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Bulmers launches cider garden finder app

September 7th, 2010
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Bulmer’s cider launches pub garden finder augmented reality app

http://www.bulmers.co.uk

Bulmers Cider has launched a new free iPhone App will direct users to the nearest cider garden that stocks Bulmers using GPS, an interactive map and the very latest Augmented Reality technology. The app also shows reviews and additional info from www.useyourlocal.com providing the opportunity to join and support your local pub.

The app will also give users access to special offers and giveaways, as well as keeping them up to date on the Bulmer’s Summerside Garden, an installation that is currently touring the nation to spread the Summer lovin’ fronted by Bulmers bespoke band, the Sun Lovin’ Criminals.

The band’s performances on the Bulmers Sunshine Stage will use the latest Augmented Reality technology to open up a world of audience interaction and reward.

To download the app simply visit the apple iTunes Store and search for ‘Bulmers’ or visit
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/bulmers-cider-finder-app/id381536515?mt=8

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Malaysia Airlines’ Pioneering Iphone Augmented Reality App

September 7th, 2010
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Now Available For Free Download

Malaysia Airlines and the air transport IT specialist, SITA, today announced that the airline’s “MHdeals” application, the first app using augmented reality to be launched by an airline, is now available for free download  from the Apple App store.

The handy app allows customers to pick up the best airline deals from nearby airports and is the first in which an airline has exploited augmented reality commercially as a new channel for ticket sales.
MHdeals uses the GPS on the iPhone to determine the user’s location and then displays the nearest airports from which they can access great deals. By simply holding the phone in front of them, the user can identify surrounding airports and select one to view the latest flight offers. At a touch of a button passengers can then book their flights through the MHmobile which SITA Lab developed and launched for Malaysia Airlines last year.

The availability of MHdeals in the Apple App store follows the hugely successful launch in June of the iPad MHkiosks – another world’s first for Malaysia Airlines. These unique kiosks are also easy to use and, like MHdeals, make booking with Malaysia as simple as ABC.

Watch demos of MHdeals and the iPad MHkiosks.

*The iPad and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Executive Quotes:

Malaysia Airlines’ Managing Director/CEO, Tengku Dato’ Azmil Zahruddin, said: “We have had a lot of interest from our customers since we announced that MHdeals was coming. Now they can experience for themselves the world’s most technologically-advanced and entertaining way of picking and booking a great value flight.”

Jim Peters, SITA Chief Technology Officer who heads up the SITA Lab facility which worked with Malaysia Airlines on developing the application, said: “Augmented Reality applications are new and still experimental, and trying out new ways to interact with customers and to provide functionality in a consumer-friendly way is part of the process.

“Working together, SITA and Malaysia Airlines have the opportunity to keep ahead of the curve as the technology of smartphones and data in “the cloud” rapidly evolves. In this case, MHdeals also provides Malaysia Airlines’ customers the ability to choose a destination and book flights in a fun and interactive way” he added.

Links
Application:                http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mhdeals/id382068513?mt=8
Demo of MHdeals:         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPhoizmFssM
Demo of MHkiosk:         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54XwvJPO5KY

SITA Lab:                http://twitter.com/sitalab |  www.sita.aero

Contact Details

SITA
Brenda Flinter
Public Relations Manager
Mobile: +353 87 750 6229
Email: Brenda.Flinter@sita.aero The Wordshop
Charlie Pryor
Director
Tel : +44 (0)20 7031 8270
Email : cp@theword-shop.com

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Rich features of Junaio cause rush in developer sign-up

April 14th, 2010
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San Francisco/Munich, April 13th, 2010 – The number of registered developers for the mobile augmented reality browser platform junaio has rapidly grown since the announcement of opening up the API four weeks ago and has reached more than 200 until now. With its open API, junaio gives developers and content providers the opportunity to create their own channels with state of the art augmented reality applications.

junaio`s open API allows developers to create their own AR applications with numerous features. It is easy to use and does require only basic knowledge in programming, e.g. XML and server side programming, such as PHP to create state of the art augmented reality applications. The platform experienced a run from developers and can announce over 200 developers – only four weeks after they opened up their API for the public. “We are very pleased with the number of developers. The feedback we receive is that junaio is a great opportunity for developers to create state of the art applications without spending any money”, states Peter Meier, the CTO of metaio, the company behind junaio.

The creative potential of junaio is vast: AR Mashups, multiplayer games or scavenger hunts, interactive, indoor and outdoor exhibitions, tours with animated 3D characters, edutainment right on the spot and location independent gaming. It is up to the developer to challenge his imagination and become as creative as he wants to. Starting is very easy, developers only need to register for an API-key on the website.

Junaio flowchart

Developer contest promises a reward of US$5000

Furthermore metaio wants to directly reward the effort of their developers and thank them with US$ 5000 for the developer who creates the best channel. Everybody registered as a developer and sets up a channel before June 16, 2010 takes part in the competition automatically. The five channels with the most subscribers will be shortlisted. An independent jury with AR- and IT-business experts will then select the winner. Among the jury members are Robert Scoble, ReadWriteWeb´s Chris Cameron, Mobile Consultants Christine Perey and Ken Blakeslee, Industrial AR expert, enthusiast and blogger Thomas Carpenter and finally Prof. Dr. Geiger from Duesseldorf University of Applied Sciences Department of Media Mixed Reality and Visualization.

Developers can register on junaio`s website.

junaio @ ARDevCamp in Berlin on 24th April, 2010

Developers who are not sure yet how they can use junaio`s different features should consider joining the Developers camp at the AR DevCamp in Berlin on 24 April 2010. The junaio team will give an insight in what developers can do with the new junaio API in free and moderated coding sessions. In addition, ideas for new channels will be collected together and findings will be taken into consideration in the future developments of junaio. The session will be a good starting point for the developer contest and the chance to win the $5k challenge. metaio is looking forward to a prolific session at ARDev Camp which will take place at Beuth-Hochschule für Technik, Luxemburger Strasse 10, 13353 Berlin. Registration starts at 8 a.m.

Please visit the ARDevCamp page for more information and free registration.

Outstanding feature: indoor usage

One of the most outstanding features of junaio which differentiates it from other AR browsers is its ability to use it not only outdoors but also indoors. This makes it especially interesting for usage in museums, exhibitions and shopping malls where GPS data is not accurate enough: http://www.youtube.com/junaio#p/a/u/1/lULKsnRniO0

Outstanding feature: dynamic reaction

junaio`s dynamical reaction can be illustrated by the example of BART. In San Francisco junaio partners with BART, the Public Transportation Service in the Bay Area. The junaio user can not only find the nearest train station but he can also get the time of the next possible train connection – in realtime at his current location.  http://www.youtube.com/junaio#p/a/u/0/nbAVMrNQhJI

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Microsoft Adds “Augmented Reality” to Bing Maps

February 22nd, 2010
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At the TED conference, Microsoft announced a new, AR mapping feature.

[press release]

Microsoft just added an interesting new feature to Bing Maps–augmented reality. Actually, it’s a bit more like augmented reality in reverse.

A new function, called Streetside Photos, takes real images and video clips and neatly stitches them onto the Bing Map’s street-level view, using a clever combination of geolocation information (from a GPS-enabled device, or added manually by the user) and imaging-matching algorithms. This means you can, for example, zoom in on a street and see an image of a particular storefront that was just uploaded to Flickr or Twitpic instead of the standard one. Steetside Photos, which is available for Seattle and San Francisco maps, also includes some nice historical imagery.

Blaise Agüera y Arcas, architect of Bing Maps, demoed the feature today at the TED conference, which is taking place in Long Beach and Palm Springs, California.

Agüera y Arcas presented another image-stitching program called Photosynth at TED in 2007. He tells me that the new application’s algorithms are similar to Photosynth’s but effectively work in reverse. “In Photosynth you start off with a bag of disorganized photos and it finds visual connections,” he says. “This is the same; instead of a bag of photos I have one and all of the structured imagery [to attach it to].”

The software behind Streetside Photos can adjust a photo so that it matches to within a few inches, rather than a few feet. This kind of precision is important for augmented reality to work effectively. “The pushpin or the GPS both have quite a bit of inaccuracy,” says Arcas. “It’s typical for it to be off by 40 meters or more. Some are even more ambiguous.”

The user sees a list of photos on the side of the screen and, if she clicks on one, the map view moves to that spot and the photo becomes a bubble overlaying it.

Perhaps most impressively, it can overlay moving video on top of a map, creating a “lens” type of effect, as illustrated in the video at Pike Place Market in Seattle below. While Agüera y Arcas would not say if there will be a Smart phone app to follow Streetside Photos, it seems like a natural progression.

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iButterfly apps augmented Reality

February 2nd, 2010
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AR(Augmented Reality) X Motion Sensor X GPS X Coupon

Contents

“iButterfly” is an entertaining iPhone application using AR, motion sensor, and GPS functions to collect coupons. Through the iButterfly, we will deliver not only coupons but also diverse information and contents as well.

Functions

# Catching is Fun !

Several types of iButterflies will fly at any places.

By using motion sensor, people will be able to enjoy catching the iButterflies physically.

# Beneficially Fun !

Catching iButterflies means getting beneficial information ,contents, and coupons.

# Collecting is Fun !

Collecting diverse iButterflies from many places is fun.

The possibility of new iButterflies linked with Twitter is considered.

Collectors’ ranking will be a motivation for people to collect iButterflies.

# Sharing is Fun !

Among friends, iButterflies will be shared through Bluetooth.

In the near future

Through several experimentations, we will tune up iButterfly and make it better.

After uploading on AppStore, Dentsu will gather partners to use iButterfly for their promotion campaigns.

[source: http://www.mobileart.jp ]

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Augmented Reality via smartphones will rule the game

November 1st, 2009
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ABI Research Anticipates “Dramatic Growth” for Augmented Reality via Smartphones

According the ABI Research study “Augmented Reality: Adding Information to Our View of the World”, handheld platforms will transform the Augmented Reality ecosystem, with revenue associated with Augmented Reality growing from about $6 million in 2008 to more than $350 million in 2014. As advertisers learn to insert tags into navigation displays, mobile arvertising revenue will grow slowly, representing a large portion of sectoral revenues in the 2013-2014 timeframe.

“The new capabilities of handset platforms create an explosive opportunity for Augmented Reality technology,” explains study author Joe Madden. “Existing technology suppliers will have to adapt, as rapid growth will transform the Augmented Reality ecosystem. Today’s customized, direct business-to-business AR supply chain will continue to see incremental growth in military, automotive, and entertainment applications, but those businesses will be overshadowed by the mass-market dynamics of mobile handset application sales and arvertising revenue streams.”

The study envisions the development of global databases to store a wide variety of geo-tag information. Governments, businesses, and individuals all will contribute information into such databases, so end-users will be able to view information on notable buildings, retail sales, or special events, or simply to mark locations of interest.

Mr. Madden notes that technology advances are still required for Augmented Reality applications to proliferate. “GPS location accuracy is not adequate currently for many applications, requiring additional techniques to refine location precision for shopping applications, or for game applications in which virtual objects must be placed precisely on the display near corresponding real objects.”

This report is published under the Human-Machine Technology Research Service, which is a part of NextGen, the ABI Research emerging technologies research incubator.

via: ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of emerging trends in global connectivity. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advise thousands of decision makers through 27 research and advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com

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Flash for mobiles? Really?

October 5th, 2009
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Today Adobe will announce *FULL* Flash Player for 19 of 20 mobile brands

At MAX, Adobe’s worldwide developer conference will announce with its partners their progress to bring Flash support to, between others, BlackBerry handsets. I guess iPhone will be again the black ship of the story… Anyway, an Organization of 50 companies called Open Screen Project created by Adobe to promote the evolution of richer mobile, tv, and desktop browsing experiences, by giving the welcome to BlackBerry, will achieve 19 out of 20 mobile handset top manufacturers.

Adobe is also announcing support for HTTP streaming and several new mobile-ready features, including multi-touch, gestures, accelerometer, and screen orientation.

Flash Player 10.1 is the first consistent browser-based runtime from the Open Screen Project that offers browsing of Flash-based web apps, HD video, and other content on smartphones, netbooks and other Internet-enabled devices.

Flash support is also expected for several other mobile platforms, including Google Android, Symbian, Palm webOS, and Windows Mobile. A public developer beta will be available for Windows Mobile, webOS, and desktop operating systems before the end of the year. A public developer beta for Android and Symbian should be announces early in 2010, with general availability and publicly available devices coming in the first half of 2010.

That sounds great for AR mobile development! Just to let you know that Adobe is also interested in FLARToolkit, watch this Augmented Reality presentation for MAX 2009: http://max.adobe.com/MAXar/

So it sounds like sooner than later we will be delivering FLAR experiences on mobiles -Probably using also gyro, accelerometer and GPS-.

via: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/author/jolie-odell.php

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Layar Reality Browser adds 3D to its Platform

September 23rd, 2009
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Layar announced the addition of 3D capabilities to its augmented reality browser platform. With 3D, developers can tag real-life objects with 3D text, place 3D objects in real-world space, and create multi-sensory experiences. The addition of 3D enables Layar developers to create more realistic and immersive augmented reality experiences for mobile devices.

First demo at Picnic Conference in the Netherlands

The first demonstration of the Layar 3D experience will be at the Picnic Conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from September 23-25. A demo application has been developed to showcase the power of 3D. Conference attendees looking for “Picnic” in the Android Market can find and download the Android application to their phone to view a virtual exhibition that delivers a multi-sensory experience of reality, augmented by 3D.

They will experience the flyby of a jumbojet, a rocket launch, and be in the middle of an arcade game – all including sound. Conference buildings are tagged with 3D texts and on the lawn several 3D objects are placed such as windmills and 3D “experience domes”. Videos and images of the demo are available at www.layar.com/3D.

How does it work?

Layar 3D makes use of OpenGL, the accelerometer, the GPS and the compass of the phone. Developers can place 3D objects in their content layers based on coordinates. Objects can be optimized in size and orientation to create an immersive and realistic experience. The 3D capabilities support live downloading and rendering of 3D objects. Actions such as “open link” or “play music” can be assigned to 3D objects.

November Launch for Android

Together with selected partners Layar will update their API to support 3D objects for new and existing layers. Layar will launch 3D to the public in November together with the launch of version 3.0 of the Layar Reality Browser for Android.

Raimo van der Klein, CEO:

“We are very excited to announce this groundbreaking addition to the platform. Augmented Reality is an experience medium, not just a tool or a substitute for maps. With 3D we deliver these experiences. The platform currently facilitates over 500 developers who from November onwards will have endless possibilities to create rich 3D multi-sensory Augmented Reality experiences.”

About Layar

The Layar Reality Browser displays real time digital information on top of reality in the camera screen of the mobile phone. While looking through the phone’s camera lens, a user can see houses for sale, popular bars and shops, tourist information, play a live game, etcetera. Layar first launched on June 16th, 2009 and announced its global launch and version 2.0 on August 17th, 2009. The Layar platform serves as an enabler for mobile location services – any database with geo-location information can easily be turned in a content layer. The Layar Reality Browser is globally available for mobile phones running the Android operating system, with iPhone 3GS coming soon. Layar is a company based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

More information

Weblink: http://layar.com/3D

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Nokia is getting serious about AR.

September 6th, 2009
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New apps are coming for Nokia users! (iPhone: you’d better wake up)

“Augmented reality”, a way of bringing digital content to life in the “real world” is a bit of a buzz tech at the moment, and Nokia is currently working on various versions of the tech.

Shown off at the Nokia World event in Germany, Nokia’s augmented reality, dubbed “mixed reality” by the phone maker, is currently in development by the Nokia Research department.

Demonstrations of the technology that Pocket-lint got hands-on with include the concept of making digital content embeddable in an everyday environment.

This application of the tech would “tag” locations to alert Nokia phone users to something of interest in their vicinity.

In the example shown an urban landscape offered hidden meaning via the “mixed reality” solution. A consumer arriving at a certain point (the example given was via bike) would receive an alert from their phone to let them know something might be of interest to them in the near location.

By panning their handset around the locale, the user will get further alerts – via haptic feedback, or an audible alert – when they are pointing their phone in the correct direction.

Feedback can be tailored to the particular point of interest. Again, in the example, a jazz cafe played a blast of music when the phone alighted on it.

By tilting the locating device (in the future a Nokia handset but in the Research demo, a wired, white remote) sharply upward more information is conveyed – in this case a brief recording revealing the gig for that evening.

In addition this solution, that would likely be aimed at commercial customers to advertise to Nokia users who might register preferences to get tailored alerts, Nokia is also working on a solution aimed at consumers to create themselves.

Similar to the likes of the Wimbledon augmented reality app we recently saw from IBM, this option would combine mixed reality with location-based tech.

The example a Nokia Research exec gave Pocket-lint was that one Nokia user could geotag one location and then create a virtual path to another location, all via the GPS capabilities of their handset.

A second user, when arriving at the first geotagged location would then get an alert to let them know they had arrived at the location, whip out their phone, hold it up to the landscape and see a virtual path mapped out across the real-time image displayed via their phone’s camera with a pop-up informing them of the end location.

As with other Nokia Research projects we’ve brought you news of, all this tech is ready and waiting to go, as soon as price comes down and demand goes up, you can expect to see these kind of solutions offered as features in a future Nokia device.

via: pocket lint

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Vodafone Augmented Reality Game

September 4th, 2009
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How to advertise an Android smartphone? Easy: Lets Augment it!

Vodafone Netherlands has stepped up the potential of the medium, by launching a modern day variant of the playground classic ‘tag’ for the Google/OHA (Open Handset Alliance) Android platform.

Vodafone introduced a game where players can ‘tag’ each other using the HTC Magic phone via the camera and a specialised app.

The Go Tag app allowed players to ‘tag’ their rivals by using image recognition technology to identify the target’s shirt colour when a picture was taken.

Devices like the Android HTC Magic and the iPhone 3GS are expected to pave the way for augmented reality applications, mainly because these devices are equipped with a digital compass that complements the GPS functions on the handsets.

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