know anything about the dashboard. All you have to do is take out your smartphone and click a picture using the new MARS app from Boston-based PAR Works, provided you have the app in your device by the way. This unique app makes use of 3D augmented reality to allow you access to customized, tagged information about a product, building, street scene, or object.

The only thing that is required is that the augmented reality info available via the app must be added manually. So, if it’s the case of your new dashboard, someone should have labeled all the buttons and added info about what they do, and that info will be available to you via MARS.

So the next time you are trying to find a classroom in a school, you just have to take a picture of the building and the app will do the rest, given the school has used the technology to add an augmented reality overlay over the building. Obviously this is a new idea and isn’t in wide use yet, but the potential is there if such technology could become widely adopted.

The MARS app is certainly turning heads and is a finalist in the SXSW Interactive Awards. It is currently available for iOS users and an Android version will be launched at SXSW on March 10. So, are you interested in the new app? Share your thoughts below.

[Source]

The post MARS App: Learn About The World Around You Using Augmented Reality appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Over the past couple of months, augmented reality glasses have become all the rage at the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office). Although as of now, Google one of the only companies to formally debut their device (Project Glass). Now it seems that Microsoft’s Research department looks to enter the game as well.

The patent abstract states that it is for “A system and method to present a user wearing a head mounted display with supplemental information when viewing a live event” (USPTO). Furthermore, the head mounted display would allow a user to watch a live event through a semi-transparent display. At the same time, objects and information can be shown without interrupting the user’s view of the live event.

This sounds pretty epic, but when is it coming? While we can’t say for sure, since this is Microsoft Research technology. Sometimes these kinds of projects turn into commercial efforts quickly, sometimes they never do. We do know that Project Glass prototypes have already been sold to developers and will arrive in 2013. Additionally, the consumer versions are poised to be released in late-2013 or early-2014.

Would you enjoy wearing augmented reality glasses? Is this technology the future of mobile? Let us know in the comments below.

[ Source ]

The post Microsoft Snags Real-Time Augmented Reality Patent appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The Google-owned Niantic Project has managed to create quite a fair amount of hype around it’s hushed-up activities, but the company has now spilled the bean. The fruit of the Niantic Project’s labors is a new game by the name of Ingress, which has now arrived as a beta on the Google Play store.

Ingress is an augmented reality game that uses a smartphone’s GPS to create an alternate version of the real world where players fight for territory against opposing factions. There have been quite a few GPS games released on mobile markets, but none have been too particularly successful. Will Ingress stand a chance with Google’s backing? It certainly sounds like a successful concept.

The game uses complex capturing systems that allow players to capture nearby building and areas located by using your GPS. Players can work together to capture a bundle of close-by areas to expand their faction territory, or fight to gain other factions’ territories. Ingress will probably be very player-involving in popular cities, but in less-populated areas the game could prove to be very unsuccessful. Playing with thousands of players at once could become a possibility, but you might find yourself alone in less populated areas.

Ingress is currently an invite-only beta application, but as soon as we get access to the game we will take an in-depth review into Google’s world of Ingress.

[ source ]

The post Google Unveils Unique Augmented Reality Android Game, Ingress appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Actual reality can be confusing and overwhelming, and that’s why we oftentimes turn to the Internet for help. IBM is taking that to a new level with an AR mobile shopping app. The example given is when you’re cruising down the cereal aisle and you don’t know which one you want to buy.

When you take out your smartphone or tablet and launch the yet unnamed IBM shopping assistant app, it uses the camera to recognize the different products on the shelf. Then, the app will “instantly display recommendations and offers based on their specific preferences.” The demo here, for instance, shows that one of the cereals is “low in sugar” and that you get a half-gallon of milk for free when you buy this box of cereal.

The superimposed information that pops up in the app is hardly random either. It’s supposed to tap into your buying history, as well as looking at things like price, consumer rating, and environmentally friendly packaging. You can pre-set the characteristics that are important to you and then you can use the app to pan across a shelf of products. The app will then highlight the item that best matches your preferences.

“The idea of standing in an aisle in the supermarket and having your mobile device point out the gluten-free cookies you need can be a real time saver,” said project leader Amnon Ribak. “This has the potential to completely change the shopping experience from one of hunting, reading, and searching to simply picking up those products you prefer.”

I imagine the future of this could be integration with Google’s Project Glass.

[Source]

The post IBM Developing Augmented Reality Shopping Assistant appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Wouldn’t it be convenient if you could just look up at the sky and you’d instantly see the weather report? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get walking directions overlaid with what you’re really seeing? All this and more will be possible thanks to Google’s Project Glass.

It’s like taking Google Goggles to a whole new level, providing users with an augmented reality experience via a pair of wearable transparent glasses. Yes, it’s just a concept right now, but the video below demonstrates that Google is very much taking this seriously and it in the works. You can use it to make phone calls, send messages, check your calendar, and so much more.

A group of us from Google[x] started Project Glass to build this kind of technology, one that helps you explore and share your world, putting you back in the moment. We’re sharing this information now because we want to start a conversation and learn from your valuable input. So we took a few design photos to show what this technology could look like and created a video to demonstrate what it might enable you to do.

I’m still not entirely sure how Google will go about executing this. The user seems to be using a series of voice commands in the video, but how do the glasses know what icons to bring up under what circumstances? You’d also have to assume that the glasses are connected to the Internet in some way, though they could be tethering or connected to a smartphone. For better or worse, this is the future of communication. At least you don’t have to worry about people glancing down at their phones to check their messages during a meal; they’ll do it while staring at you right in the face.

[Source]

The post AR Google Goggles Just Got A Little More Sexy (Video) appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

The Google Goggles app on Android phones is pretty neat, being able to recognize objects in the real world and provide you with relevant information, but it doesn’t exactly happen in real time. Google wants to change that by entering the realm of true augmented reality.

There’s word going around that Google is actively pursuing the developing of AR glasses and they’ve already entered the prototype stage. The idea is that they’ll connect, presumably over Bluetooth, to your smartphone. Then, as you gaze upon the world, your view will be overlaid with relevant info, like driving directions, office space for rent, or something about the sandwich you’re about to eat.

What’s weird is that the AR Google Goggles don’t use a transparent display to do this. Instead, you get an opaque display over one eye and presumably a regular lens over the other eye. It’s like wearing an eyepatch, sort of, but when your brain combines the two images, it’s like the data is being overlaid. Sort of.

At least that’s the idea. As you can imagine, this is very early in development and it’ll likely be quite some time before the product is commercially viable. They need to deal with processor size, battery power, logistic, connection issues, and so on. I’ve used Vuzix “video glasses” before and I didn’t like them. I can’t imagine this opaque display over one eye would be all that much better.

The post Google Working On Augmented Reality Goggles appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Junaio 3.0 is kind of like Google Goggles, but with augmented reality and a set database of information. That’s basically how I interpret the latest update to the Junaio mobile browser. AR is the big deal for this option, but the new “Scan the World” feature adds to the mix by letting you, well, scan the world.

Not unlike Google Goggles, you simply point your smartphone camera at the item of interest and the browser will recognize what you see. From there, it can bring up the relevant info or engage you in an augmented reality experience. An example is scanning a painting at a museum and then having Junaio display information about the work and the artist. The same thing happens when you scan QR codes or barcodes, getting product information and potentially opening up a shopping microsite where you can buy the item at a discounted price.

Unlike Google Goggles, though, all this information has to come by way of the Junaio database and not the web at large. The plus is that you can use interactive 3D augmented reality experiences. If there’s a magazine that’s supported, for example, you can get an eye-popping dynamic 3D AR image rather than the static one on the page, as the picture below illustrates. That’s pretty neat. They just need to get the various vendors and publishers on board with this.

The post Junaio 3.0 augmented reality mobile browser adds “Scan the World” feature appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

This is an awesome idea, but I can never imagine it seeing the light of day as a commercial release. Basically, Garnet Hertz of the University of California Irvine has cobbled together what looks like a Sega OutRun cabinet from the 80s, except it’s a real functional vehicle that can really drive around on the road using augmented reality.

The cabinet is outfitted with a series of cameras and then the computer algorithm interprets the road that it sees in front of it, rendering that with the same 8-bit gaming graphics as the classic racing game. If there’s a right turn coming up on the golf cart path, you’ll see a right turn in the game in real time. You also still get the pretty blonde in your virtual passenger seat.

The trouble, of course, is that this is way too dangerous. You don’t actually see anything in front of you. You could just as easily run over young children or bumble your way straight into a lamp post. To be fair, the max speed is a mere 13mph, but that doesn’t really mean that it’s all that safe. In the demo video below, you can even see Hertz constantly peering around the cabinet to see the obstacles ahead.

Cool idea, though. I’ll give him credit for that. I’m sure it costs more than a roll of quarters too.

The post OutRun AR brings arcade racing experience to real world appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

With the next iPad, it’s reasonable to expect a higher resolution screen and a more powerful processor, but it’s possible that we could be getting a hefty dose of augmented reality when it comes to the next-gen tablet too. Apple recently filed a few patents and they seem to outline at least two interesting propositions.

Let’s start on the lower end of the spectrum. In this instance, the iPad display would be split in half. The top half is a live video as being shown by the back camera on the iOS tablet. The bottom half, however, is a 3D representation of what you see, updating in real time, highlighting recognized objects. Your location and orientation would be based on GPS, WiFi, cell tower ID, as well as motion sensors. In this way, it works kind of like Sky Map for Android, but for buildings and such.

But that’s a split-screen. Where the patents start to get more interesting is in the implementation of multiple displays layered on top of one another, some of which can be transparent at times. This would overlay the AR information onto the main screen, which I think works a lot better. In both instances, there could also be a “share” button so you can share your AR viewpoint with another iOS buddy. You can also place a virtual pushpin off in the AR 3D distance and the app would tell you how to get there.

And Apple might take it even further too with fully transparent displays. Samsung has already demonstrated this, but Apple would likely polish it up. A possibility would be replacing (or overlaying) windows in a tour bus with these transparent displays, providing an AR viewpoint for the travelers as they pass points of interest.

Alas, these are just patents. Apple files tons of them and most never make it to production in any form. That said, wouldn’t you want to see some crazy clear AR action on your iPad 6?

The post Apple patents dabble in augmented reality, transparent displays appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

When the Nintendo 3DS hits our shores this weekend, you’ll find that the retail box includes six augmented reality (AR) cards. These paper cards can be used to interact with the different AR games that are available on the system, but it sucks to have to carry them around with you. So, why not load them on your phone instead?

That’s exactly the idea behind the app by Andrew Wilson. He has effectively digitized the six AR cards that come bundled with the console, plunking them onto any Google Android device. When you’re on the road, you’d assume that you have your smartphone with you. Whip it out, show the Kirby AR card image, and you’ve got yourself an augmented reality version of the pink sucker. Tada!

The good news is that the app is free. The bad news is that there are reports of its spontaneously crashing and it’s possible that Nintendo could come in and swipe it off the market with trademark infringement accusations. You know how you can get around that? Take a picture of the card with your phone, ensuring that there are no shadows and you get the whole card, and it should work with the 3DS too.

[Android Market]

The post Nintendo 3DS AR Cards? There’s an Android App for That appeared first on Mobile Magazine.