Agora Media Group Innovation Blog

It might be an unsettling reality, or hard to grasp, or too different from current settings, but as Matsuda explains:

The latter half of the 20th century saw the built environment merged with media space, and architecture taking on new roles related to branding, image and consumerism. Augmented reality may recontextualise the functions of consumerism and architecture, and change in the way in which we operate within it.

This view offers a look into a more cyborg-like society, where technology and the human being are intertwined heavily. Not a bodily intertwining, but more an informational and intelligent enhancement.
If our daily lives are being ‘controlled’ by step-by-step executions, how does that impact the quality of it?

This film is produced to finalize his Masters in Architecture, which is part of a larger project about the social and architectural consequences of new media and augmented reality.
It’s wise to contemplate about consequences of technologies, even if they are exaggerated, to understand and keep understanding its role in society and effects on the environments.

Your opinion?

Proximity Marketing as described by Wikipedia is “the localized wireless distribution of advertising content associated with a particular place.”
The commercialization of location will get a boost by the power and opportunities offered by Mobile Augmented Reality applications.

Have a look at the first real-time Augmented Reality proximity marketing platform by Insqribe:

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WOW!

I can’t simply express it differently, these are the next steps in the Augmented Reality evolution and diffusion.

First of all, Sketch Recognition is a development which will make QR Codes / markers redundant on the long run and will create a more natural/organic augmented reality.
View below the video which shows how the technology interacts with the augmentated content! This goes beyond the abilities of current browsers and technologies which do not understand the augmented data, but merely shows it based on markers or GPS data.

The next video will really blow your mind because the technology enables recognition upon natural shapes.

When you combine the two new developments, the extra opportunities -enabled by them- are vast.
Not only will it be more organic and user generated, but based upon the initial augmentated reality, the meta-data can undergo interaction with the user and thus altering the intelligence extracted by the superimposing!

The good news for developers is the following, quoted from the GamesAlfresco blog:

For the first time ever, the core code necessary for real augmented reality “(real” here means precise alignment of graphics overlaid on real life objects) on iPhone 3.0 is available to the public.
To get access to the source code – send us an email ( comogard@gmail.com ).

The precise alignment of graphics on real life object will be an improvement compared to the current abilities to align.
I do wonder what new applications will be developed and how industries will benefit from this.

What do you foresee?

The interest in Augmented Reality is growing which brings along hype and by that, irrelevant applications which misuse the Augmented Reality technology or just hype along concerning the term. When relating this to Gartner’s Hype Cycle, it’s a phase which every technology has to overcome before it diffuses in markets and consumers.

I’ll refer to two kinds of misuses of Augmented Reality, one is with regard to the technology itself, the other is from the utility point of view. Both are equally important as they sustain each other. If one is off, than there’s not symbiotic benefit.
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Due to increasing interest in Augmented Reality, the creative question rises where Augmented Reality can benefit the user?
Theoretically, all is ‘reality’ and all can be augmented with meta-data, but what are the fields that will benefit most?
If one reads the articles and watches the videos on Youtube, one cannot deny the futurisic and science fictional touch that Augmented Reality brings along and fires up creativity and innovativity.

In this article we set out a list of Augmented Reality applications which in some cases are already prototyped, investigated or in use.
This list is probably far from complete, please do complement!

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The concept Augmented ID by TAT is presented last July to the public.
What it basically does is visualizing digital entitities which you encounter in real life. The facial recognition software is developed by Polar Rose and in combination with a mobile, you’ll be able to get information on people around you.
There’s a catch though, people who want to be discovered by Augmented ID, have to set up an account and create their profiles personalized per social network and content.

It isn’t that difficult to take this kind of application to the next level and be able to recognize faces (and objects) based upon the many images stored online.
This might sound futuristic, but most-probably not extremely difficult to develop when technologies are ready for it.

This brings us to the following, should we question privacy concerns when it applies humans?
In the current concept, a person needs to sign up, giving permission to be found.
What implications will come forth from real-time facial recognition?

The possible applications of real-time object recognition are endless, what about being able to shop for an object which passes along, sufficing impulse and desire?

That is what Parrot has done with the AR.Drone.
It’s the first quadricopter that can be controlled by the iPhone and iPod touch.
Integrating the iPhone as a piloting console is once again a good device application, enriching the abilities of the iPhone as a central device.

In my previous post Augmented Reality Semantics , the analysis showed that most Augmented Reality games are not really augmented or even contextually relevant. Parrot has certainly overcome these two critiques by enabling an augmented and new kind of experience.

Another interesting aspect of the AR.Drone is the fact it offers an SDK / Open API platform for third-party developers to create new games for the quadricopter. Opening up the platform will increase collaborative efforts, creation of new games, loyalty and core-enthausiasts.

Have a look at the following videos:
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Brightkite is deploying this kind of advertising in the US where Insqribe deploys it in Australia, read a previous post on the added value of Augmented Reality to Proximity Marketing.

It’s not only possible to see what friends around you are doing, but with the new app, advertising through Augmented Reality is displayed on your mobile screen.
The collaborative kind of Augmented Reality which is offered by Brightkite enhances the advertisements, because of the recommendations/comments by friends add a new real-time dimension to it.

This kind of advertising can be relevant and targeted, the challenge will be to enable the users to create simple filters of what kind of advertisements will be shown and which ones won’t.
These developments are next steps increasing the importance and opportunities of Location Based Services and Proximity Marketing.

You can download the Layar App from the app store here.

How do you think the amount of advertising can be regulated by the user in a easy way?
By checking boxes which specify certain verticals, or by filters, or by collaborative filtering?

Press release (part of it) on the Mobilizy website:

Lonely Planet, the world’s favorite travel company, has teamed up with mobile augmented reality pioneer Mobilizy to bring a world-class mobile AR experience to their renowned travel guides. Whether you are a seasoned traveller or fledgling explorer, Lonely Planet Compass guides provide expert recommendation and useful information to help you navigate city locations.

Lonely Planet Compass guides offer a unique augmented reality experience to extend your travel adventure with useful information about your surroundings, nearby landmarks, and other points of interest by overlaying information on the real-time camera view of your Android phone.

Looking for the ultimate guidebook? One you can slip in your pocket? Lonely Planet’s Compass Guides for Android give you interactive, personalized and fully searchable mobile access to Lonely Planet’s best-selling travel content .

Currently there are 10 Lonely Planet Compass Guides enhanced with Wikitude AR available for the Android market in the US: Boston, Chicago, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle and Washington D.C. More titles are coming soon.

Features of the Lonely Planet guides enhanced with augmented reality include:

• Enabled with GPS so you can see your current location and plot itineraries on dynamic maps;

• Augmented reality camera-view to visualize data overlays of Lonely Planet recommended points of interest;
• Hundreds of listings for places of interest – bars, clubs, restaurants and more – search by category, distance, or by address and
• Helpful information on the city, its history and events and more.

Visit the website for more screenshots of the application.
Good to see an application by a brand like Lonely Planet. Their books can be augmented as well to make an offline-online connection and intertwine their channels and business models.
The content was already available by Lonely Planet, thus extending this information to the mobile digital realm was a logical move which responds to the rise of Augmented Reality.

For travelers it’s a new and interactive experience to discover their travel destinations and address to the vast amount of information digitally to enhance their knowledge.
Who knows the Lonely Planet Guides will become 2.0 due to collaborative efforts by users, and what the effect will be for the product and information quality.

Google wouldn’t be Google if it wouldn’t search for opportunities within the mobile realm, which already it was in with Android and the acquisition of AdMob.
Their ‘Augmented Reality’ solution is called Visual Mobile Search (VMS) which was revealed at CNBC’s “Inside the Mind of Google” on 3 December.

Google Product Manager Hartmut Neven said:

“Imagine you’re a tourist and you arrive at this place and you would like to know more about it, all you will have to do is take a shot of the [Santa Monica pier] sign and you see we recognized this as the Santa Monica pier”

With the Visual Mobile Search service you’ll be able to take a picture with your smartphone and the technology will use visual recognition engines to understand what the object(s) is/are and return search results.
In relation to the example of the Santa Monica pier you can think of search results which return you pure informational content or commercial content, be it from dining to sales to public transport and so on.
VMS is a great opportunity for industries like Travel, Retail, Real Estate and more which are location focused, a new wave of Location Based Services will be created based upon location-centric searches.

From Google’s point of perspective, a new stream of local ad revenue arises which is relevant to both parties: the user searches for that specific object and thus of better quality for the companies who wish to be visible or to advertise on that specific object.
Google has the advantage of its immense database to return results, which gives them a headstart over other companies who develop or wish to develop this sort of Augmented Reality applications.

Eager to see where this is heading to, what about you?