1. APX Labs Added Gesture Control to Epson Moverio to Display 360° Video Wall

While Google Glass has taken over the conversation in the wearable computing market, it’s far from the only game in town. Epson’s Moverio BT-100  was also shown on Google I/O. These Epson smart glasses have actually been on the market for over a year and are the result of over 15 years of research and development. While Google Glass is more geared for consumers, the Moverio BT-100 has its eyes set on developers and commercial uses for hands-free computing.

Epson used I/O as a place to showcase its Moverio BT-100 smart glasses, with an exhibit in the YouTube Developers Sandbox showing the high-tech glasses running a virtual YouTube wall.

The $700 Moverio smart glasses feature a pair of transparent lenses so you can see 3D augmented reality content projected on top of the real world. These glasses also have on-board Wi-Fi connectivity and are wired to an Android-based mini-touchpad where you can side-load content like Angry Birds via its microSD card slot. APX Labs updated the BT-100 with a 5-megapixel camera, a microphone, and motion sensors like a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and a magnetometer. Currently, these additions to the Epson glasses are housed in a white box above the lenses, but both companies would like to work those technologies into the frames so they will look more slick over time.

Using YouTube’s latest developer API, the glasses displayed a wall of YouTube videos that could be controlled by tilting your head. The app was developed by APX Labs, using the company’s Northstar user interface, and was meant to be merely a demonstration of what’s possible with the technology.

URL: http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/epsons-moverio-smart-glasses-show-off-gesture-controls-at-google-io/

2. Meta Launched Kickstarter Campaign

On May 17 launched Kickstarter campaign with the goal of raising 100 grand in 30 days.

The latest is Meta, an immersive 3-D headset layered on top of the real world. Meta wearers can interact with virtual games, architectural renderings and other 3-D objects by using their hands.

The device itself is still in the development stages, hence the fact that the Kickstarter campaign is for a dev kit of the Meta 1. And as such, the pair of glasses aren’t quite as compact as Google Glass. The Meta 1 features rather squared-off frames that look uncomfortable, with a 3D webcam mounted on the top. Granted, it’s only meant for developers, so the final version should be much more catered towards consumers.

“If Google Glass brings your phone to your face, Meta aims to bring the computing power of a PC to your face,” said Meta founder and CEO Meron Gribetz. “Before you can have the phone, you should have the PC,” he argued.

The tech specs are: 960×540 resolution for each eye, 23 degrees field of view, two webcams, USB and HDMI inputs. Despite the fact that the device looks bulky, its weight is only 0.3 kg.

URL: http://www.slashgear.com/meta-1-augmented-reality-headset-fully-detailed-on-kickstarter-17282582/

3. Augmented Reality Game Hermaton: Enter the Grid

Hermaton was created by Darf Design, a small independent game design studio from London. Hermaton is an augmented reality exploration game like you have never seen before. Journey through the 3D environment of the Hermaton machine by weaving your device around the buzz wire maze, attempting to switch on as many lights as you can. Explore this mystical contraption and watch the machine come to life with each light turned on.

Although available at table top versions, the premise of this project lies in its capacity to harness augmented reality as a spatial medium which transcends mere visualisation and enters a dialogue between physical and digital space. The large scale of the installation allows a greater understanding of how augmented reality can affect us at an architectural level and change the way we inhabit and perceive the built environment. The AR system is enlarged to occupy an entire room by covering each wall with trackable markers which can be experienced on both Android and iOS devices. The prototype was developed using Vuforia Augmented Reality SDK and Unity3d.

To use this app you have to print the image and to download the app from Google Play or iTunes Store.

URL: http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2013/05/augmented-reality-hermaton-enter-the-grid/

4. Create Your Own AR App without Any Technical Knowledge

On May 13 UK startup VirtualMob officially launched its own Augmented Reality self-service — Point-at-Me (PAM) — which mixes drag ‘n’ drop content creation, e-commerce, and analytics. The service is designed to help brands easily build their own augmented reality.

Point-at-Me has been in a private beta testing phase for the past month. During this testing, the service was used by more than 100 brands, including Hyundai, The Waldorf Astoria, Victoria’s Secret, and Unilever. These brands used the service to develop their own augmented reality campaigns that were used in the United Kingdom.

PAM aims to lower the barriers for brands who want to build Augmented Reality-enabled mobile apps and campaigns. It combines a CMS platform to let them create AR experiences without the need to code, which can then be accessed by consumers through the accompanying PAM smartphone app or by being integrated into the brand’s own app. In that sense, one way to think of VirtualMob’s proposition might be a WordPress for AR — and certainly this is about democratising access to the technology for content creators through ease-of-use and reduced cost.

URL: http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/13/point-at-me/

5. Former Valve Hardware Engineers Are Working on a Pair of AR Glasses

Former Valve employees Jeri Ellsworth and Rick Johnson continue their work on one of the company’s secret projects: augmented reality glasses called CastAR.

It’s nothing like Oculus Rift, Epson Moverio or Google Glass. The idea of CastAR is to project a miniature virtual reality, which you can see and interact with in three dimensions, onto the retro reflective projector screen.

CastAR operates through four main components: a pair of mini projectors, a retro reflective projector screen, active shutter glasses that filter images for both eyes and a built-in camera that uses infrared LEDs, which allows software to adjust 3D perspective in real time so that you can physically look around virtual objects.

Thanks to the retroreflective surface, so much of the light gets reflected directly back to the viewer that there’s very little cross-talk between players… you pretty much only see the light intended for you, which makes adding additional friends easy so long as they have their own pair of specs.

After Maker Faire, a Kickstarter project is the next step: in late summer or early fall, interested parties will be able to pledge money towards the system’s development. Ellsworth and Johnson think they can get the cost of a basic system below $200 thanks to the commodity components they’re using and their own expertise.

URL: http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/18/4343382/technical-illusions-valve-augmented-reality-glasses-jeri-ellsworth-rick-johnson

New AR applications:

1. PlaySmart
2. SEPAC Stamps
3. CityViewAR – Christchurch
4. Wotsdis Travel Guide Istambul
5. Will Stevens
6. Nito
7. let’s play – augmented reality
8. Recognize Showcase
9. IM Studios Card
10. ARDinosaursHD 2
11. Romantic AR by Merxius
12. Nissan Motorsport
13. CS50 Storyteller
14. smARrtpaper
15. Hermaton
16. First Scotland AR
17. Umbria golf
18. ARWisdom
19. COPTAR free
20. Beesionary
21. Brother-HL 1118
22. radARmAPP
23. Thai Film

Prepared by:

Business plan competition “Iron Entrepreneur” took place on April 24, 2013 in Kiev as a part of Kiev Startup Week. Student teams from 15 Ukrainian cities participated in the competition.

“Iron entrepreneur” competition is a series of business games, in which participants suggest possible ways to use the new technology, together as a team select the most promising product, create business model and make a presentation of the proposed solutions.

The event is held and organized by Moscow Higher School of Economics. A theme for semifinal was proposed by AR23D Studio – the main sponsor of the semifinal. V. Goncharuk, Oleg Saydak (FINAM) were among the jury members.

The main task for contestants this time was to come up with a business idea for Google Glass and to draw up a short business plan of their idea. Teams had to come up with as many ideas as possible, choose the most promising one from a commercial point of view, develop a business model for this idea, determine the target audience and promotion techniques for this new product, and prepare a presentation in Power Point. Seams easy? Then imagine you have only one hour to do all this!

The jury noted the high creativity of participants. All teams presented interesting ideas mostly related to B2B services – for transport and construction companies, museums, logistics and courier delivery services companies, etc.

There were two winners: the team that offered to use this technology to optimize warehouse logistics and the team with an idea of using Google Glass in museums to improve visitor experience. These two teams will represent Ukraine in the final, which will take place on May 17, 2013 in Moscow. They will compete with another 15 teams from Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia regions.

   Such events as “Iron Entrepreneur” is a great way to popularize technological entrepreneurship, motivate students of various universities to work in IT sphere, develop students’ skills of teamwork and project presentations and to offer creators of technology unusual product solutions.

1. Pioneer AR Car Navigation System

Pioneer will soon launch a new augmented reality car navigation system in Japan. The new “Cyber Navi” system will be released in June and will include dashboard cameras to scan the road ahead for approaching street signs and other cars, dashboard LCD screen and driver’s heads-up display which will be used to present driving instructions for navigation, and highlight nearby points of interest like gas stations and convenience stores with large floating icons.

Image recognition software will be used to identify potential hazards like crosswalks, to introduce “lane assist” functionality etc. The system also tracks the car immediately in front of the driver, marking it with a large triangular symbol and calculating the distance between the two vehicles.

Pioneer’s system will automatically snap and upload images using its camera, so the other drivers using the same system can check real-time traffic conditions.an be viewed by other drivers using the same system to check real-time traffic and road conditions.

Pioneer has not yet revealed a price for the whole system, but the heads-up display can be purchased separately for use with existing Pioneer car navigation systems for ¥105,000 ($1,000). All such systems will require wireless access point. The wireless device runs on NTT DoCoMo’s 3G “FOMA” network and costs ¥26,250 with three years of unlimited data.

URL: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2038262/pioneer-to-crowdsource-car-navigation-add-augmented-reality.html

2. Vuzix Will Demonstrate the Power of AR and Real-Time Data Access at SAPPHIRE NOW 2013

Vuzix Corporation, a leading developer and supplier of smart glasses, has announced that it has been working with SAP, a global provider of enterprise application software, to develop cutting edge augmented reality applications for warehousing, in field data collection and other mobile applications.  Using its award-winning M100 Smart Glasses, Vuzix will demonstrate the capabilities at SAP’s SAPPHIRE NOW event on May 15th in Orlando Florida.

There will be two different demonstrations of how Smart Glasses can be integrated with the enterprise software systems to solve problems and create efficiencies for enterprise level customers. The first demonstration will be a real-time augmented reality warehouse “picking” application. The second will be a real-time data and video collection from the factory floor to remote sites.

Vuzix President and CEO Paul Travers said, “For AR to be the most useful, all sensory input and computer generated information needs to be processed in real-time. The only way to do this effectively today is by running the applications resident in the glasses. Since the M100 is an open system that does not require an internet connection to run applications, the glasses can be used in almost any environment from the middle of the woods to a pipeline in Alaska”.

URL: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vuzix-to-unleash-the-power-of-augmented-reality-and-real-time-data-access-at-saps-sapphire-now-2013-206904021.html

3. Metro US introduces AR articles

Augmented reality gains popularity every day. Many companies all over the world include AR features to their products not only to achieve wow effect, but to provide improved user experience. The great example of such use of AR technology is adding AR features to newspapers’ articles. We have already written about The Independent two weeks ago, today we want to tell you about the Metro US.

Metro US, the country’s number 1 free daily newspaper has partnered with Blippar. Metro officially launched Blippar in the Summer Movie Preview issue on May 3 with great success. Readers were able to virtually “try on” the Iron Man suit, answer a celebrity gossip poll, reveal hidden content, and see a movie trailer.

“Metro is delighted to be the first newspaper in the USA to partner with Blippar,” stated Yggers Mortensen, Metro Publisher & CEO. “Blippar is an all-new opportunity for readers to interact with content – and for advertisers to achieve valuable, interactive engagement with readers.”

The free Blippar app is available on the iPhone App Store and Android Market.

URL: http://www.metro.us/newyork/news/national/2013/05/06/just-blip-it-metro-partners-with-augmented-reality-platform-blippar/

4. Frankfurt Airport Now Has Virtual Shopping Wall

The new initiative of Heinemann Duty Free will allow passengers passing by Frankfurt Airport’s Schengen Gate B59 to buy duty free goods by simply pointing their smartphone’s camera at the wall.

The wall is covered with images of popular travel retail products, with each one accompanied by a unique QR code. When the code is scanned by a passenger’s smartphone, they can proceed to place the product into a virtual shopping basket. After placing their order they have to wait for it to arrive at the pick-up point nearby in less than fifteen minutes. Payment is only taken upon the collection of the purchases.

“The trial period that we’ve organised in partnership with airport operator Fraport is limited to six months in the first instance. The main point of it is not to make a lot of sales. We are more interested in finding out how the new virtual shop is used and which nationalities it appeals to most. At the same time, of course, we want to make shopping even easier and more relaxing for our customers,” said Markus Ettlin, Head of Central Marketing at Gebr Heinemann.

URL: http://www.futuretravelexperience.com/2013/05/frankfurt-airport-receives-virtual-shopping-wall/

5. Clandestine: Anomaly – Defend Earth in Augmented Reality

The new game Clandestine: Anomaly by ZenFri will turn our world into a battle ground using the power of AR technology.

This is tower defense game in core, but it introduces the map of the real world as a gaming map. This idea is not totally new, but the fact that if you point your camera at where the map says there is an alien you will see the alien on the screen – that’s really cool.

Also, developer ZenFri seem to understand that you don’t want to always be going out in public holding your phone at arm’s length talking about aliens getting in the goddamn library, they’ve included a scavenger mode where you can go about your house finding alien tech to salvage and turn it into towers.

The game is still in development, but you can check out a video of how the game’s tech works:

Just imagine how cool would it be to play this game in some AR glasses!

URL: http://www.pcgamesn.com/indie/clandestine-anomaly-has-you-defend-our-earth-augmented-reality

 New AR applications:

1. Solar Exposure Lite
2. Wright STate Brain Scan
3. Tantric Star AR
4. Sol 3D
5. Tha Six Pack
6. My Dragon Toy
7. GlorAR
8. Ooh-AR
9. AR Panoramas – 3D Augmented Reality Panoramas
10. Augmented Reality Art Gallery
11. Virty Street
12. Bloom Card
13. JengAR Lite
14. Moowi
15. ParksVille
16. KATZ
17. Bigfoot AR
18. Boot Camp Bob AR
19. Cisco Partner Summit 2013 Augmented Reality
20. AR Interact
21. HomeOffish
22. ARnimals
23. MHC Ad Reader
24. RNGM AR
25. Visuartech Augmented Reality
26. Kus me!
27. xPlus
28. LG Turbowash 3D AR App
29. Vvive – Virtual Reality Marketing
30. Hotel California Malayalam Movie
31. SaveAR
32. Triview Free
33. KeyAR
34. Augmented Reality Architecture
35. Assiniboine Park and Zoo
36. Palace Gardens Waterstone Homes
37. Screen Plus
38. Man of Steel Experience
39. Alma Mater AR
40. Tine Kuer AR
41. imos Viewer
42. imos 360
43. FreeFlightUS
44. raumgleiter AR
45. Willard
46. Wonderland AR
47. Mix Flapp
48. Toblerone Crunchy
49. IUXTA
50. AR House
51. LG Showroom 2013

Prepared by:

AR23D can’t be called start-up any longer. It is a profitable company with serious ambitions to spread its influence on the markets of several continents. It is a significant fact considering that the headquarters of the company is located in Odessa – on the territory of CIS. Today AR23D attracts large foreign investments, work on augmented reality projects for the most popular mobile platforms and has a particular interest in Smart glasses industry, looming on the horizon. ARNext asked Vitaly  Goncharuk, the CEO of AR23D, to tell about the current spheres of interest and plans of the company.

What are your business interests? Which products do you propose?

We earn mainly by issuing licenses on our solutions to advertising and marketing companies. Recently we have signed up a very interesting contract on games licensing with one of the largest manufacturer of souvenirs in Great Britain.

Our current products are games My Dragon Toy, AR Basketball, Bugs Mayhem and systems for advertising based on augmented reality (for example, browser GlorAR) for iOS, Android and Windows Phone platforms.

Why mobile platforms have become a priority for you?

This has happened due to the huge market capacity, plus there is no need to deal with hardware.

Today there are large software companies on the augmented reality market, for example, Total Immersion and metaio, which produce their own software platforms. However, the young age of an industry suggests that new players with their own SDK such as AR23D can get to the top. What is the position of 3D Augmented Reality SDK on the market?

AR23D relies not on technology, but on the products and services that are clear to our customers. Therefore, we consider metaio, Qualcomm and similar companies not our competitors, but rather potential suppliers of interesting technologies.

At the moment we are focused mainly on creating our portfolio of games and B2B-solutions for advertising and marketing.

The most promising event of 2013 in AR sphere is expected to be the release of chip sets for cell phones with chips capable of processing augmented reality from metaio – AREngine. What prospects are being opened to business (advertising in particular) with the emergence of the capacity in smartphones and tablets allocated for the construction of augmented reality?

The main problem of making augmented reality profitable is not a lack of technology, but a lack of high quality services and products that could meet real needs of consumers and increase the ROI (return of investment) in the business. Although, I believe, the quality of solutions should be significantly improved with this new product from metaio.

What is your assessment of the future of augmented reality glasses? Are you engaged in development in this area? 

Yes, we are very actively engaged in this. Recently we have become a development partner of Vuzix.

We believe that the announced augmented reality glasses from Google and Vuzix M100 during the first 1-2 years will be effective mostly in narrow niches (mainly for B2B-solutions). They will receive mass distribution only with the development of services for them and improved user performance – no earlier than 2014.

Can AR-technology move advertising to a higher level?

Sure, they can, especially from the moment when the AR-browser will become a default app in mobile devices.

According to your press release on the successful attraction of investment from the venture fund AVentures, AR23D with headquarters in Odessa focuses on income from the markets in the USA, Europe and the Persian Gulf States. Do you have any plans for development in the CIS countries – in particular, in Russia?

We do have plans. I get requests from Russia to participate in the AR-projects at least once a week. We are currently looking for a partner in Moscow which would take over the tasks of distribution of our products and technologies, active work with BTL, marketing and advertising agencies.

Could you share your plans for the nearest future?

We are actively investing in the development of AR games and B2B solutions as well as building up the network of partners on markets that interes us the most – USA, Western Europe, China and Russia.

We also have a few very interesting B2B-solutions for AR-glasses and we are looking forward to their mass production!

Links and references:

AR23D Studio   – http://ar23d.com

Vitaliy Goncharuk – http://ua.linkedin.com/in/vactivity/

Original interview (Russian language) on ARNext can be found here

1. The Independent Launches Augmented Reality Feature in Print Edition

The Independent has become the first paper worldwide to fully integrate Blippar into their news editorial workflow.

The Independent has launched an augmented reality feature in its print production using the Blippar app, allowing users to turn content multimedia by using the camera on their smartphones. Articles supporting this feature will come with an Independent+ icon, offering further content in audio and video formats to stories of interest to users. The newspaper is also using the app to increase audience engagement by allowing readers to vote in polls related to opinion articles. The Independent said AR supplements will be available in all sections of the newspaper.

“The launch of Independent+ highlights our continued investment in digital innovation, adding even more value and another new dimension to the Independent’s content. There is also significant potential for our commercial partners and agencies to extend clients’ ad campaign and sponsorships through the platform,” said Zach Leonard, managing director for digital at the Independent.

URL: http://www.editorsweblog.org/2013/04/26/independent-integrates-augmented-reality-into-editorial-workflow

2. Google Patent Brings Augmented Reality Navigation to Life

Google has been granted a patent that brings several of its ideas, including Maps Navigation, augmented reality and Street View, into one single sat-nav system.

The patent is titled “Panoramic images within driving directions” (contained in United States Patent 8,428,873) and describes a GPS guidance system that overlays information via a video feed onto your windscreen.

The application describes a system combining garden variety GPS guidance with panoramic images, 3D models, full-motion video and even live feeds to enhance the route display — all in the correct 3D driver’s view perspective. The main idea behind this patent is to make navigation simpler by making your screen-view of the road more or less match your view in the windshield.

URL: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/23/google-patent-virtual-reality-gps-navigation/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

3. Smart Glasses Future Sales Research

According to a report from technology market watcher IHS, the success of smart glasses, such as Google Glass, will depend on their augmented reality capabilities.

Unless application developers find ways to present useful information in the wearer’s line of sight that can be integrated into casual use, smart glasses such as Google Glass will be little more than wearable cameras. IHS predicts that in this case 1 million smart glasses will be shipped through to 2016. This would be a disaster for Google, which says Glass will be generally available from 2014.

But if developers focus on AR capabilities of glasses and find ways to safely and easily integrate this feature into casual use and will make this feature useful to customers, that figure would be 10 million.

URL: http://www.information-age.com/technology/mobile-and-networking/123457008/smart-glasses-will-fail-without-augmented-reality–research-predicts

4. “100 World Class South Africans”

Using augmented reality in newspapers and magazines becomes more and more popular. Many popular printed editions already have additional AR layer of information which can be accessed via smartphone or tablet. The new compilation of 100 most famous South Africans is not an exception.

“100 World Class South Africans” was launched on Sunday 28 April. The special 44-page edition is bundled with the Sunday newspaper to commemorate Freedom Day. The magazine comes decked with a high-tech Augmented Reality (AR) cover, which channels an extra virtual dimension to smart device users and is the first AR Sunday newspaper magazine cover in South Africa.

The selection process was rigorous for the 100 living South Africans who have achieved world class status in the arts, sciences, business, design, civil society and sport. Ferial Haffajee, City Press Editor-in-Chief, hopes that this magazine will be a reminder for all South Africans to stand tall and proud amongst other great nations.

URL: http://www.marklives.com/wordpress/2013/04/city-press-celebrates-100-world-class-south-africans-in-augmented-reality-style/

5. Augmented Reality-Enhanced Tickets from Royal Challengers Bangalore

An Indian cricket team will introduce augmented reality-enhanced tickets for its fans next month. The Royal Challengers Bangalore are just the latest of a handful of sports clubs to use the still-emerging technology, but this may be most useful implementation yet. On scanning the logo once, you would not only access highlights and other regular features but a list of really useful features such as:

1. Live traffic updates from areas surrounding M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
2. Parking and a call-a-cab service feature information that would make your travelling easy.
3. And other exciting features like 3D stadium view, team store and video highlights.

AR features are provided via Point, an augmented-reality browser that’s done work for companies such as Nike and Toyota. It’s available for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry, as well as for feature phones that have both a camera and GPRS connectivity.

URL: http://mashable.com/2013/04/23/augmented-reality-sports-tickets/

 New AR applications:

1. PopAR Soccer Puzzle
2. SA Zoo-AR
3. Leeb ViewAR
4. iContinental
5. iShapp – Realidad Aumentada
6. MyGoggles
7. Zoop
8. AR Advance
9. Quargo
10. Inbound Sheriff
11. AR Nordic
12. Marwick Moss
13. iBlue PhotoPool for iPad
14. 100 World Class South Africans
15. Rink of Fire 2013

Prepared by:

1. AR Touch and Gesture Interactive Interface Developed by Fujitsu

Fujitsu Laboratories has developed a next generation AR technology which can turn nearly any surface into an interactive touch interface. The system accurately detects the user’s finger and what it is touching, creating an interactive touchscreen-like interface, using objects in the real word. The system consists of quite common equipment: a webcam and a commercial projector. Its capabilities are achieved by image processing.

This technology measures the shape of real-world objects, and automatically adjusts the coordinate systems for the camera, projector, and real world. It allows the system to work not only with flat surfaces like table or sheet of paper, but with curved surfaces of objects such as books or magazines.

Using this technology, information can be imported from a document as data, by selecting the necessary parts with your finger. The system can also be used to manipulate 3D CAD data with simple gestures.

URL: http://www.diginfo.tv/v/13-0025-r-en.php

2. Metaio Predicts Their AR Engine in Mobile Devices by the End of the Year

At this year’s Mobile World Congress, Metaio announced the AR Engine, the first-ever hardware IP dedicated to accelerating new Augmented Reality hardware interfaces. On April 17th Metaio announced the opening of an all-new office in Dallas, Texas, which will focus entirely on advancements and platform research in order to engineer the next generation of Augmented Reality software and devices.

So, despite the collapse of its one big announced customer, ST-Ericsson, Metaio says it expects to have its dedicated chips in mobile devices by year-end.

The company announced the ST-Ericsson deal at Mobile World Congress in February. ST-Ericsson’s future chipsets were to include a dedicated augmented reality (AR) processor using Metaio’s designs. However, less than a month later STMicroelectronics and Ericsson announced the end of their chipset joint venture, along with the cancellation of the ST-Ericsson NovaThor chipsets.

According to Metaio spokeswoman Anett Gläsel-Maslov, it is still in talks with both STMicro and Ericsson about the use of its technology, an there are also negotiations with other (undisclosed) companies. What’s more, she said, the company is near-certain that it will see its “AR Engine in devices by the end of the year”.

URL: http://gigaom.com/2013/04/18/metaio-predicts-augmented-reality-chips-in-devices-by-end-of-2013/

3. “Sesame Street” Is Expanding Its Reach to Rural India with New Mobile Services

Not all of India’s kids have access to a TV, so the official Indian version of “Sesame Street” is expanding its reach with new mobile services that work on all phones.

Sesame Workshop’s Scott Chambers talked about those services at Dive Into Mobile on April 16th in New York City. The hope is that Sesame will now have a better way to educate children in rural areas, where mobile devices have greater penetration.

Chambers also demoed an AR app application called Big Bird’s Words. The app allows children to use a phone’s camera to find printed words that Big Bird announces from out of a 500-word vocabulary. The app isn’t commercially available yet, but Sesame Workshop is experimenting with it now in the U.S.

Chambers called the Indian mobile outreach program a successful experiment.

URL: http://allthingsd.com/20130416/sesame-workshop-shows-off-mobile-experiments-in-rural-india-augmented-reality/

4. Nissan shows off Teana with AR

For the Guangzhou, China launch of Nissan’s new Teana, RTT developed an impressive AR-based presentation that offered the public a detailed, scaled product experience in an unseen before form and quality. The presentation gave onlookers a comprehensive insight into the vehicle’s exterior, as well as its technical advantages and refinements. During the unveiling, a virtual image of the Teana was projected onto the stage and orchestrated interactively with AR in front of the public’s eyes. This was made possible by tracking the presenter´s on-stage movements in realtime and combining the information with scenes produced in RTT DeltaGen. Tracking systems, including cameras and tracking software for the stage setup were provided by ART, the leading vendor of virtual- and augmented-reality tracking systems.

The AR model of the Teana was generated from over 30 million polygons – a huge leap over traditional AR applications that use a much smaller number of polygons and therefore only produce semi-realistic presentations. The project, based on an NVIDIA hardware platform, ran for sixteen weeks from green light to live onstage deployment.

URL: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/4/prweb10642701.htm

5. Google Is Forbidding Users from Reselling or Loaning Google Glass

When you get a chance to buy a limited edition of some product, it usually comes to mind you can make some money by reselling it, if you don’t actually need it yourself. Google has recently chosen 8000 winners of Glass contest, so for the moment, not just anybody can buy the eyewear. But Google is barring anyone from selling or even loaning out the highly coveted gadget.

The company’s terms of service on the limited-edition wearable computer specifically states, “you may not resell, loan, transfer, or give your device to any other person. If you resell, loan, transfer, or give your device to any other person without Google’s authorization, Google reserves the right to deactivate the device, and neither you nor the unauthorized person using the device will be entitled to any refund, product support, or product warranty.”

The company knows if the eyewear was transferred because each device is registered under the buyer’s Google account.

Do you still think you own your hardware? Welcome to the New World, one in which companies are retaining control of their products even after consumers purchase them.

URL: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/04/google-glass-resales/

New AR applications:

1. Muffiosi
2. Looking Glass AR
3. Power Tattoo
4. Haworth Visualize My Space
5. Man of Steel
6. Locum AR
7. LTE AR EB2013
8. Tai Aguero AR
9. KIA 
10. Jaguar F-TYPE Augmented Reality
11. Mappi
12. Triggar
13. Doing3D
14. Snap2Tell
15. RundetARn
16. Augmented Reality Showcase
17. PopAR Basketball Puzzle
18. AR Dome
19. Pitzer 3D
20. Burn Guide
21. Experenti Kit
22. UNH Mobile
23. Aurecmedia
24. TrentoFilmFestival

Prepared by:

1. STAR 1200XLD – the New Augmented Reality Eyewear from Vuzix

Vuzix has announced the launch of its STAR 1200XLD all-digital see-through video glasses. It’s not entirely new product. The 1200XLD is an upgraded version of the previous 1200XL. The new 1200XLD has a new HDMI interface and supports content featuring DRM, so at last you can connect a single video eyewear model to products ranging from a desktop or laptop computer to mobile devices, such as a tablet or smartphone, and even your 3D Blu-ray player.

The main technical specifications of 1200XLD are the same as of previous model. The STAR 1200XLD has a native 16:9 format with full color WVGA (852 x 480) displays which is seen as a single 75″ virtual display (if you were standing 10 feet away from the screen). It has adjustable eye-separation and AccuTilt® technology that delivers visual clarity and display quality. Glasses also include 3DOF motion tracking sensors and an integrated full HD camera for tracking and recognizing real world objects.

The retail price of $4999 and geeky look makes this product useful only for researchers.

URL: http://www.slashgear.com/vuzix-unveils-star-1200xld-all-digital-augmented-reality-glasses-12277592/

2. Marketing Report Highlights Augmented Reality in Gaming and Entertainment

Mind Commerce, a leading market research and consulting firm, has released a new report concerning the state of augmented reality in the game and entertainment industries. The report highlights the trends that exist in these sectors and how augmented reality is being used to engage consumers in a  more dynamic fashion.

“Augmented Reality in Gaming and Entertainment” is the title of the report released. It  sheds some light on how immersivedigital technology is beginning to play more and more important role in the engagement of consumers. The report suggests that Augmented Reality represents a live, direct or indirect view of the world enhanced by digital displays and other computer-generated stimuli.

Report consists of three sections. The first section evaluates the development of the AR applications in general. The second one focuses on the use of AR in the entertainment industry. It includes case studies and analysis on the use of AR applications gaming. The third section of the report consists of analysis of the market for the AR applications in gaming with forecasting from 2013 through 2016.

URl: http://www.qrcodepress.com/augmented-reality-may-be-a-powerful-tool-for-gaming-and-entertainment/8518928/

3. Invizimals – Augmented Reality Games for PS3 and PS Vita

Sony Europe’s XDev Studios will release two new Invizimals games on PlayStation platforms this year – Invizimals: The Alliance for the PS Vita and Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom for Playstation 3.

The Alliance is in development at Barcelona, Spain-based studio Novarama Technology, who was behind the original Invizimals Trilogy on PSP. The other title, Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom, is coming to PS3, and is in development at Magenta Software in Liverpool, UK.

For the first time, players of Invizimals: The Alliance will be able to link up with players of Invizimals: The Lost Kingdom on PS3 through cross-platform play, staging frantic four-player battles or sending and receiving bonus game items through co-op play.

URL: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/400939/invizimals-the-alliance-vita-trailer-shows-augmented-reality/?cid=OTC-RSS&attr=CVG-News-RSS

4. Augment Has Raised €220k

3D Augmented reality app Augment has raised €220k from Paris investors

The company was founded in 2011 by JF Chianetta, Cyril Champier, and Mickael Jordan, who were part of Paris Accelerator LeCamping‘s 3rd batch of startups in 2012. Their app allows users to visualize 3D objects in Augmented Reality. The main target of the app are eCommerce Sites. It was integrated into Digital Art site Curioos last September, allowing visitors to visualize a painting on their wall before purchase.

The most recent funding has allowed the team to grow to up to 8 people and to hire their first team member in USA as Augment is aiming to penetrate the huge US market.

URL: http://www.rudebaguette.com/2013/04/12/augment-220k-round/

5. Daily Series Plus Belle la Vie Becomes Augmented

Orange, France Télévisions Editions Numériques and production group Telfrance are working on an augmented reality project based on France 3′s popular daily series Plus Belle la Vie.New technological partnership was announced at MIPTV in Cannes. The three partners are looking to enable viewers to interact more closely with the series and “pass from a TV to watch to a TV to live”.

The development is based on the creation of a second-screen application that will enrich the live TV experience thanks to mobile Wi-Fi. The app will be synchronised with the live daily TV broadcast of the serial and will allow viewers to interact with the show and capture video clips to share on social networks, or to buy the clothes worn by the actors in the series.

Plus Belle la Vie is France 3′s key daily series. Aired from Monday to Friday at 8.10pm, it attracts five million viewers each evening. Its website claims 150,000 unique visitors each day.

URL: http://www.rapidtvnews.com/index.php/2013041027208/orange-testing-augmented-reality-on-france-3-s-plus-belle-la-vie.html

6. Vuzix Sponsors 2 AR Events

Vuzix reaffirmed its commitment to the AR marketplace by becoming a primary sponsor of two events which focus on advancing the adoption of AR. The Vuzix-sponsored events include:

Augmented Reality New York (ARNY) (May 28th ) unites AR Developers and enthusiasts to share programming and application development at NYU Polytechnic University. During this evening event, Vuzix will share details of its M100 Smart Glasses, the developer program and its SDK.

The Ninth AR Standards Community Meeting (May 29th- May 30th), hosted by the Computer Graphics and User Interfaces Group at Columbia University, features working sessions during which people seeking open and interoperable AR report on recent advancements, current opportunities and obstacles to AR adoption that can be addressed through development of international standards or community-based, member-driven initiatives.

The company has just begun initial shipments of Vuzix M100 Smart Glasses to select developers and is planning make a small promotional give away during these AR events. According to a release, attendees of both events will be eligible for a 20 percent discount on Vuzix’ recently announced M100 Smart Glasses and Software Developer Kit (SDK) and one lucky participant at each event will win an M100 SDK, which includes a pre-production M100 unit.

URL: http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1142175/vuzix-leads-the-drive-for-augmented-reality-standards-and-compelling-content

New AR applications:

1. Firefighter AR
2. ViewAR Core
3. Madison Centre Experience
4. Peek into Imtech
5. Steinway Augmented Reality ViewAR
6. HxGN Interact: Augmented Reality from Hexagon
7. VERUS
8. Anaya’s Flight

Prepared by:

1) Guardian Goggles: because life’s too short to think for yourself

You can already access the Guardian  on your desktop or laptop computer, a tablet, e-reader or smartphone. But on the 1-st of April the Guardian has announced a groundbreaking development in the modern history of the media: a pair of web-connected “augmented reality” spectacles that will beam its journalism directly into the wearer’s visual field, enabling users to see the world through the Guardian’s eyes at all times.

The motion-sensitive spectacles, known as Guardian Goggles, incorporate translucent screens in the lenses, overlaying the wearer’s view of their surroundings with a real-time stream of specially curated opinions from the paper’s reporters, critics and commentators. Simply by looking at the outside of a restaurant or cinema and pointing, the user can call up relevant Guardian reviews of the food or current films.

The spectacles also feature optional built-in anti-bigotry technology, which prevents exposure to non-Guardian opinions by blacking out columns by Melanie Phillips or Richard Littlejohn, among other writers, as soon as the user attempts to look at them.

This is April Fools’ Day joke of course, but many a true word is spoken in jest. Who knows how far augmented reality may go.

URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/apr/01/guardian-goggles-augmented-reality-specs

2) UTV Stars App by Disney UTV Digital

The new app from Disney UTV lets you watch free movies, get latest news, gossips, paparazzi images, full shows and videos from Bollywood. You can also watch UTV Stars LIVE TV. The most interesting feature of the app is augmented reality search called Snap Search, which allows users to scan to click a movie poster to provide easy access to customized content like movie trailers, behind the scenes videos, Tweets, pictures and more. The Snap search feature is powered by Ricoh Innovations’ newly launched Ocutag mobile visual search platform.

Once installed, the user is directed to ‘Just in’, which is a consolidated timeline of all Bollywood celebrity Twitter updates and updates from @UTVStars, be it images, videos or just text. Users can filter Twitter and video content separately and also share the celebrity tweet on Twitter, Facebook, via email, and retweet a tweet by connecting their Twitter account.

The app is free and can be downloaded from iTunes Store and the Google Play Store. UTV Stars appears to rely on in-app advertisements at the bottom of the app and a full screen ad appearing right before it launches any video content.

URL: http://www.medianama.com/2013/04/223-utv-stars-launches-bollywood-entertainment-app-on-ios-android/

 3) Baidu Eye – AR headset from Baidu

Baidu Inc, operator of China’s most popular search engine, has developed a prototype for a wearable Internet gadget similar to Google Glass. Baidu Eye is worn like glasses, features an LCD display, can recognize images, and is controlled by voice. These features are reportedly already operating properly, but the style and build of the device is apparently still very much in testing

Baidu representative confirmed to Tech in Asia that Baidu is indeed working on augmented reality glasses, internally codenamed ‘Baidu Eye’. According to Baidu’s director of international communications Kaiser Kuo, it’s just “one of many internal experiments,” which may not be released as a commercial product. And although the project may appear similar to Google Glass, our source at Baidu sounded unusually confident that Baidu Eye has some features that will stand out as original and innovative.

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/would-you-let-china-augment-your-reality/2013/04/04/426580b2-9d26-11e2-9219-51eb8387e8f1_blog.html

 4) Become Iron Man Ahead of Iron Man 3 Movie Launch

Become Iron Man, an interactive game, which accompanies the release of Marvel’s latest film, will let you see what it feels like to be domed with chrome. It’s an augmented reality affair like a giant Wii or PlayStation Move game: stand in front of the big screen and cameras register your movements as you zap on the Iron Man armour.

Disney have partnered up with Apache, the retail augmented reality specialist, to create a virtual experience, which seems very real indeed. The suit assembles on top of your virtual body, that appears on the Kinect powered plasma screen once scanning is complete. Pieces of armour get attached automatically or, if you come better prepared, you can actually ‘call in’ the various parts of the suit, which fly in as they do in the actual movie.

Here’s where you can become Iron Man:

• 6-7 April: Birmingham Bullring
• 13-14 April: Manchester Trafford Centre
• 20-21 April: Sheffield Meadowhall
• 24 April: Dundrum Town Centre
• 27-28 April: London Westfield Shepherds Bush

Iron Man 3 movie is coming to the UK cinemas on 25th April.

URL: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/katerina-zherebtsova/become-iron-man-_b_2997122.html

 5) Telepathy One – micro projection AR headset

It seems like we haven’t written about this new gadget in our blog yet though it was shown at SXSW in March, and we hope this information will be interesting for those who have also missed this incredibly interesting device.

Telepathy One from Telepathy Inc. is a micro-projection unit designed to safely, steadily and naturally convey visual information to the eyes. This device works with a “virtual” 5-inch display that’s projected in front of your eye through a glass on the right side of your face. It seems to be a bit more of an accessory than a standalone device. It can pair up with tablets or smartphones for checking up emails, seeing social networking updates, and sharing what you see through what must be a camera embedded in the device’s side.

At the same time Telepaty One seems to be sleeker and more fashionable than Google Glass.

There’s not much information about this device at this moment, but the CEO of the company has let the world know that he plans the device to be available by the end of 2013! We’re not sure how the device actually works and what was it used to show to the people at SXSW but they are quite amazed on this video:

URL: http://www.techhive.com/article/2030995/telepathy-one-may-be-a-sleeker-more-fashionable-alternative-to-google-glass.html

New AR applications:

1. Internet World AR Keynote
2. Lagrama Life Box
3. ActionInk
4. Grand Embassy Augmented Reality (GEAR)
5. Carens AR
6. Forbo Flooring Marmoleum AR
7. Ninjas Everywhere! An Augmented Reality Experience!\
8. theMcNay Reality Check
9. Catch the Oreo
10. Brera Design District
11. SAB Play

Prepared by:

1) Avanade’s interactive shopping with NFC, AR and Kinect

A new interactive shopping solution called Grab & Go was developed by IT consulting company Avanade. It combines NFC, QR codes, augmented reality and the Kinect for Windows.

The new Grab & Go kiosk enables users to review and select documents or products on a main screen and automatically transfer these onto their mobile device, for review or purchase, through the simple swipe of an arm.

Consumers stand in front of the screen and then tap their Windows Phone 8 device to a tag or scan a QR code to enable Grab & Go to connect with their device and launch a web application on their phone. Then they are invited to browse, search and select products within a virtual environment using a Kinect for Windows device and add these to a basket with a simple gesture.  The picture of their basket is shared to their personal account (using a Skype account or Facebook), so they are then able to share or buy these items directly through their mobile phone or tablet.

The system fully integrates with current IT retail environments and is very easy to scale, allowing it to be quickly rolled out to multiple locations, says Avanade.

URL: http://www.nfcworld.com/2013/03/27/323266/avanade-unveils-interactive-shopping-with-nfc-augmented-reality-and-kinect-motion-sensing/

 2) Sony’s augmented reality glasses patent

Sony recently applied for new patent related to its head-mounted display glasses technology. This is a continuation patent from the one originally filed in November 2012, so Sony’s augmented reality glasses have now been seen in two patent formats.

Sony’s design looks like a pair of glasses with earbuds built into the arms. The rather futuristic looking device doesn’t quite have the stylish form of the Google Glass yet, but packs an HUD system in each lens based on a traditional glasses frame form. Sony’s concept will support 2D imaging in both lenses, with both screens adjustable by several millimetres for wearer comfort. It looks like there are cameras and battery packs for Sony’s glasses planned as well.

URL: http://mybroadband.co.za/news/gadgets/74046-sony-takes-on-google-glass-with-own-augmented-reality-display.html

  3) Google picks 8,000 winners of Glass contest

Google has finally chosen 8,000 people who will be given a chance to don a pair of Internet-connected glasses and make a fashion statement likely to be envied by gadget-loving geeks around the world.
The pool selected by Google is the result of a contest the company held last month, which required residents in the U.S. to submit a 50-word application through Twitter (#ifihadglass) or Google Plus. Potential winners were asked to explain how they would use the wearable technology.

Google featured six of the initial winners in a media email. Here’s the list of the six initial winners:

• Sarah Hill (Columbia, MO) would take Glass to a VA hospital and let veterans see their war memorials
• Herschel Taghap (Seattle) would show people what it’s like to be a line cook in a restaurant
• Shannon Rooney would travel to Japan and help her Grandma re-experience her homeland without leaving her home in the U.S.
• David Moriarty: improving doctor-patient interaction for clinical trials
• Anthony Brown (San Francisco, CA) is a zookeeper who would show penguin feedings with Glass
• Max Wood (Gray, GA) is a firefighter who would improve fire safety by using pre-fire planning maps

URL: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Google-Glass-Explorer-augmented-reality-contest-8000,21721.html

 4) 1st Unity plug-in for augmented reality on physical devices

Orbotix, the developer of Sphero robotic ball and gaming system controlled by smartphones and tablets, has introduced a new Sphero augmented reality plug-in for Unity, as well as making a new Sphero AR SDK available on Github.

This means that developers can now insert their 3D models and create games around them, all using Sphero as the moving AR marker.

The plug-in provides vision detection by automatically coordinating the camera and ball position, distance, orientation and more. The plug-in forms a bridge between Unity and Sphero’s native Android and iOS SDKs. This means that Sphero owners could potentially be seeing a slew of fun new apps in the future.

Orbotix also invites developers to create new apps for Sphero within selected genres. A complete list can be found on the Sphero Developer site. If the app meets the pre-determined requirements, the developer gets paid.

URL: http://www.3dfocus.co.uk/3d-news-2/1st-unity-plug-in-for-augmented-reality-on-physical-devices/12623

 5) Platform to connect any operating system to Google Glass from Infinity AR

Infinity Augmented Reality, Inc. is currently developing a platform that allows all operating systems (i.e. iOS and Android) to connect any hardware device such as tablets, smartphones, to augmented eyewear such as Google Glass. This means that Apple users, who want to experience what is it like to use Google Glass or any other device, requiring Android products, won’t have to buy new Android devices.

“The announcement that Google Glass will make its debut at the end of 2013 caused many Apple users to ask, ‘I like my Apple, but how can I experience Google Glass?’ Infinity AR is now progressing towards answering this call by allowing Apple users to experience this new technology,” said Avrohom Oratz, Chief Executive Officer of Infinity AR.

The company has been subtly making noise and capitalizing on AR technology through its creation and development of advanced facial, mood, and image recognition; location data (allows you to see information about the location you’re in such as surrounding businesses); voice control and voice analyzer; gaming (bringing casino games right into the users living room); photo and video sharing; enhanced GPS, and API/SDK, which will allow third-party developers to use Infinity AR’s technology to develop their own apps.

URL: http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/infinity-augmented-reality-announces-even-more-reasons-to-go-gaga-over-google-glass-otcqb-also-1771391.htm

New AR applications:

1. Dia Saves Energy
2. Very Bunny
3. GIS SUbstation
4. PIDIX AR
5. ExpoAR
6. Premium Airport
7. OBOTO
8. Zuyt Bruyn
9. Occident Animation RA
10. ARNVR
11. Baixa Gestual
12. AR Dinosaur Puzzle
13. Timnas Indonesia AR
14. ViewAR Architecture
15. LSA-AR
16. Release Power
17. MossbergCo
18. Olly RC
19. PaperAUG
20. AR-Kiosk
21. CMCAR
22. Wotsdis Travel Guide 
23. OBOTO
24. Reality of AFib
25. PIxAura+
26. IMPETUS Augmented Reality

Prepared by: