The LuminAR allows for the overlaying of digital information in all sorts of environments. Workplace applications may include going over engineering plans for a building, drawing animations, or video conferencing with other employees. The LuminAR exhibits immense opportunity for innovation. Instead of being limited to the finite space of a computer monitor users of the LuminAR will be able to innovate where they project their digital information and what function that information will serve.
In addition to its innovative possibilities, its familiar lamp like architecture makes it easy to incorporate into a multitude of workplace environments. This can serve as a big plus if/when this tech hits consumer markets.
The creator of the technology, Natin Linder, is a part of the Fluid Interfaces Group (MIT Media Lab). If you remember Pranav Mistry’s project SixthSense, you may be interested to know that he too is affiliated with the group.
Docomo, a mobile communications company, shows off its hands-free videophone prototype. The technology is designed to capture the users face and backdrop; it achieves this by situating cameras (w. fish eye lenses) on the front part of the device and a camera on the back of the device. Of course it wouldn’t be a phone without a component to capture the users voice. To do this they run a mic from the rear end of the device to the users mouth. Both the video and audio are then configured for dispatch and sent to the person on the other end of the call.
The person on the other end of the call though it not seeing the person for who they really are. Seeing as the cameras on the front of the device cannot capture the bottom half of the users face accurately, Docomo has designed the tech to incorporate a preconfigured CG-based model of the users face into the images being sent. This approach produces a inaccurate representation of the user and thus inaccurate expectations of what the user will look like. In a cultural and social context this approach becomes worrisome.
Do we value convenience when communicating enough to sacrifice realistic depictions of ourselves? If we so choose to go down this path, will the person we want to be become be lost as a result of having these technology mediate our social interactions?
Aurasma Augmented Reality technology is being used by Elizabeth Arden in an attempt to increase sales for a fragrance endorsed by Taylor Swift. They are doing this by incorporating Augmented Reality into their mailing campaigns. The recipients of the mail will receive a download link to the Aurasma app, once downloaded, it will allow them to access hidden video content featuring Taylor Swift.
I think this a great way to add value to their consumer product, but I could see downloading the app being problematic for some despite Jennifer Repps suggestion that ”Taylor Swift’s fans are some of the most devoted and tech-savvy out there…”.
Augmented Reality technology, thanks to MIT, now has the ability to assist those that are blind. The tech may not be refined yet, but the concept is there. I do hope they continue their work.
For those wondering what the significance of the technology is, read on. Blind people can use the AR tech to relay information that they would usually perceive if they could see to their ears. For example… which fruit they are touching at the grocery store… what they are walking on… how far/close a object is to them… etc. There are a multitude of applications for this device.
Thank you MIT!
This is a significant step into the future of traveling. No longer will there be a need to approach your destinations “tourist info desk” for your info. Instead this app along with others are decentralizing information into smaller more compact info dispensaries; in this case they are your phone.
Goggles… headgear… contacts… glasses… implants… these are all mediums that we as consumers can use or will use to augment our realities. Question is which one will we choose and for what reasons?
I can only begin to think of the various unique features each medium will be equipped with. For example Google’ Glasses… boasts a built in microphone and webcam… while Canon’ Headgear boasts mixed reality technology… and iOptiks by Innovega boast rear projection glasses accompanied with contact lenses that allow the projections to be visible to the human eye.
All the unique qualities that each tech possesses will give it some sort of competitive edge over the other. For starters, Google seems to be after the average joe, Innovega after the military, and Canon after industrial designers. I drew these conclusion based on previous news reports in case you were wondering, they can be found on our twitter page.
Hopefully this gets you thinking about some of the various tech available/soon to be available and how you as a consumer can benefit.
Augmented Reality has made its way into into a fine arts exhibit called Project Paperclip. The creator, a portuguese creative by the name of Nuno Serrao uses AR to bridge the gap between our real environments and digital environments; a concept that will grow provided our hunger for digital content persists.
What I find most exciting about this exhibit is its potential to induce a dream within its viewers. Especially in a world were creativity and imagination can be hard to come by and yet can take one so far. I hope to see more exhibits/tools/shows that adopt a similar style. Being immersed into a entirely different world that gives rise to the imagination is a great thing; we see this with literature, video, video games, and other forms of media.
Programmers, software engineers, techies, and persons alike are becoming inspired by the opportunities that Augmented Reality technology offers. Many of which were touched on in the Google glass promo video. In the video above a man by the name of Will Powell demonstrates a project glass inspired device that he created to translate english to spanish and display the translations on his 3D glasses. What an awesome idea. We will have to throw that one in the meme pool along with the others.
Interested in knowing more about Ikea’s new Augmented Reality catalogue? Click the url above or check out wireds’ report along with mashables’ if you still haven’t gotten the gist of whats happening.
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