When I read the article in Engadget about Apple contemplating to make a pair of glasses that would well be a device to repel women. I admit it it is ugly at first sight. This is what they have to say about it.
Essentially an iPhone dock that sits on your face like a pair of glasses, “Head-Mounted Display Apparatus for Retaining a Portable Electronic Device with Display” details a headset that contains a stereo display and either a camera or a window for your phone’s camera. Also included in the patent application is a microphone, speaker, batteries, and an accelerometer for detecting the user’s head movements. Something like this would be great for augmented reality applications — and something like this would make ever getting a date that much more difficult.
At first sight it does look horrible, it is however a first step that innovation and companies are taking towards Wearable Electronics and Augmented Reality devices as a consumer electronic device.
For people who are more interested in the technical nitty gritties you can head out here. Well I am excited about this, cos one of my most read posts of all time is actually Nokia Mixed Reality, where Nokia demoed a device that did the same; this means that you guys are also interested in this. Check out the video below again:
Well I know that this is not something that people will buy immediately, but will definitely pick up like the mobiles, or the smartphones, or at least I hope. Heres wishing luck to Apple 🙂
[tweetmeme] Everyone remembers the movie Terminator 2, where Arnold gazes around his surrounding to find a lot of information about his environment which he uses to make appropriate decisions. The viewer is told about this awesome gadget when we are allowed to view through his eyes per say. Augmented Reality is demoed sort of for the first time, commercially.
Engineers, designers and futurists have been trying to make it a reality along with making demos of how it is going to look like. Based on what we have been seeing in the past few months, it is clear that it is possible and the feasibility and working details need to be worked out. Various smartphones have started offering clunky AR apps that show you things like restaurant reviews when you point your camera at a store’s facade. But with all the crazy technology already on today’s market, we’re saying that’s not enough! Here are some applications we want to see today.
1. Augmented Reality Gaming :
The experience of gaming is to take an awesome overhauling through Augmented Reality, there are a few demos available on YouTube. With the advent of the Playstation EyeToy as well as Microsoft Project Natal the gaming industry is reaching a point where they are not only happy to embrace the technology but also make it awesome.
I Want to have awesome gaming experience like first player shooter games to be available now. But seriously I think this can be made completely available after the invention of good AR spectacles or the contact lens (See below)
2. Augmented Reality Windscreen for the Car
Yes I did write about how GM is working its way forward to getting this feature enabled in our cars. But having this instead of a normal screen is so much more cooler, getting all the information that you would need while driving around is a great feeling along with making life so much more simpler.
Driving around to not only not loose your way, but be guided to emergency services when you are lost for direction is also an advantage of Augmented Reality.
GM / Siemens already have prototypes available, so this might be available in the next 2 years on a large scale.
3. Door Peepholes with embedded AR
Augmented Reality in doors can enable to have a look at the person on the door, making it safer to check on the person. When someone knocks on our door, we want to know not only if they look like a murderer, but also their name and age. This could be possible using a facial recognition camera built into the peephole. While we’re at it, why not a quick popup of our visitor’s Facebook profile or their most recent tweet? In an AR world, ain’t nobody taking us by surprise!
We already have Business cards which make use of Facial Recognition for identifying people. This needs to get extended. Lets hope that this happens soon and the product can be available in two years tops.
4. Augmented Reality Maps
Be it the Pandora of Avatar, or just Lakshya from Bollywood, 3D maps are cool. Not to mention the fact that in the age of combat preperation and planning they provide an added advantage to be able to see the actual scene where you would be able to go. Add to it, Google Maps, Sketchup and the Google Map Builder. You have all the information available to make a 3D map of most of the places.
This technology will not only help combat, but will be able to provide support in terms of relief as well as interesting addition to the classroom as well. I would say this should be available now, as the technology allows it to be possible.
I guess I will do more of these applications in the part 2 of this post. Look out for it 🙂
I love technology, Augmented Reality is a favorite technology of the future and like a lot of people around the world I am insistent that it is going to be as big as technology can get. Companies are slowly realizing the potential of this platform as not just a great marketing and advertising tool, or a toy, but a definitive tool to help bridge the virtual and real world. Proof of the above statement is now car manufacturers are looking at making the technology available through Heads Up Displays on the windshield. Yes you read that right, AR is coming soon to a car near you. Well beofe we see what is available, lets see what it can look like ?
General Motors has been working with several universities to develop a working next-generation heads-up display that turns an ordinary windshield into an augmented reality information dashboard. Such a system can improve safety and advance knowledge behind the wheel, visually identifying important objects in physical space like road signs and the edges of the road you’re on in conditions of poor visibility. It can even bring GPS functions right into the dashboard by outlining the exact building you’re going to.
According to Technology Review, to turn the entire windshield into a display, GM used a special type of glass coated with red-emitting and blue-emitting phosphors–a clear synthetic material that glows when it is excited by ultraviolet light. The phosphor display is then activated by tiny, ultraviolet lasers bouncing off mirrors bundled near the windshield. Three cameras mounted on the dashboard track the driver’s head and eyes to determine where she is looking.
The HUD windshield uses night vision, navigation and camera-based sensors to gather data relevant to your surroundings as you drive, and ultraviolet lasers project corresponding images onto the windshield surface. GM says to look for this system being incorporated into its vehicles in the near future.
[tweetmeme] One of my favorite technologies that I keep writing about is Augmented reality and this is one technology that is definitely going to change a lot of habits among us; And the part of society or business that will be the first to adopt will be able to be on top when the technology comes up for good. Anyway, back to what I want to talk about, I did do a post earlier where I had mentioned how Cisco imagines our future, where we shop using augmented reality. That future is closer than I think it is. As a refresher check out the video below :
Now imagine how this could be happening ? Well, I have the answer. A business in London http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk has come up with an online solution for people to be able to select their glasses and having to try them on before buying them …. all online 🙂 How you ask me?
You can check it out yourself here. I can assure you that you will be surprised at the result. You can see a demo of the same here below :
This reminds of a very famous quote about the future :
“The future is already here, its just not evenly distributed ” – William Gibson
[tweetmeme] One of the biggest giants of the software industry alongside Google is Microsoft and unlike Google which relies on fans and partner companies to do most of the innovation in relation to hardware, Microsoft is taking on the task by itself. Against, a common competitor Apple and the iPad. Sometime earlier we looked at how the tablet industry is shaping up across the world, especially since Apple announced the iPad. It was more than just disappointing to see that Apple did the intro of the device which was not really great, however world over people seem to think that Apple has the right pulse when it comes to handhelds especially after the tremendous success of the iPod and the iPhone. So, without really performing any sort of sanity check all companies seem to jump on to the Tablet bandwagon, maybe through direct involvement or indirect. Today lets see one of the offerings that will be available just after the iPad.
Microsoft courier
Definitely one of my favorite devices in the list. Why ? well it embodies the concept of a hand held notebook (quite literally). I guess I might be speaking too soon, but the demo’s and concept photos that have surfaced recently, including windows mobile 7, seem to show Microsoft’s intent to start from scratch to make their offering better. Some of the pictures below here might just show how good this device might turn out to be, and a video showing how Microsoft thinks we will use this device.
The below video highlights the usability and how we might use it as a true journal.
I believe that we might really use this device and it is a lot more practical than the iPad.
Previously I did write about the Paleo future, a future which we thought the world would be like in the past. But definitely that future is a little deferred but still in line with what is today. You can check out the Paleo future post here. Lot of things have changed, even the internet that we so admire has changed or simply put, our interaction with the Internet has definitely changed. One of the main domains that has altered our world present, past and definitely in the future is information access.
In the 1800’s we were a clan of people that were meeting at the town center, or at the weekly market to exchange information about each other and the local surroundings, then the big revolution happened, Newspapers. Newspapers provided us with information about what was happening around the world without having to leave the comfort of the homes. It fascinated people that they could go and see pictures from places as well as news from people that are completely not in your circle of friends, village or even continent. The natural succession to the newspaper was the radio, the humble radio as it is called today was nothing short of a revolution at that moment, you could now listen to people live talking about events that happened as you spoke. Unbelievably, the information hunger that people had just kept increasing and now they wanted to also see what was happening, a few years later came the Idiot box, the one tool that ruled the homes, hearts and lives of millions of people around the world. New stars were born, created and then the term “15 seconds of fame” was put together.
Lurking in the background at the same time was a very geeky invention, the Computer and the Internet. It did not seem much until, the efforts of Microsoft along with a whole host of manufacturers put the computer in the homes of people. I know a lot of people will disagree with me about using Microsoft here, but let’s all face it, they were the first to move in to the home with interfaces that maybe the masses could understand and use. Now a majority of city dwellers have a very strong online presence. A presence that is almost like living on the internet where you choose what information you want to see, rather than the earlier medium of newspaper, radio and TV. The information highway got its 2 way route. So, whats next ? well there are theories and then there are theories. With technologies like augmented reality, virtual worlds and social news we are on the brink of yet another shift in our way of life … I have some videos here that shows different people’s opinion of the future. Please do have a look at these You tube videos.
World Builder – Its like Sketchup on steroids
Augmented Reality to the extreme .. Microsoft concept videos
Microsoft Office
Oh well cannot embed MSN video so, here is the link to the site.
Am not sure if it was the engineering or if I was built like this, I have always wanted to figure out how things work, especially within the engineering field. As I started to figure out some of these things, I wanted to share it with other. Hence ...
You can check it out yourself 
Melvin's Inquisitive Mind 