AUGMENTED REALITY!!1
Rejoice, augmented reality is here! OK, now.. what’s next?!
Wait, first we better roll the video – Bruce Sterling’s keynote for the launch of the Layar Reality Browser, in which, Bruce being Bruce, he drops a metric ton of reality of these hip Dutch hackers. In fact this is mandatory viewing for anyone in a tech scene faced with the dangerous prospect of imminent success:
Now, while there’s still a little hype juice left to squeeze out of the lemon, let’s run a bunch of clips showing just how now Augmented Reality is. Proof being, if it barely works, it’s cutting edge tech, riiight?!
First, Layar’s main rival – The Acrossair iPhone 3GS AR Browser:
Then the Yelp ‘Easter Egg’, later revealed to be using Layar’s platform:
Further proof that one of the initial killer apps for AR will be tourism, the augmented London Bus app for the iPhone:
Finally, a little South Korean weirdness to finish things off – Maptor, an AR “torch” is I guess the best description:
Yes, I know, I know, I know.. AR isn’t really here until it’s Clatter, right. Or HUDs at a minimum. Well, be patient.. Lockheed Martin just dropped a cool $US 1M to Microvision “to develop a see-through eyewear system for ground soldiers.” Cross-fingers, we’ll be getting our grubby paws on those in a few years.
So where do this leave us fine citizens of this marvellous Future Present?
By our current measure of the state of Future – ie Japanese anime – the world of Eden of the East is just around the corner, but Dennō Coil might be a ways off yet. As fans of this show know, that’s your shining example of the realisation of technology as magic, which Bruce mentions in the keynote.
With such wonders on the horizon, I can’t help wondering what’s lying beyond it. Anyone care to take a guess?
…why does Maptor have the same theme music as the Fleshlight?
[...] AUGMENTED REALITY!!1 [...]
Nah, the test of when a tech has arrived is can you play Doom^H^H^H^H Quake on it. ARQuake shows AR is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARQuake
haha, Layar Man is amazing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9eqcMGqJ-A&feature=related&fmt=18
ha! thx radian
I was entranced at Gibson’s take on AR in Spook Country. Add clatter to that? Pure nifty. Until you find yourself playing whack-a-mole with AR popup ads.
The moral? Advertising sucks.
I was entranced at Gibson’s take on AR in Spook Country. Add clatter to that? Pure nifty. Until the ad agencies get ahold of the tech and you find yourself playing whack-a-mole with AR popup ads on your lens.
The moral? Advertising sucks.
“b1ndychd – September 6th, 2009 at 5:29 am
…why does Maptor have the same theme music as the Fleshlight?”
Because, as the guy who introduces Bruce says, they’re into “Cyberspunk.”
Having played with one of Microvision’s earlier HUD prototypes, I’m really hoping they do get to the point where they’re commoditised tech. Even at 800×600 in single colour, it was a joy to use – even on my weak eye (+6.0 prescription), I just needed to move a focus knob and the image was crystal clear.
Still, the medium is not the message. We still need to find good ways of interacting with virtual content – and in the end, usability will play a big role in the form factor of the devices and interfaces we develop. What we can do influences what we think we should be able to do, and vice-versa.
[...] This is a sequel to his previous speech “At the dawn of the Augmented Reality Industry“, which you can find here. [...]