Posts Tagged ‘ar’
Video: Augmented Reality App For Librarians Instantly Shows Which Books Are Misfiled
ShelvAR consists of an Android app and a set of coded tags, representing call numbers, that are placed on books' spines. When a librarian holds a smartphone or tablet camera up to a shelf, the app reads all the tags at once, thanks to a new algorithm that can decipher multiple patterns even though they're small when viewed at a distance. Then the app uses a simple sorting method—at least for computers, which aren't fazed by complex letter-digit combos like Q164 .G72 2009--to figure out the correct order and the shortest number of moves needed to achieve it. The phone's screen displays red X's over any misfiled books, along with arrows that show where they really belong.
The prototype app, built by computer science professor Bo Brinkman and research assistant Matt Hodges, has successfully analyzed a dozen books with half-inch tags. The is now working on scaling up to 75 to 150 quarter-inch-thin books, so that they can scan a full shelf in one shot, and in December, they'll test the app in part of the university library. Adding ShelvAR tags could save libraries time and money in the long run, since workers now do frequent shelf checks by hand.
If all goes well, a beta version of ShelvAR will be released next spring. Librarians are already envisioning other uses for the technology, Brinkmann tells us, such as displaying a star rating over recommended books or helping lost students find the book they're looking for.
Video: Augmented Reality App For Librarians Instantly Shows Which Books Are Misfiled
ShelvAR consists of an Android app and a set of coded tags, representing call numbers, that are placed on books' spines. When a librarian holds a smartphone or tablet camera up to a shelf, the app reads all the tags at once, thanks to a new algorithm that can decipher multiple patterns even though they're small when viewed at a distance. Then the app uses a simple sorting method—at least for computers, which aren't fazed by complex letter-digit combos like Q164 .G72 2009--to figure out the correct order and the shortest number of moves needed to achieve it. The phone's screen displays red X's over any misfiled books, along with arrows that show where they really belong.
The prototype app, built by computer science professor Bo Brinkman and research assistant Matt Hodges, has successfully analyzed a dozen books with half-inch tags. The is now working on scaling up to 75 to 150 quarter-inch-thin books, so that they can scan a full shelf in one shot, and in December, they'll test the app in part of the university library. Adding ShelvAR tags could save libraries time and money in the long run, since workers now do frequent shelf checks by hand.
If all goes well, a beta version of ShelvAR will be released next spring. Librarians are already envisioning other uses for the technology, Brinkmann tells us, such as displaying a star rating over recommended books or helping lost students find the book they're looking for.
Japanese augmented reality gaming company Tonchidot lands $12M
, a mobile augmented reality (AR) platform provider, just landed $12 million in second round funding. Several Japanese companies and venture capitalists participated in the round, including mobile operator KDDI Corporation, media conglomerate Recruit Co. Ltd., and mobile advertising company SPiRE.
Augmented reality refers to the use of computer-generated imagery over a live feed of a real-world environment — something usually achieved with a cellphone camera.
According to Osuke Honda from VC fund DCM, a previous investor, the investment will be used to build a larger, more diverse team and reach out to an international audience — as well as extending the company’s SoLAR gaming platform.
Social gaming is already a multi-billion dollar market in Japan. Leading mobile games portal DeNA, for example,$576 million in revenue in the six month period from April through September of this year and is on track to generate over a billion dollars this year. Japan’s other social gaming giant Gree already has 20 million users and an extremely high ARPU. Zynga recently in Japan with SoftBank.
In July this year Tonchidot launched a social, AR gaming platform for developers called SoLAR which combines location, augmented reality and social play features. Tools to integrate Twitter, Facebook, and payment features for iPhone and Android will be provided in the upcoming October product release.
Tonchidot’s flagship product, an AR app called Sekai Camera, has been downloaded 1 million times and is installed on an estimated 30 percent of all iPhones in Japan. Sekai Camera is available for iPhone in 90 countries and for Android in more than 20 countries. A lightweight version for feature phones just launched.
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Video: Augmented Reality Billboard Installed in Amsterdam, to Educate and Shame Passers-By
An interactive billboard placed above crowded Amsterdam and Rotterdam thoroughfares displays, in real time, a view of the street below. Passers-by can see themselves live on the massive screen, but though the curb space in front of them is empty, on the screen there's a tense confrontation unfolding as they stand there and gawk.
The idea is to more or less shame citizens for their inactivity when they see a violent confrontation taking place. By making citizens aware of what they look like when they ignore a wrong being committed right in front of them, the government hopes to engender a sense of shared responsibility and a willingness to come to victims' aid.
Whether or not it's achieving its higher purpose, the technology is turning some heads on the street. It appears that being injected into an augmented reality without warning is just as jarring as it sounds.
MIT’s Surround Vision TV Lets You Watch the Action Even After It Moves Offscreen
MIT wants to take your viewing experience outside of the box
A handheld Internet-connected device such as a smartphone could provide a personalized viewing screen, in addition to the main TV. Looking off toward the left or right would cue a new camera angle for the same scene to pop up on the handheld device.
The concept comes courtesy of Santiago Alfaro, who developed the thesis project under MIT Media Lab scientist Michael Bove. They envision the extra video perspectives streaming over the Internet to the handheld devices, so that there's no modification needed for the main TV broadcast or set-top boxes.
Such technology takes advantage of magnetometers built into handheld devices, such as the most recent iPhone. The magnetometers act as compasses that can detect the handheld device's orientation relative to the TV.
Alfaro and Bove already have user studies planned for the spring and summer, and have brought in content partners to experiment with sports, live action shows, cartoons and even studio-like talk shows. People who don't have the technology won't even know they're missing it, but the pilot program could lead to a new level of viewer interaction with their televisions.
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