Living life in augmented reality

Augmented reality smartphone apps allow users to view the world through their phone's camera with an overlay of useful local information. But with the advent of augmented reality games, could fantasy finally become reality?

A shadowy organisation is stalking a lone individual across London. Its goal? To capture a young woman who has knowledge which could blow the lid off this outfit's nefarious activities in Zambia.

Can a group of ordinary people protect this whistleblower and expose a conspiracy involving oil, a sinister multinational and a library in an African village?

This is not a movie script, but it is the scenario being played out in an augmented reality game called Conspiracy For Good.



This interactive game invites players to engage in a modern day treasure hunt, and springs from the mind of Tim Kring, the writer behind superhero television show, Heroes.

Source: BBC News

Augmented Reality Becoming More Like the Read/Write Web

This week, augmented reality (AR) took a significant step toward becoming more like the read/write Web with the launch of an online mobile AR CMS for creating content on the Layar platform.

"Augmentation" - a Web-based tool for generating mobile AR content - was created by Layar Partner Network member Hoppala. With a Layar developer account, users of Augmentation can easily and instantaneously place their content in Layar with zero code and a few clicks on a map. Custom icons, images, audio, video and 3D content can all be added by way of a full screen map interface, and Hoppala will even host all of the data.

The company has been providing content management solutions for Layar since launching a beta test of its Layarserver in August of 2009. This project, however, is new in that it provides a tidy user-friendly GUI for adding myriad AR data instantly to Layar. For a more detailed look at how the Augmentation Web app works, watch the video embedded below.

As more tools like Augmentation lower the bar of entry for augmented reality, a flood of AR data will begin to fill platforms like Layar, junaio and Wikitude. This progression is not unlike that of the Web with the widespread popularity of blogs. With the Web, however, powerful search engines make finding relevant content much easier and Websites are (for the most part) browser agnostic.

Source: Read/Write Web

Situated Simulations

«Situated Simulations»-applikasjonen, utviklet gjennom Inventio-prosjektet ved UiO, har fått en innebygd nettleser som viser fram relevante nettsteder uten at 3D-omgivelsene forlates. Applikasjonen kan også gi mer informasjon om objekter som brukeren peker på med mobilen.



Applikasjonen utvikles i samarbeid med svenske CodeGrind. Det arbeides også med en applikasjon til iPad, og i løpet av høsten skal det også komme en versjon for Android.

Kilde: Situated Simulations

Transformerbare skjermer??

Bruksområdene kan være mange for denne teknologien, som riktignok bare er på forsøksstadiet:



En kan for eksempel se for seg fleksible skjermer, som så kan endre form ved hjelp av løsninger som dette.

Kilde: Nature News

sound:frame Festival Lightrails

The interactive audio-visual installation ‘Lightrails’ was a project that Strukt created together with unheilbar architektur for Project Space inside the Kunsthalle Wien, commissioned by sound:frame festival. ‘Lightrails’ is a light sculpture with the intention to re-define and re-interpret the exhibition room. An easy but effective mapping technique was used to create seamless projections on both sides of the object. Light-beams were triggered by the visitors and ran through the room, following the surface created by the sculpture. Each ‘reflection’ of the light-beam was accompanied by sound. The speed and brightness of the beam was directly influenced by the force the visitors used when triggering the beam stepping on pedals on the floor. This also influenced the volume of the sound-effects. The audio signal was played back on a surround sound system that allowed a spatial positioning of the sounds and created a truly immersive experience.

The sound-design was courtesy of Digitalofen Audiobakery, which also created the ambient sounds that were pervasive through the room. As usual, we used our favorite real-time multipurpose toolkit to create the installation.

sound:frame Festival Lightrails / Strukt

StreetMuseum iPhone app

The Museum of London has launched an iPhone app which cleverly brings its extensive art and photographic collections to the streets of the capital.

The really clever thing about this app is that if you are in the location pictured, you can click on the "3D view" button and the app will recognise your location and overlay the historic image over the current view - augmenting the reality that the built in iPhone camera perceives.

More info on the app can be found at museumoflondon.org.uk/

Creative Review

11-M Memorial. Atocha Station. Madrid, Spain

  by  felipe_gabaldon 

Robert Rice - Augmented Reality

Robert Rice talks about Augmented Reality and its position and function in the evolving spectrum of developments. The future of mobile is not the phone, AR changes everything. He shows current examples and also what AR might look like in the future. He talks about tags, markers and glasses. Wearable displays will have a huge impact on the reach of AR.

Danmarksplass Streetart Gallery

Tidligere versjoner

Strømsgaten 30. april 2010

I wiped the table-top
Mother layed you down on it
I sticked you together
by the pieces
and now you`re waiting
for the blade
I will cut your
hair, eyes, nose and lips out
but I'm saving heart
So the wall could absorb
the essence hidden inside

pss pss
Can is wispering softly