So, what it augmented reality?
Well, in his book Spatial augmented reality: merging reality and virtual worlds, Oliver Bimber states that 'augmented reality means to integrate synthetic information into the real environment.' So in simpler terms, augmented reality is bringing the fantasy into the real world, using some sort of technology for example a laptop or a Mobile phone.
I thought that looking at mobile phone applications would be quite a relevant topic to talk about as ‘Global sales of smartphones increased by 50% during 2010’ states Danny Bluestone and therefore as more and more people are buying smartphones it is thought that applications are going to be the next big thing.
Application One
On Tuesday 16th June 2009 mobile innovation company SPRX Mobile launched ‘Layar’ the world’s first augmented reality browser. It displays real time digital information on top of reality in the camera screen of a mobile phone. While looking through the camera lens, a user can see houses for sale, popular bars and shops, jobs, health care providers and ATMs. All you have to do to work this app is put in for example, a pizza restaurant, put in within X number of miles, hold you phone up in the direction that you wish to go and then as if by magic all the pizza restaurants within your set radius will appear on your screen within minutes. Danny Bluestone also describes this app in his blog ‘Locative Media’...
‘The Layar augmented reality app on the Android and the Iphone platforms utilises the latest location based technology to create its own interface: The Layer Reality Browser. It uses the phones camera, GPS and Gyroscope and overlays relevant layers (that you choose) on the phones screen. You can manipulate the interface to view the history of landmarks in real time, find users who are tweeting live in your area and find restaurants with an augmented reality life experience’
This is a link that will take you to a video which shows how the application actually works... Application two
During my research I came across an app which I really liked the idea of. It was an augmented reality application that was locative based. This particular application was made for the 2009 Voodoo experience which took place in New Orleans over the Halloween weekend. The Voodoo experience is a popular music festival and the Voodoo experience augmented reality app was the first of its kind in America. It allowed the festival goer to use their phones, by pointing them at any stage, it would then display who was performing and a schedule of who else was going to be on, what time, and information about the artist. The app also allowed for the user to find out where they could get their favourite food or drink by simply moving the phone around the festival site. It also allowed for the user to find an ATM, the toilet and plan their escape strategy. The app was created to allow the user to spend less time getting lost and more time enjoying the music. Personally I think that they should do something like this for the festival goers in the UK.
Some people may think that augmented reality apps are not such a great thing and should we really be spending as much money as we do on trying to develop them. In answer to that question, I believe that such apps like the ones mentioned in this blog are going to get more and more popular as time goes on. They will soon be something that we use daily in order to go about our business and just like the mobile phone itself we may become reliant on them for finding out information or locations. ‘Brands and agencies can all leverage the huge opportunities of locative media. No matter what industry you are in, there is an app being developed or one that could be developed with location based technology to engage users in a new dimension.’ Soon they will be everywhere and I think it quite an exciting prospect.
Biliography
Books
Bimber O, 2005, Spatial augmented reality: merging real and virtual worlds Wellesley, A.K.Peters, Ltd. P.2
Web sources
Bluestone. D, 2010, BIMA Blog, Locative Media. Available at: http://blog.bima.co.uk/locative-media/ Last Accessed: 24/11/10
Matreen, 2010, Layar, 'Layar launches world's first Augmented Reality content store'. Available at: http://site.layar.com/company/blog/layar-launches-worlds-first-augmented-reality-content-store/. Last Accessed: 24/11/10
Matreen, 2010, Layar, 'Layar launches world's first Augmented Reality content store'. Available at: http://site.layar.com/company/blog/layar-launches-worlds-first-augmented-reality-content-store/. Last Accessed: 24/11/10
Images:
Layar App, Available at http://www.talkandroid.com/1264-layar-mobile-augmented-reality-app/. Last Accessed: 24/11/10
Voodoo festival app, Available at: http://www.mobilebehavior.com/2009/11/23/interview-zehnder-on-voodoo-augmented-reality-concert-experience/, Last Accessed: 24/11/10
Video
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