Archive for October, 2009
Total Immersion’s Augmented Reality 3D Puzzle
Posted by Tom Carpenter in AR Games, augmented reality on October 30th, 2009
An augmented reality flying car this game is not.
While this AR game made by Total Immersion at the Arizona Center isn’t layered with complexity, it really couldn’t be done any other way. While you could use a controller or mouse to move the boxes around, allowing for natural movement with a square of cardboard makes the game more intuitive. And the video boxes couldn’t done except within a digital medium.
Currently, most of the AR games being created are recreations of standard ideas – shooters, real-time strategy, zombies, etc. Augmented reality is a completely new medium that allows for a rethinking of game mechanics. If you’re a game designer, don’t get stuck in the past, show us something audacious and we’ll shower you in our hard earned cash.
Popularity: 28% [?]
Time Travel with Augmented Reality
Posted by Tom Carpenter in AR Games, augmented reality on October 27th, 2009
Augmented reality can help us see back in time, making history come alive.
The presentation at ISMAR from the Beijing Instituite of Technology showed how they could use AR to reconstruct the Yuanmingyuan, or “Garden of All Gardens” without damaging the current appearance of the ruins. The Yuanmingyuan was burnt down by Anglo-French forces in 1860 and their project uses AR to project the original architecture onto the site.
They plan to utilize a coin-operated viewer to allow tourists to see the AR version of the site.
This type of historical eye is also being demonstrated in Cluny France to show what the abby looked like before it’d been destroyed during the French Revolution.
I predict (since we’re all busy predicting the AR future) that you won’t be able to visit a historical site in five years without an AR viewer to see the past. Old civil war sites won’t be the same when you can watch a thousand Union troops storm the Confederate lines. Maybe kids will cheer when dad fires up the old Studebaker for a trip across the country to revisit historical sites.
But the real question is–will AR be able to help when you have to drive eighty miles out of the way to visit the giant ball of twine?
Popularity: 38% [?]
25 Things I Learned At ISMAR09
Posted by Tom Carpenter in augmented reality on October 27th, 2009
Inspired by Joe’s “50 Things I Learned at ISMAR“, I’m going to take a crack at 25 things since I was only there for half the conferance.
1. Participation in ISMAR doubled from 2008 to 2009.
2. In the next six months it’s important that a few AR companies have success so funding will flow for the others.
3. Projections should be used in big interactive spaces to allow for a shared augmented experience.
4. The Disney Imagineers showed us how AR can make a difference right now.
5. HMDs will bring stripper poles to every corner.
6. Magic lens is or isn’t the answer for AR.
7. Lots of great research isn’t making it to commercial usage.
8. Apple must open up their video API, now!
9. Don’t wait. Use the technology at hand to make the killer AR app.
10. Place is the new social networking.
11. Augmented reality is NOT following Moore’s Law (but it can with enough money.)
12. Disney teaches us that the technology has to be invisible.
13. Sell the experience not the technology.
14. Stop trying to reinvent old games using AR. Create your own category.
15. Augmented reality should be about 4D (don’t forget about time!)
16. We need indoor locative solutions.
17. History can be reborn with the right magic telescope.
18. Light-weight, fashionable HMDs aren’t ready yet.
19. Conferances at the same hotel at the Mountain Dew Tour makes for interesting people watching.
20. I’m excited about the future of AR.
21. I saw at least five applications for AR on my factory floor, but no one is developing a commercial product for me to purchase.
22. Leverage the military to fund development for commercial.
23. I learned as much in conversations outside of the conference rooms than I did in them.
24. Don’t forget to tell a story.
25. Augmented reality pets don’t chew on the furniture (unless you want them to.)
Popularity: 12% [?]
A Few ISMAR09 Demos
Posted by Tom Carpenter in AR Games, augmented reality on October 25th, 2009
There’s so much for me to talk about from ISMAR09 and I was only there for half of the conference. I have a half-dozen more posts sketched out for the next couple of weeks. I did get to attend the demo night on Monday which showcased the real hands-on applications of augmented reality. Gail Carmichael posted up a video of some of the demos, so I’ll try to expand on what was shown.
Sony EyePet Demo- Ever since I saw the trailer for this game, I’ve been wanting to own it. Even so much that I’m willing to buy a PS3. The ability for the camera to pick up hand motions was impressive. In the video, he’s bouncing the head of an AR bobble-head doll to make bubbles come out and tickling the monkey with his fingertips. As a game, its mostly a cute demonstration of the technology that aims at the 3-8 year old market (and AR enthusiasts), but it’s a precursor of bigger things. In the future, motion capture will be the new controller.
The Tank and Kid Demo – This one showed how virtual objects and real ones can interact in a seamless manner. Once again this technology will be best used in games, but it could bleed over into many other applications.
Shooter VR/AR Demo – Notice I’m not using the real demo names because I’m not even sure what “Computing Alpha Mattes in Real-Time for Noisy Mixed Reality Video Streams” means. Unfortunately, its hard to get a feel for what this demo did from the video. The video makes it look like a cross between Max Headroom and a VR game. In some ways, that’s all it was, because it used blue screen technology to mix in virtual reality dioramas with the player. I found it interesting when the player would look at the area at the edge of both the real and the virtual. I got a real sense of how these two realities can mix together at the edges. Let’s hope they can figure out how to do this without the blue screen.
ProFORMA Rapid Model Acquisition - Here’s one I can almost understand from the abstract title. The program creates 3D models in real-time which is mind blowing. The downside is you need to rotate the object around for the camera to pick up the object, but the usage has crazy possibilities. It won the Best Demo for a good reason. Mix the ProFORMA with other technologies like photosynth and we can achieve a 3D mapping of the world in rapid (4-5 years) time. More on ProFORMA here.
Animatronic Shader Lamps Avatars - I would have been more impressed by this demo if Mark Mine from the Disney Imagineers hadn’t explained this same technology during his talk. Regardless, it grabbed attention because they had a comic as the face making fun of passerbys.
Thanks to Gail Carmichael who took the video and also posted more pictures about it on her blog. I sat next to her during the Disney keynote while she took tons of pictures with her giant expensive looking camera and uploaded them to her Flickrstream. I had total camera envy and was afraid she’d laugh at my tiny phone camera. Cheers to you Gail for helping put on a great ISMAR and taking fantastic pictures.
Popularity: 28% [?]
Augmented Reality Birthday Card
Posted by Tom Carpenter in Steal This AR Idea!, augmented reality on October 23rd, 2009
The birthday card in the video is unremarkable by augmented reality standards. However, I think it does open up an interesting business opportunity for someone who can weasel their way into bed with a big name greeting card producer like Hallmark. I’ll explain more:
The example in this video uses a standard marker for displaying the card. As a business, this would fail for a couple of reasons. The first is no one wants to print out a marker (or at least I don’t.) The second is that if you give the “marker” to someone who doesn’t have a webcam, then your card is useless.
The marker could be integrated into a standard greeting card (or commonly called a markerless) , so it could be freely given without worry of them not being able to recieve it. If the person had a webcam, then they could view the extra content. If not, then they still received a nice greeting card. It might even have the side effect of driving someone to purchase a webcam if they didn’t have one to see the AR content. A smartphone viewer might also make the AR greeting card more accessable (purchasing a card supported by your smartphone, so you could show them the extra content when you gave it.) Either way, its a business oppertunity in the making.
Popularity: 18% [?]
Augmented Reality Movie – Hardwired
Posted by Tom Carpenter in Uncategorized on October 22nd, 2009
Really.
Not sure how this one snuck up on us, but the trailer is 100% pure augmented reality. The first video is a snapshot of all the AR corporate advertising in the movie, the second is the trailer.
The usual nod to William Gibson is contained within the main character’s name:
After a tragic accident claims the lives of Luke Gibson’s (Gooding Jr.) wife and unborn child, he is left with critical injuries and complete amnesia. A new technological breakthrough from the Hexx Corporation – a Psi-Comp Implant that’s hardwired into Luke’s brain – saves his life, but Luke soon finds out that this new technology comes with a price and that the Hexx Corporation harbors sinister plans for the new device. With the help of new allies, Luke tries to recover the memories of his past while uncovering the Hexx Corporation’s true motives.
Not much information available on the movie. The release date has been moved a few times which is usually not a good sign for a movie. I’ll probably see it, though if it sucks I’ll be yelling “Show me the AR!”
Popularity: 12% [?]
ISMAR09 HMD Review
Posted by Tom Carpenter in augmented reality, digital singularity on October 21st, 2009
The biggest barrier to true augmented vision is an HMD that can handle all the requirements. I had the oppertunity to experience what Microvision, Vuzix and ORALab/EvoOpticks had to offer. I’ll try to relate their talks and my experiences with their products and let you know if any of them have achieved augmented vision.
Microvision – Ben Averch
Ben started the presentation during the Industrial section of Workshop Monday. The first AR-style model Microvision tried was the Nomad which tried to be a hands-free automotive maintenance model. The unit was plagued by poor ergonomics and eye strain. It only used the red spectrum and they retired the product line in 2006 only two years after release.
Microvision then changed their plans to achieve an AR enabled HMD by leveraging their military contracts. The plan is to sell their Urban Warfare model (Ultra-vis) to the government and then use what they’ve learned to create a consumer model.
They see a big market for a consumer HMD display but need to solve the remaining issues before its ready for the public. I had an opportunity to try out their prototype HMD. It wasn’t a full unit, but a bulky monocle on a stick. While it didn’t give me an idea how it would function as a pair of sunglasses, it did give me a feel for the graphics. I was impressed by the clarity of the color in the monocle. The big problem I see for the first generation of HMDs will be the field of view. This prototype only had a ~25degree field of vision. The limited view will mean our early HMDs will only mimic our computer screens and not release the full spectrum of hands-free AR.
Ben has written about his experience on his official Microvision blog and has said they expect a commercial product by 2011.
It’s clear from the discussions I had with various industry members that a see-through wearable display that meets people’s expectations from both ergonomics and display performance is the big, obvious missing link in the AR solution story. We at Microvision are working hard to fill in this gap and create a technology solution that can allow this new market to take shape.
Ben also showed off their projector which at the time didn’t excite me much from an AR point of view. However, after the key note speech from Mark Mine from Disnery Imagineering, I learned that the projector had a lot more going for it than I realized.
Vuzix – Paul Travers
Paul gave us a nice history of HMDs including the failed hype of VR which has made getting money for HMDs harder to come by. On a good note, Vuzix has a good track record of selling video glasses which gives them a good base to work from once they master the AR HMD. Currently they’ve sold around 200,000 video glasses by marketing them the same way a HD TV would be sold. This might mean that augmented reality’s best bet for widespread use is to be a Trojan horse within another accepted technology (similar to how Yelp gained AR eyeballs through their Monocle easter egg.)
Unfortunately, Paul had to apologize a few times for misleading on the AR community about the “see-through AR HMDs” everyone thought were right around the corner with the 920Wrap. He hopes they can reach market by 2010, but like Microvision they still have challenges to solve.
I did get to try their video glasses, which were interesting, but I would have preferred to try out the glasses Ori tried at GDC. Paul did say that see-through AR glasses would be priced from $199-349. This sounds like a great price point that would help gain wider audiences. I know I would buy one.
ORALab/EvoOpticks
This presentation delved into more historical and technical realms rather than commercial usage. Not a lot to pass along, but I did get to try their see-through HMD. The view port was around 20 degrees and seen through two reflected mirrors on the screen rather than a laser created image. They have no current plans for commercial production.
And for the history buffs, the first patent for an HMD was by Albert B. Pratt in 1916.
I wish Lumus had also attended ISMAR, but no such luck.
Overall, I was disappointed that no HMD maker had a surprise announcement that they had a product ready for release Q1 2010. Release dates of 2011 sound more like appeasement than real schedules. Having experienced the products myself, I also realize the field of view will be a problem for early developers. Don’t get me wrong, I’d be happy to have a HMD right now, even with a 15 degree field, but the small width will limit creativity. Hopefully when they solve the lighting and weight issues they’ll also figure out how to achieve a 40 degree field of view.
This past May, I predicted true Augmented Vision would occur around 2015. After the demonstrations on Monday, I’m not going to change my prediction. While I heard many quote Moore’s Law in regards to AR, I’m not buying it yet. Moore’s Law is fed by billions (with B) of dollars which pushes the technology as fast as it can go. AR is still languishing in VR’s dead space and has to catch a few wins of its own before it can start generating real cash to take advantage of Moore’s Law.
Even if Microvision or Vuzix or Lumus release a commercial product in 2011, the software and apps to make the experience fulfilling won’t be available. I also expect the first versions of the AR HMDs will only be bought by the early adopters. It will take a few tries to make them lightweight, eye-strain free and with enough field of vision to keep people from having to rotate their head constantly. I’m all for being wrong on this one, but I expect the road to widespread acceptance will be paved with a few missteps. Cellphones took twenty years to go from the bag phone to the ultra-sleek smartphone, and while technology moves faster these days, I’m still sticking with my year 2015 prediction.
Popularity: 67% [?]
Lost Valentinos – Augmented Reality Music Video Project
Posted by Tom Carpenter in augmented reality on October 15th, 2009
Lost Valentinos achieves a World First!
Okay, I couldn’t help that. Maybe I spent too much time in my 20s and 30s playing MMORGs. What is this World First that I speak of? The band Lost Valentinos is using augmented reality to help get their name out. It’s a World First for, in the managing director Andrew’s words:
I know AR runs risk of being done to death but this is a super cool use of it – we’ve basically mapped a full song performance of each band member to 5 individual markers that users can place in their own world and record and share it. In that respect it’s a world first – not a diorama performance on rails in the fan’s hands but totally customisable and modular experience – ie you can have 10 little lead singers playing on your desk or the whole band playing on the steps of the Opera House.
It could be, but I’m currently not keeping track of these things. I am, however, a music lover, so I appreciate the struggle a small band has to go through to get known, so I’m putting their press release up.
Lost Valentinos today announce the world’s truly interactive Augmented Reality music video project Nightmoves, from their acclaimed debut album Cities Of Gold.
The project allows fans to record their own customised music videos by capturing band members performing the track anywhere they like. From lead singer Nik performing the song atop a user’s shoulders, to the whole band playing the song at the base of the Eiffel Tower – it’s a project limited only by the viewers’ imaginations.
Popularity: 12% [?]
Augmented Reality Demos from Total Immersion
Posted by Tom Carpenter in AR Games, augmented reality on October 15th, 2009
I’m busy with last second preperations for ISMAR09, but wanted to pass along this video from the IDXA event on Tuesday. The video shows a variety of augmented reality demonstrations from Bruno Uzzan the CEO at Total Immersion.
Popularity: 17% [?]
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