Augmented Reality

This NewScientistTech article looks a iAPLS system: an augmented reality application for iPhone which helps the police track suspects. From the article: "PICTURE the scene: armed police officers are warned on their radios that a suspected male terrorist has been tracked to a crowded football stadium. Even with a full description, it's all but impossible to pick him out amid the match-day melee. Perhaps smartphones fed augmented reality (AR) data by the police control centre could help focus the search.

This EETimes Europe article looks at the VW video-based position system which determines the correct position of a projector as well as the observers relatively to the vehicle. From the article: "For the training of technical experts in the field of car service, Volkswagen increasingly employs augmented reality technologies. The digital projections enable the company to convey the complex technical inner life of the vehicles to the trainees much better than conventional methods.

The company employs a video-based position system which determines the correct position of a projector as well as the observers relatively to the vehicle. The computer-generated image is then projected precisely to the vehicle's surface; participants can see what's under the car's skin without specific data goggles.

This Singularity Hub article looks at the iButterfly iPhone application which let you catch virtual butterflies and turn them in for valuable offers. From the article: "If you see some crazy person waving their phone around like they’re trying to hit an imaginary bug, don’t worry – they’re just catching coupons. The Mobile Art Lab in Japan has developed a new iPhone App, iButterfly, that lets you catch virtual butterflies and turn them in for valuable offers. iButterfly is an augmented reality program, it takes the video feed from your phone’s camera and superimposes virtual images – in this case butterflies. Users can travel all around Japan and see a wide variety of ‘butterfly species’, including some that look like pop celebrities or pieces of food. A quick swipe of the phone and the insect is caught.

This Engadget article looks at the Japan's NTT DoCoMo AR Walker system. Here's a video about the system. From the article: "Say you're in New York... or Tokyo. You have absolutely no idea where you are, where you need to go, or where the closest Starbucks is. Sure, you could look at the mapping app on your AGPS-equipped handset, but where's the sci-fi in that? Leave it to Japan's NTT DoCoMo (in partnership with Olympus) to whip up a wearable augmented reality solution that's nearly small enough (and reasonable-looking enough) for individuals with an ounce of self-respect to use, and we've had a chance to check it out here at CEATEC this week.

This I Programmer article looks at the LightSpace project: a user interface that uses a whole room. Here's a video about the project. From the article: "It's not so long since we were all entranced by the original GUI with its icons and key innovation - the mouse. Recently we moved on to gestural interfaces and touch is the key input device. Now Microsoft Research are showing off a system that gives us some idea where this might all be going. LightSpace is a user interface that uses a whole room.

This Escapist article reports japanese researchers have successfully made a device that can change the flavor of a plain cookie to just about anything. From the article: "The future of augmented reality is in pastries that can taste like other pastries.

I had always thought that virtual reality devices would someday be used to make us think we could travel to unimaginable worlds through the depths of time and space. We haven't gotten there yet, but we're making progress through pastry. Japanese researchers have successfully made a device that can change the flavor of a plain cookie to just about anything.

This ZDNet Emerging Tech article reports GM has developed a working heads-up display that turns an ordinary windshield into an augmented reality information dashboard. From the article: "Over the past ten years, General Motors has poured over $11 million into a research partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, and there are signs that the relationship is bearing fruit.

The human/machine interface department at GM has developed a working heads-up display that turns an ordinary windshield into an augmented reality information dashboard.

This Physorg.com article reports "NEC and Brother are both developing wearable prototype devices that use Retinal Imaging Display (RID) technology to project images directly on the wearer's retina. NEC's gadget is designed to interpret foreign languages and project a translation onto the retina, making it possible to have a conversation without an interpreter. Brother's device will project images of documents, allowing the wearer to read them in complete privacy.

From this Science Daily article: " "Augmented reality" involves mixing the real world with computer-generated images. The result is a kind of visual Walkman. Jurjen Caarls developed a prototype, which is the subject of a doctoral dissertation that he recently defended at Delft Univesity of Technology (The Netherlands).

One example of augmented reality is a special helmet, in which images are projected into the wearer’s eyes, thereby creating the illusion that these images are part of reality. It is as if extra elements are being added to reality.

This Science Daily article reports how a "visual time machine" offers tourists a momentary view of the past combining augmented reality (AR) content with location awareness on mobile devices. From the article: "A ruined temple, ancient frescos and even a long-dead king have been brought to life by a “visual time machine” developed by European researchers.