Augmented Reality is the process of superimposing metadata onto a video feed. When that video feed comes from a smart device like Android or the iPhone things get interesting. The technology marries GPS, local maps, a digital compass and specialty “data layers” to produce real time images featuring clickable highlights for shopping, banking, transportation and other information.
Seeing is Believing
One of the quickest ways to grok augmented reality is with this short video clip by Layar, a Dutch company producing a catalog of some 80+ datasets and “the world’s first mobile augmented reality browser.” Read the rest of this entry »
So I jumped the gun a little bit. Found the putative secret link to the iPhone 2.0 software update ahead of schedule. Through some good luck happened to download the update just before Apple pulled the link. The install was smooth enough, though doing a manual upgrade was a bit nerve wracking. To brick or not to brick that is the question.
That’s not a typo, that’s Soocial, a web service that syncs your contacts amongst all your connected devices and web applications. It promises a “one address book solution to contact management” syncing data from mobile phone to Google address book to all your home and work computers. All quietly in the background.
My friend was wondering what would happen if he took a bunch of photos he shot with his iPhone while in Santiago Chile and created an iPhone video. So he grabbed the top 20 pictures and set them to music as a "proof of concept." You can see the 2-minute video below.
Interestingly enough, he was ambushed and mugged for his iPhone. They got the earbuds but he kept the device (stupidly) suffering a couple of fractured ribs and a few bruises. What some people won’t do for a gadget!
So "My Friend" figured out how to shoot video on an iPhone using Polar Bear Farm’s ShowTime. The recording time is limited to 5 seconds and motion capture is a bit weak. But the concept is rock solid. Imagine what happens when every iPhone is a mobile video studio. [video test results below]
So I jumped the gun a little bit. Found the putative secret link to the iPhone 2.0 software update ahead of schedule. Through some good luck happened to download the update just before Apple pulled the link. The install was smooth enough, though doing a manual upgrade was a bit nerve wracking. To brick or not to brick that is the question.
That’s not a typo, that’s