That was a long time ago and the arguments are long behind, yet today I’m still sitting in front of an Apple who someone’s taken a bite out of; writing on a MacBook Pro with my iPhone on my desktop. Watching NetFlix on my AppleTV while my docs are backing up onto my Time Capsule.

Image courtesy of Apple.com

I’ve known of the father of Apple for equally long. And, frankly, I don’t remember feeling so sad over the loss of any person or celebrity I never knew personally.

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1. Augmented reality games, but what’s reality doing there?
2. Google Goggles – Photo recognition in real-time for augmented reality info

The Galaxy Tab was unveiled this Thursday and the fellas over at PC World already have a nice comparison chart for iPad vs. GT. The tablet runs Google’s Android operating system, version 2.2.

Here’s to hoping that the AR features will make Apple push extra hard to unveil the augmented reality software that I’m sure they’ve been working on for at least 3 years.

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1. Layar’s Augmented Reality Web for mobiles: finally layered information
2. Augmented reality games, but what’s reality doing there?

If you still haven’t already succumbed to skipping my ramblings—go watch the demo of levelHead by Julian Oliver! (embedded video below.)

levelHead Video

levelHead v1.0, 3 cube speed-run (spoiler!) from Julian Oliver on Vimeo.

Main points of fascination

• Physical object interaction; virtual worlds are dependent- and intertwined with physical objects (the cubes) in the environment. (Opposed to displaying virtual objects that have no connection to reality, which in my opinion is removing the “reality” out of “augmented“.)
• The cube, simple as it is, gives the impression of a gateway into an entirely different world.
• Simplicity. With the environment shaded and lit, the flat white character is simple and adds a mysterious touch to the experience.
• The cube is the controller as well as viewer; an intuitive solution for containing the game experience entirely within a simple paper cube.
• The game is easy to replicate if desired; all you need is the right program and a paper cube with printouts.
• Considering the Future: Remember Myst? I can easily envision an entire game in that style: purely contained within a paper cube, or even interchangeable shapes such as orbs or other simple ones for different environments (perhaps even a few in-game tools).

LevelHead information excerpt

Using tilt motions, the player moves a character through rooms that appear inside one of several cubes on a table. Each room is logically connected by a series of doors, though some doors lead nowhere (they are traps).

The player has 2 minutes to find the exit of each cube, leading the character into the entrance of the next.

Work is also being done to use invisible markers such that the cube itself appears entirely white to the naked eye.

Visit the project page of Julian Oliver’s levelHead

Thanks for an inspirational game concept, Julian!

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LittleDog video – 2010

The size of the bot compared to a human hand is shown near the end of the video. Sign me up for a robotic-pet version. The summarized specs of LittleDog as described on Boston Dynamics’ site:

LittleDog has four legs, each powered by three electric motors. The legs have a large range of motion. The robot is strong enough for climbing and dynamic locomotion gaits. The onboard PC-level computer does sensing, actuator control and communications. LittleDog’s sensors measure joint angles, motor currents, body orientation and foot/ground contact. Control programs access the robot through the Boston Dynamics Robot API. Onboard lithium polymer batteries allow for 30 minutes of continuous operation without recharging. Wireless communications and data logging support remote operation and data analysis. LittleDog development is funded by the DARPA Information Processing Technology Office.

For detailed specifications check out CLMC’s paper on LittleDog research (PDF), published at the 2010 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (one of four Best Paper Award finalists).

It’s worth mentioning that USC was the only team to outperform the government program’s guidelines on 5 out of 6 tests, achieving an average speed of 8.7 cm per second. (Congratulations to the team—Mrinal Kalakrishnan, Peter Pastor, Michael Mistry and Jonas Buchli).

Cry ‘havoc’ and let slip the dogs of war

The research is funded by DARPA and carried out in collaboration with MIT, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, USC, Univ. of Pennsylvania and IHMC.

While the scientists working at Boston Dynamics and collaborating institutes envision the ‘bots being used for various purposes, DARPA’s point of view is to use them to haul equipment and luggage wherever needed on a battlefield. The first versions for fieldwork are called Legged Squad Support Systems (LS3); a type of completely autonomous robots, very similar to BigDog, that will be able to follow a human leader through rough terrain using computer vision and GPS systems. The LS3 program is jointly funded by the US Marine Corps.

The first “walk out” for LS3s is scheduled for 2012.

Automatic recommendations:

1. Boston Dynamics Unveil BigDog Progress
2. Modular Snake Robots From CMU’s Biorobotics Lab [Video]

I’m considering selling a few of my augmented reality domains; originally intended to be put to use, other projects have gotten in the way. It seems a shame to leave them parked. So, here they are.

The domain list

Make an offer

Contact me directly to make me an offer on any of these domains. I intend to keep prices fair. I want to see them go to deserving individuals and startups.

I reserve the right to accept or deny offers based on personal preference.

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2. Useful augmented reality tool shipped by US Postal Service

Prediction & results

Predicted on August 28th, 2009: “In January, 2010 the first major store announces mobile AR support; possibly an app that indicates product locations in shelves, or one that shows information about products. There are rumors of at least 3 other stores preparing a launch.”

• Actual turn of events (written Feb 9th, 2010): Came true. To quote SFGate.com’s article on AR smart phone apps:
  
  

  “Companies including Best Buy Inc., Jack in the Box and Puma are already advertising on Loopt, serving up coupons or banners when people near their stores.“[sic]

  
  

Prediction was originally published August 28th, 2009 in the post More predictions and a page to list them

Have any material related to this prediction/event? Post it in a comment below!

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2. More predictions and a new page to list them

Aware of the power of mobile phones, some offline retailers are using the technology to fight back.

If someone standing in one store scans a product with ShopSavvy, for example, a retailer down the street could deliver the shopper a coupon for the same item. A major retailer is already doing that in a few test cities, including Seattle, said Alexander Muse, co-founder of Big in Japan, the start-up that created ShopSavvy.

Other applications, including Yowza, use the GPS location information in cellphones to send shoppers coupons for stores within walking distance of where they’re standing.

“This empowers consumers to make a smart decision,” Mr. Muse said. “Already, retailers are starting to figure out, ‘I need to be in this game.’

It’s especially intriguing that GPS is an increasing part of the mainstream deal as its a key part of AR. One down.

Read the full article on the New York Times (you may need an account).

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The image recognition tech sounds exciting—image search and recognition in real time! I wouldn’t be surprised to see Google and Apple go heads on in a bloodsport match as they race towards the AR advertising market (incidentally bringing with them a wave of exciting apps and even AR goggle interfaces. Real ones.).

But, it’s best to let the video do the talking (read: I’m lazy). Here’s Google Goggles.

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1. Wikitude AR – Augmented reality on Google Android
2. Layar’s Augmented Reality Web for mobiles: finally layered information

The Advanced Human Interface Group (AHIG), MIT Media Lab. The ICONC System, demonstrated by Hrafn Th. Thorisson, Summer 1993. The system enabled the use of co-occurring, natural speech and gesture to interactively describe the arrangement and movements of objects in a room. The computer would interpret the user’s actions and figure out which objects the user was talking about and how to arrange them based on spatial information in the user’s speech and gesture. [Excerpt from the YouTube description, continued below]

[If you can't see the video, click here to visit the post]

The main authors of this work were David Koons (spatial knowledge, multimodal integration) and Carlton Sparrell (gesture recognition), directed by Richard A. Bolt. This technology is described in part in the paper “Integrating simultaneous input from speech, gaze, and hand gestures” by D B Koons, C J Sparrell, K R Thorisson (1993).

UPDATE (Oct. 30th, 2009): The article stated, wrongly, that this took place in 1994. This has been corrected.

Links & references

• Kristinn R. Thórisson’s website at Reykjavik University & at the MIT Media Lab
• YouTube page for this video

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Layar 3D makes use of OpenGL, the accelerometer, the GPS and the compass of the phone. Developers can place 3D objects in their content layers based on coordinates. Objects can be optimized in size and orientation to create an immersive and realistic experience. The 3D capabilities support live downloading and rendering of 3D objects. Actions such as “open link” or “play music” can be assigned to 3D objects. [Press release]

Looking forward to early results from the minds of their developers.

Embedded videos after the jump

Boeing 747 flyby

3D tagging in augmented reality

Arcade game animation (Pac-Man)

Links & references

• Layar’s main website
• Layar’s 3D demo page
• Layar’s press release (Sept. 22nd, 2009)

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1. Layar’s Augmented Reality Web for mobiles: finally layered information
2. Augmented reality games, but what’s reality doing there?

Correct prediction

Undetermined

Wrong prediction

Today we’re launching a special page to store past and present predictions regarding future technology developments. At the moment all are in the area of augmented reality. Below is a list of new predictions; the complete list can be found on the new Predictions page. The page can also be accessed through its link in Think Artificial’s header-menu.

What do you predict? =)

Year 2009

Initial iPhone development and app popularity

• Prediction on August 28th, 2009: In October 2009 many developers are reported working on augmented reality apps for iPhone. This is partially due to the success of 5 wildly popular apps in the iPhone App Store.

Year 2010

Rise of serious augmented reality apps

• Prediction on August 28th, 2009: In January, 2010 interest in fluff (useless, silly) applications is declining. Much more powerful, serious AR apps are on the rise.

Major stores adopt augmented reality

• Prediction on August 28th, 2009: In January, 2010 the first major store announces mobile AR support; possibly an app that indicates product locations in shelves, or one that shows information about products. There are rumors of at least 3 other stores preparing a launch.

EDIT: The following two first appeared with dates, but were changed within an hour to mid/early/late -month notation (I’m not psychic! =)

Open-source augmented reality platform

• Prediction on August 28th, 2009: Mid April, 2010 an important open source AR platform standard is introduced.

Augmented reality eyewear & head mounted displays

• Prediction on August 28th, 2009: Early May, 2010 the first specs specifically designed for mainstream, mobile AR are announced. Use of eyewear-screens (head-mounted displays, AR glasses) increasingly popular among young and young adults.

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Before September 15th 2009 one of the following two events will occur:

1. Apple releases initial support to iPhone augmented reality applications.
2. Apple announces an extension to the the iPhone SDK, specifically intended for augmented reality app development.

[Posted on Jul 13, 2009]

Only eleven days after the prediction news began rushing in; among many others reporting, MacRumors said on July 24th 2009:

The L.A. Times reports that Apple will begin allowing developers access to the tools they need to produce augmented reality applications starting with upcoming iPhone OS 3.1. [So far, AR applications] have used unpublished APIs which prevent them from being allowed on the App Store. Apple, however, told one developer that the tools necessary would become available with iPhone 3.1. [MacRumors]

In short, Apple is releasing their initial support to augmented reality applications. The Los Angeles Times posted the article that broke news that Apple told developers of the Nearest Tube AR train finder (Acrossair) that augmented reality apps will be allowed in the iPhone App Store in September, as predicted… let’s see if it turns out to be September 15th

Stay tuned for more predictions.

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[NOTE: Above is a snapshot for July '08 to July '09;
See current 12 month trend]

Officially, Apple’s iPhone SDK does not offer access to any APIs for manipulating live video, forcing developers to use the available but unsupported ones instead. That’s a shame because as you can see, there are a lot of unique concepts out there for implementing Augmented Reality on the iPhone. [...] However, there’s still hope. According to some hearsay out there, Apple is interested in enabling these types of apps. [ReadWriteWeb]

There’s no question that Apple realizes the potential of AR and their position to dominate the market. The iPhone’s media attention and hardware power can make for a Walt Disney of augmented reality.

Having correctly predicted the type- and date of debut of the first mainstream AR application, the oracle speaks again—let’s see if I get this one right:

EDIT (August 13th 2009): This prediction was correct. Only 11 days after I posted this prediction it was announced that Apple’s iPhone OS 3.1 will support augmented reality applications—expected release is in September (as predicted). See further details in Correctly predicted: Augmented reality support in iPhone OS 3.1

Will augmented reality on the iPhone accelerate development of wearable displays?

The iPhone did the impossible and brought back head-mounted displays (HMDs)—often known as virtual reality goggles. Many modern HMDs are now relatively cheap—the pricetag is no longer long enough to use as a belt—and, on occasion, the design is sleek. (They still suck, but keep improving.)

Using phones’ screens for augmented reality applications is literally like peeking through a keyhole. Demand for alternate interfaces increases as a result of mainstream AR, and the greatest of these are wearable displays; AR specs (see-through displays, shaped like glasses). These have been around for decades (image shows MIRAGE – undergrad student project from 2002) but are still expensive as hell. Will the iPhone do for AR specs what it did for HMDs?

Importance of AR+wearable display interplay

The combination of wearable displays and augmented reality has countless uses. It’s important, in fact, with potential to revolutionize machine interfaces and manufacturing practices. Picture the following, for example: Desktop computer output (screen) can be overlaid onto reality like any other AR graphic, displayed in 3D as if they are sitting on a desktop.

Instead of buying two screens for a dual-screen setup at home, a student on a tight budget could buy AR specs. Through these he can display as many virtual computer screens as needed. If quality were to improve and price decrease, AR specs could serve as flexible, space saving, easy to transport and cheap alternative to any modern hardware display.

Augmented reality is not a type- or collection of applications. It’s a type of medium. In today’s economy, requiring cost reductions and preservation of resources, a future where a single gadget can replace several seems ever more likely. The boom of augmented reality is more probable than ever.

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